Tonic Mixtape: Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears

With a name like Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, you know this band has to be good. Signed to alt-country label Lost Highway, this Austin-based group brings back the high-energy blues like a Howlin' Wolf-James Brown mash-up.

The band formed in 2007 when Lewis, who learned to play guitar while working at a pawnshop, got booked to open for Little Richard at the University of Texas. The group quickly achieved local acclaimed and soon hit larger stages like Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits. After signing with Lost Highway, Spoon drummer Jim Eno produced their full-length debut, "Tell 'Em What Your Name Is!"

"Tell 'Em" tracks like "Sugarfoot" and "Boogie" recall the classic big band entertainment vibe, while "Master Sold My Baby" and "Get Yo S**t" deliver darker blues narratives that one images lit up the Depression-era speakeasies. Overall, this makes Black Joe Lewis one of those rare bands that transcends the generations, the type that could play the Warped Tour one day and the Opry the next without even changing their set list.

As long as you like your music with an edge, Black Joe Lewis has an ageless universal appeal that is, well, fun for the whole family.

Images by Cambria Harkey.