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Honeychurch

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About Me



"Honeychurch blends the influences of Neil Young, Nick Drake, Mojave 3 and The Byrds to make gorgeous pastoral music ... lush, organic, orchestral, aching, ethereal..." - No Depression
Honeychurch has self-released two critically acclaimed albums in the past five years: 2001's Calling Me Home and the 2004 follow up Makes Me Feel Better. Both albums generated glowing reviews and gathered a very small but loyal following of listeners.
Honeychurch has shared the stage with artists such as The Walkmen, Alejandro Escovedo, Mojave 3, Archer Prewitt, Jens Lekman, Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter, and the Radar Brothers.
Honeychurch is based in Doylestown, Pennsylvania (which is about half way between Philadelphia and New York City).
History and secret origins...
Virginia-born Shilough Hopwood (singer, guitarist, and songwriter) has been creating music under the name 'Honeychurch' since the 90's: attempting to fuse the elemental sadness of slow core, the melancholy yearning of traditional country music, the sweet harmony singing of West Coast folk-rock, and the lush arrangements of chamber pop.
Larissa, a folk musician with roots in the Boston/Amherst areas of Massachusetts, began playing music with Shilough in the 1999 (the year they were married). She switched from acoustic guitar to electric bass, and sings both lead and harmony vocals.
Lead guitarist Tim Kratz joined Honeychurch in 2001, and with his presence, the live band took shape. Critics and audiences alike have been amazed at the high, lonesome sound of Tims playing, which combines slide and b-bender techniques in a completely unique way, often eerily reminiscent of pedal steel (and comparable to guitarists such as Clarence White, Richard Thompson, or David Lindley). Tim also engineered much of Honeychurchs second album.
Drummer Greg Millward is the most recent addition to the group. A native of Doncaster, England (in Yorkshire), Greg started playing drums in the brass bands which are traditional in the north of England, and also played in Thumper and other groups in England before joining Honeychurch in 2004.
Other Honeychurch contributors and collaborators include engineer and pianist Patrick Robinson, violinist Jay Ansill, harmonica player Vinny Asaro, pedal steel guitarist Jim Cohen, designer David Weed, and former Honeychurch band member Stefan Baker. Keyboardist Alex Yaker of Roomtone has been a part of recent live shows.
Both Honeychurch albums were released with the help of legendary and beloved independent record store Siren Records in Doylestown, PA
(www.sirenrecords.com).
buy CDs:
milesofmusic.com
parasol.com
www.amazon.com
buy T-shirts (NEW!):
https://www.spreadshirt.com/shop.php?sid=69703

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/1/2005
Band Website: honeychurchmusic.com
Band Members: Our lineup has been ambiguous and changeable recently and has included
Shilough Hopwood: vocals, guitar
Larissa Hopwood: bass, vocals
along with
Tim Kratz: lead guitar, slide & b-bender
Greg Millward: Drums
Alex Yaker: piano, organ
Stefan Baker: acoustic guitar
Juliana Storozuk: vocals
Jay Ansill: violin
Catherine Cavella: cello
Influences: The Band, Magnetic Fields, Gram Parsons, The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, The Left Banke, George Jones & Tammy Wynette, Nick Drake, Buffalo Springfield, Van Morrison, David Bowie, Gene Clark, 4AD, Carole King, T Rex, Bob Dylan, The Incredible String Band, Dillard & Clark, Mojave 3, CSN &Y, EmmyLou Harris, Belle & Sebastian, The Louvin Brothers, Teenage Fanclub, Harry Nilsson, The Field Mice, The Raspberries, Colin Blunstone, Mazzy Star, The Everly Brothers, Jackson Browne, Robin Hitchcock, The Verve, Ride, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Stanley Brothers, Marvin Gaye, Flying Burrito Brothers, The Zombies, Red House Painters, Vashti Bunyan, Gilian Welch, The Smiths, The Ronnettes, Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner, Pink Floyd, The Byrds, Leonard Cohen, Merle Haggard, The Softies, Gene, The Kinks, Tim Hardin, Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn, Simon & Garfunkel, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Sundays, Rocketship, Donovan, Holy Moses!!, Big Star
Sounds Like: REVIEWS/PRESS:
Geraint Jones, Comes With a Smile, U.K., Summer 2004:
"resplendent in sonic riches....It's only very occasionally that you hear something by an artist that you have never heard of before, and wonder where they've been all your life. Imagine an enticing hybrid of the best of Luna, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Low, and a host of fantastically obscure 60's orchestral pop....in a parallel universe, 'Chancery Lane' would be number one all year around..."
Miles of Music, April 2004:
"to the hushed, meditative quality of Iron & Wine or Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, Honeychurch adds pedal steel and incandescent strings....rapturous, romantic, blissfully transcendent, sweetly reverent, sun-drenched pop"
Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, Jack’s Top 40, May 2004:
"Imagine if The Red House Painter's Mark Kozelek added harmonies out of Mojave 3 and the Byrds....the singing, strings, and lap steel are exquisite. Like the Pernice Brothers, you suspect these guys dig Bread as much as Gram Parsons, hooked on the elegiac sweetness of old songs....the title is so true!"
Peer Bataille, Alt-Country Newsletter, Netherlands, April 2004:
"A record full of thoughtful, fairy-tale-like songs...brings to mind the Cowboy Junkies and Belle and Sebastian, with harmonies in the vein of Crosby Stills Nash and Young or Simon & Garfunkel ....pedal steel saturates the record with country-pop colour...."
Mark Whitfield, Americana UK, England, May 2004:
"Belle and Sebastian meets The Byrds, with exquisite results...Hopwood writes amazing songs. A genuinely beautiful record which burns a little brighter with every listen."
Chuck Zak, Delusions of Adequacy, June 2004:
"Honeychurch can summon a thoroughly disarming moment of teary melody that makes you feel as though you've just lost an irreplaceable lover, when in fact you may have never even had one....lovely enough to make your chin tremble, as cellos and violins saw and swoon in the background. The whole disc is really quite deep in quality songs, effective but unobtrusive playing and tender vocals....reveals a sensitivity and subtlety welcome in any band seeking to combine new and old methods of expressing melancholy."No Depression, November 2004:
"Honeychurch blends the influences of Neil Young, Nick Drake, Mojave 3, and The Byrds to make gorgeous pastoral music, full of mournful pedal steel and rich harmonies....lush, organic, orchestral, aching, ethereal...."

For Fans Of:Ryan Adams, Low, Magnetic Fields, The Band, Mojave3, Iron and Wine, Neil Young, Gram Parsons, The Byrds, Elliot Smith, Kings of Convenience, America, Sufjan Stevens, Innocence Mission, Ida, Duncan Browne, Damien Jurado, Bright Eyes, Sun Kil Moon, Bread, Pernice Brothers, Denison Witmer, The Decemberists, Flying Burrito Brothers, My Morning Jacket, Wilco, The Clientele, Nick Drake, etc.
Record Label: self-release
Type of Label: None

My Blog

NEIL HALSTEAD + HONEYCHURCH LIVE IN NYC

Hosted By: Honeychurch When: Tuesday Nov 11, 2008 at 6:15 PMWhere Mercury Lounge217 E Houston StreetNew York, New York|33 10002United StatesDescription:Honeychurch Click Here To View Event...
Posted by Honeychurch on Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:25:00 PST

Honeychurch & Neil Halstead Shows

Hosted By: Honeychurch When: Monday Nov 10, 2008 at 8:30 PMWhere MAXWELL'S1039 Washington StreetHoboken, NJ 07030United StatesDescription:Honeychurch Click Here To View Event...
Posted by Honeychurch on Sat, 25 Oct 2008 07:25:00 PST

HONEYCHURCH - Very Special Show

Hosted By: Honeychurch When: Saturday Mar 29, 2008 at 8:30 PMWhere: PUCK www.pucklive.comPrinters AlleyDoylestown, PA 18901United StatesDescription:Honeychurch Click Here To View Event...
Posted by Honeychurch on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 06:12:00 PST

HONEYCHURCH - Special Show

Hosted By: Honeychurch When: Saturday Mar 29, 2008 at 8:30 PMWhere: PUCK www.pucklive.comPrinters AlleyDoylestown, Pennsylvania|39 18901United StatesDescription:Honeychurch Click Here To View Event...
Posted by Honeychurch on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 08:17:00 PST

Cheap Honeychurch CDs

Some enterprising people out there are selling their used Honeychurch CDs on Amazon.com - this is a good chance to pick up a copy of our out-of-print second album "Makes Me Feel Better".  Here's ...
Posted by Honeychurch on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:22:00 PST

Stefan Baker solo Show + The Accident That led me ...

Hosted By: Siren RecordsWhen: Wednesday Mar 12, 2008 at 6:00 PMWhere: Siren Records22 South Main StDoylestown, Pennsylvania|39 18901United StatesDescription:Siren Records Click Here To View Event...
Posted by Honeychurch on Fri, 07 Mar 2008 02:03:00 PST

Honeychurch CDs - Going, going ...

Honeychurch's second album, Makes Me Feel Better, is almost out-of-print.  Amazon.com has a few copies, and there may be some at Parasol and Miles of Music.  Once those are gone, both Honeyc...
Posted by Honeychurch on Sat, 16 Dec 2006 07:28:00 PST

Honeychurch T shirts

are available Here: https://www.spreadshirt.com/shop.php?sid=69703
Posted by Honeychurch on Tue, 28 Nov 2006 10:40:00 PST