Looking for the must-see band in Austin, Texas right now? Look no further than the group with nine members that sometimes features the flugelhorn. 

That’s right, Austin’s own Honey Made has built a devoted following in a city known for its live music, with an eclectic group of musicians and a style that can’t be placed in any one box. 

Honey Made is an R&B band first and foremost, but there’s a healthy dose of funk, soul, jazz and hip hop included in the band’s overall sound, which hearkens back to legends like James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone and Earth, Wind and Fire. The group has been named the best live band in town by Austin Fit Magazine for two years running. 

“It obviously starts with the music,” says longtime member Donald McDaniel, who plays the trombone. “We have a group of really good musicians and when we perform live and we get a good sound mix, it’s a really solid live sound. And it’s also the energy we project and how we interact with each other. Our singers do a great job getting the fans engaged, drawing them out of their shells and getting them to dance and move.”

In addition to McDaniel, Honey Made consists of Dustin Hunter on saxophone, Joseph Morrow on trumpet (and flugelhorn), Donald Ford, Jr. on vocals, Willie Barnes II on vocals, Chris Barnes on drums and vocals, Brian Cokeley on keyboards, Lee Braverman on bass and Mark Saldana on percussion.

They play as many as 50 shows a year and would like to do even more. It’s not just their live performances that have people talking, though–Honey Made’s growing discography is also earning rave reviews. 

They released the Couple Few EP in 2020 with five tracks and followed it up with the 10-song album Brand New in the same year. And their newest project is the album Charge It to the Band Fund, released last November, which features seven songs including the hit “Ashy Pockets (My Mode).”

Ratings Game Music says that every aspect of the new project “exudes authenticity and freshness, a rare quality in the musical landscape.” And Texas Music writes that “running through the seven tracks is like getting a full-off sampling of spoons at an ice cream place.”

One song, in particular, exemplifies a Honey Made show: the second track, “Vibin,” which “slides in with Lee Braverman’s sultry bass intro that makes way for impressive falsettos,” writes Texas Music. “But this is Honey Made, so just when you thought you figured out what’s going on, they flip the beat to a slow funk carried surprisingly by a punchy trumpet solo.”

And The Austin Chronicle noted the song’s “groovy ska basslines and electric riffs that take us to church on the dance floor.”

“It’s about being out, getting on the dance floor, finding someone you really want to have a good time with and just enjoying the vibe,” McDaniel says.

And plenty of people are “Vibin” to Honey Made, which recorded its debut album with Grammy-winning Steve Berlin of Los Lobos serving as producer. The band has shared the stage with George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic, Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, The Motet, Lee Fields, Roxy Roca and Flow Tribe. Honey Made has also played the South by Southwest official showcase.

They’re currently lining up shows for 2024 and will soon head to the studio to record a single, “Pass Me By,” to release this summer. They’ve got an eye on playing more festivals this year, as well as gigs in places like Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and New Orleans.

“We can be doing traditional Motown, a Memphis soul sound and then move on to something with hip hop elements or jazz,” McDaniel says. “Ashy Pockets is like G funk and even has some rock and metal influences in it. Our music has elements from several different genres, and it can even happen in the same song.”

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