Honeyfeet

I press play and the sound of a flute glides into the room, followed swiftly by Ríoghnach’s honeyed voice glazed with a subtle menace.

I first heard Ríoghnach Connolly’s voice over a bedroom recording about six years ago and I was awestruck even then. An accomplished flautist she matches her instruments stylistic approach to her lyrics, soft and sweet or powerful and staccato when required – sometimes all four at the same time.

In the bridge of ‘Quickball’ Sam Buckley lets his bass loose gliding under Ríoghnach’s sultry voice.

The illusion of so little effort, in actuality requires a great deal; as a listener you feel like anything is possible, like someone happens to press play while they were jamming.

At times when their gold shines, at others it seems tarnished but neither outcome is an accident.

Sam Buckley’s voice brings a gruff and sinister tale on whether it is indeed better to have loved and lost, with the second track ‘Flowers’. Offering the rough to her smooth with this dramatic Tango – their second track makes me question whether Tennyson was ever truly in love.

The ‘Deed’ is an all hands on deck track the brass leads in with Angus Fairbairn on Sax and Biff Roxby on Trombone, Ragna Skinner gives us some honky-tonk piano accompanied by Ellis Davies on guitar. And of course none of this would be possible without the lick and shuffle of David Schlechtriemen.

For me Honey Feet are one of the best live bands I’ve ever seen, so I was intrigued at how they’d get that same energy over and if they could.

They achieved it with the title track ‘Little Boat’ as the storm picks up for ‘that little boat’ so does the pace and the volume till the storm of voices fills your ears with that big stage sound when anything could happen and usually does. - Quenched Music

As a music fan and gig haunter, there is nothing more pleasurable than walking completely unaware into some venue or bar to get a drink, use the bathroom, to get some change or other such mundane activity; only to emerge 30 minutes later beaming with excitement and thrilled from tip-to-toe by something unexpected, unknown and unfathomably brilliant. And whilst browsing around the excellent Eurocultured festival in Manchester this weekend, this is precisely what happened to me. The place: The Thirsty Scholar. The premise: A drink, I think. No, I’m sure. The band: The magnificent HoneyFeet, who are possibly the best jazz-soul band as I’ve seen in my time in Manchester.

As accomplished as it can be technically, so often bands who reach out into the airspace of Jazz and Soul can be cold, robotic and lacking in anything more than tepid noodling and dead-eyed posturing. HoneyFeet are anything but. Fronted by the tremendous vocal prowess of Riognach Connolly who twists her larynx round different turns of Etta James, Amy Winehouse and Beth Gibbons, they swirl it all up into a dextrous cocktail of soul, roadhouse blues, jazz-standards and rare groove. It makes you dance, it makes you swing, it occasionally sounds like Sandy Denny fronting the Mos Eisley Cantina Band in Star Wars. Yep, that good.

It moulds together into a memorable carnival of sound, the right side of crazy and chaotic without being imprecise. Rattling guitar and hopping double bass draw the boundaries whilst deft saxophone and flute colour in the spaces. The place is packed, absolutely packed; a sea of people moving together and having an absolute hootenanny. And when the bass player unleashes a frighteningly authentic Tom Waits growl on backing vocals, the whole thing is complete. Well, not quite. Because in a quite audacious and striking move, they finish with a barnstorming, groove-laden soul workout of the aforementioned Mr Waits “Down in the Hole” which goes down an absolute treat (Especially amongst our group of four obsessive Waits fans at the back) The whole place is moving, the bar staff look quite taken aback and even the sound technician is smiling broadly. Sometimes the joy of music is all in the moment; taking a crowd and making it your own, giving them something memorable and an excuse to shake off their troubles, blues and bank holiday hangovers. And what in the world is wrong with that? This is a band with the talent to make you listen, the beats to make you move and the sheer confidence and audacity to pull the whole gosh darned thing together. They really are worth catching up with; your hips will thank you for it.... - Music-dash.co.uk

A glorious fusion of jazz, soul, funk and just the right sprinkling of authentic dirt, there really isn’t anyone like Honeyfeet around at the moment. Describing themselves as “Apple Pie for the Soul”, they remain one of the most captivating and exciting live acts I’ve seen in recent years, having first seen them at the Eurocultured Festival last summer and being struck by their “memorable carnival of sound, the right side of crazy and chaotic without being imprecise. Rattling guitar and hopping double bass draw the boundaries whilst deft saxophone and flute colour in the spaces. The place is packed, absolutely packed; a sea of people moving together and having an absolute hootenanny”. Add to that singer Rioghnach Connolly’s stunning, muscular soul vocals and you’re left with something “like Sandy Denny fronting the Mos Eisley Cantina Band in Star Wars”. Now, you’re not going to want to miss that, are you? - Manchester Music

Honeyfeet are the wonderful kind of eclectic alternative you love to discover in the stumble-upon fashion, a folksy dream of a group that so sublimely match the “live performance is the only truly lasting format” ethos of Debt Records, you have to wonder whether owner Louis Barabbas crafted the label around them.

Even with Sam Buckley’s growling vocals on the likes of ‘The Deed’ and ‘Flowers’ – from their debut EP Little Boat - more than a touch reminiscent of Louis himself, it’s ultimately vocalist/flautist Ríoghnach Connolly who flaunts unpredictable yet incredible range to the point where you feel compelled to experience the majesty of her talent in person. Labelling the ensemble near peerless wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to imagine if you were to discover Honeyfeet in the right venue at the right time.

There’s just a trace of Laura Marling in Connolly’s vocals, if you’re looking for comparison, but I’d be so bold as to suggest that Connolly offers more. Manchester have themselves a wonderful talent fronting a terrific brand of exuberant diversity like little else.

While their EP exhibits some of the best “foot-banging” sound around, I will say this: it’s within the multifarious spectacle ‘Knocking (On Another Man’s Door)’ where you’ll hear the very best of Honeyfeet.
- 7 Bit Arcade