Honeydrops bring the party to Sisters

Sisters Folk Festival continues its tradition of brightening up cold winter nights with an eclectic lineup of performers in its 2014 Winter Concert Series.

In its first show of the series, Thursday, January 9, The California Honeydrops will return to Sisters after a rousing 2013 festival appearance.

The Honeydrops' music speaks not just to the heart and soul, but also to the body - you have no choice but to dance. Drawing heavily on Southern soul and Bay Area R&B, with a twist of New Orleans second-line street music, the Honeydrops defy genres. Their style may not have a name, but one thing is certain: The California Honeydrops don't just play music - they throw parties.

To those who have seen the California Honeydrops and heard Lech Wierzynski sing and play, it may come as a shock that the young front man was born in Warsaw, Poland. Raised in Chicago and Washington, D.C., the son of Polish political refugees, Lech was exposed to a wide range of musical influences.

"When my dad was growing up in communist Poland in the '40s and '50s, old American music was illegal and therefore very cool," he says. "He passed on the love of old stuff to me: everything from Louis Armstrong to Sam Cooke."

Lech has the unique ability to carry a tune casually, conversationally and powerfully as well. But the California Honeydrops are not just another throwback band.

"My brother and I had to assimilate into modern American society," Wierzynski explains, "so we loved all the popular stuff on the radio too, especially hip-hop, R&B. Knowing music was our way of proving we were American." After studying ethno-musicology at Oberlin College, Wierzynski arrived in Oakland, California in 2004.

There, he couldn't help but to continue expanding his musical horizons

"At first," he recalls, "I played mostly on the street, and then as I got more established I started playing a lot of blues and soul music in clubs, and touring. There is a rich heritage of that music here in the Bay, and I was lucky enough to play with a lot of older musicians who taught me what it was all about."

When Lech was ready to combine all his influences into one cohesive sound, he formed The California Honeydrops. By the time the band put out its first tip jar at an Oakland train station, Lech had already established himself in the Bay Area music scene.

"I had gigs, I wasn't starving," he explains. "But I wanted to get back to how I started out, playing on the street with friends, having fun, and putting smiles on people's faces."

"Things got going really fast," remembers drummer and founding member Ben Malament. "People who had seen us on the street were offering us all kinds of gigs. Before we knew it we were a working band, playing clubs, parties, and dances all over." In just a few years time this group of street performers would be selling out venues across California and bringing its infectious sound to festivals across the U.S. and Europe.

The Sisters Folk Festival Winter Concert Series package is $75 for all four shows for adults, $40 for students. Individual tickets are $20 advance/$25 at the door, except Solas, which is $30 advance/$35 at the door. Student tickets for each individual show are $10.

For more information on the 2014 Sisters Folk Festival Winter Concert Series or to purchase tickets visit http://www.sistersfolkfestival.org or call the festival office at 541-549-4979. Tickets will also be for sale at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters and Redmond.