LOCAL ARTISTS SHINE photos by Sam Bishop
After a brief hiatus in 2020 thanks to Covid-19 lockdown, the Worcester Music Awards came back with a vengeance. Airing on MARCH 8th, the awards have only improved with each of their 2020s iteration. Pulse Magazine’s sponsored Music Awards is truly an event to behold. Nominations and even awards are based on fan votes, making it one of the most hands-on musical awards events around. I had the pleasure of connecting with some of my personal favorites from the lineup and got the scoop from some of our city’s most beloved musical voices. First up the ever-soulful Blue Honey, I had a chance to chat with Elayne Fikucki, lead vocalist. Fikucki filled me in on how the band got started and how they identify in the great spectrum of musical possibilities.
“We’ve been together for 10 years! We came together after all working with different bands and meeting each other at different gigs. Some of us had worked together on different projects. We’ve had a couple of changes with players through the years, but the current lineup has been together, I’d say around 8 years. We all get along so well, like a blended family really. We like to describe our sound as Blues on the rocks with a twist of Blue Honey. What I mean by that is that we’re blues oriented, more towards the Blues/R&B sound, stuff with a groove. We do mostly covers, although we do have a few original tunes, but we add our own distinct flavor to the covers. We add our own flair! We have a great time when we perform and take pride in seeing the audience enjoy our show. It’s all about fun, right? We’re working on lots of new material at the moment, and will have some exciting new band news to be disclosed in the near future!” Of course, part of celebrity responsibility means acknowledging the ways in which others before you have paved the way and opened doors, as well as passing the baton to future musicians. “I should add that we’ve been fortunate, through the years, to open shows for Luther Guitar Junior Johnson, Coco Montoya, James Montgomery. We love performing at The Stomping Ground in Putnam, CT, The Hitching Post, B-Man’s 140, MCL. We do a lot of private parties and outdoor gigs
6 MA RCH
20 23
Irena Kaçi
in the good weather months. There is so much amazing talent in the Worcester area. I love seeing The Silverbacks when they play. I just got back, a couple of weeks ago, from Memphis where I went with friends to support The Matt Swanton Band, which was competing in the International Blues Challenge. They’re definitely a band to see. So much talent! This past summer we played on Rutland Common during their summer concert series. We were excited for that. Rutland is my hometown. They rebooked us for 2023!” I had the good luck to catch Ladii Girl on a slow week and ask a few questions. Her single “She Can’t” is in regular rotation on my Spotify. Ladii Girl, whose given name is Johanna Hampton-Dance, has been immersed in music for a long time.