“Proving the axiom, you get what you give, Local Honey gives an outstandingly inspired performance.” With music that attempts to reconcile through melody and poetry, the fine lines that stand in tenuous balance between love and artistic passion, Local Honey fills your ears with a certain and captivating empathy for the nuances that comprise the grey areas of life. The listener will find themselves dancing up a sweat, channeling positive vibrations and a profound zeal for living, and then a few songs later, dabbing at their eyes with a sudden reminder of the strength and sorrow that is a part of everyone’s stories.
Erin has been making music all her life in one way or another, but it wasn’t until 2010 when she needed a part time job and decided the best way would be to play nights in small bars that she became part of the local music scene. She played out, networked, and met some friends, and they started The Dizzy River Band which featured excellent harmonies, catchy dance worthy covers, and the lead guitar playing of Frank Natter. DRB quickly raised the bar on small town cover bands and became successfully busy gigging regularly in many of the CT River Valley pubs, summer concert series, fairs, and theaters. Her time in Dizzy River taught and inspired Erin to try her hand at songwriting and in a unique collaboration with the other members of the band DRB recorded and released an album in 2016. They received airtime on local radio stations, enjoyed playing at Mohegan Sun Casino and sold out the historic Chester Meetinghouse. All of this sealed her fate, compelling her to continue pursuing music. At the end of 2018, Dizzy River disbanded but Erin and Frank stayed musically connected and that spawned the creation of Local Honey. Erin’s songwriting and vocals, fueled by life experiences and compassion, are the focus of this project.
Frank came of age in a family of musicians, artists, and dancers during the fertile shift of rock music in the early 1990s. He learned to play guitar and began writing his own songs, feeling the influences of rock and roll- Led Zeppelin, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd. Dually inspired by the harmonies of bands like the Everly Brothers, the Beatles, and CSNY, Frank decided to pursue a career in music. After spending a few years touring with his first band Hey-Hey Tommy, he settled back down in CT and opened Face Arts Music School. He went on to earn a B.A. in Music Composition, he’s written instruction books for Alfred Music Publishing and composed for theatre, dance, chamber groups, and several bands. As a teacher, his lessons have been featured in Premiere Guitar Magazine. Although he’s a multi-instrumentalist, his heart lies with the guitar and most recently, Frank spent eight years as the lead guitarist for local favorites The Dizzy River Band. When DRB took sabbatical at the end of 2018, Frank and Erin began their new collaboration, Local Honey.
Abe grew up in Ivoryton, CT. Being a self-taught drummer, he spent most of his time practicing and playing with many talented people in the area. His love and passion for rhythm and tempo kept him playing, and led him to drum for popular local bands Stubborn Mule, Smoke Bubbles, and most recently, Old Dog New Trick. Over the years, he’s had the opportunity to share the stage with well-known musicians Derek Trucks and Vince Welneck, and he has sat in for Max Creek and opened for Johnny Winter. One evening at the historic Griswold Inn in Essex, Abe sat in on drums for The Dizzy River band, and his energies and talents brought that night’s music to a whole new level of energy, emotion, and rhythmic velocity. Erin was hooked, and a year or two later Abe, who was always a fan and regular dancer at Dizzy River gigs, decided to invest his precious and sought-after talents into Local Honey.