American Honey to close out summer concert series

MOSES LAKE — The name came out of the blue.

“When we started, we used to do these band barbecues, and we hadn’t come up with a name yet,” said Audre Belt, lead singer of American Honey, which will perform Friday in Moses Lake. “We had come up with these (names) … that seemed really cheesy. And one of the guys started pointing at random things on the table, and we happened to have a bottle of Wild Turkey American Honey whiskey. He pointed at it and said, ‘American Honey’ and we all looked at each other and we just knew from that moment that that was it.”

That was in 2017, and the band is still making music around eastern Washington, although Belt original member to play continuously with American Honey. (Keyboard player Rob Tranch was a founding member, but left for several years, Belt said.) American Honey’s show will be the last performance of this year’s Moses Lake Summer Concert Series.

Besides singing lead in a voice reminiscent of Leann Rimes or a young Tanya Tucker, Belt also plays rhythm guitar. Lead guitar is in the hands of Dan Stucki, ranch plays keyboard and west side transplant Dave Greenburg is the drummer. Bassist Bret Smith is also a classically trained cellist, according to the band’s website, and teaches music at Central Washington University. The players come from diverse backgrounds but have a great chemistry, Belt said.

“I have never had such a good group,” she said. “This is just my favorite collection of people. I feel like I’ve kind of hand-picked the best of the best … Everybody brings so much to the table.”

The majority of American Honey’s repertoire is covers of classic rock and country, Belt said, although Friday’s show will include some original material as well.

“(We’ve selected) more of our high-energy songs, especially for a venue like this, where it’s outdoors and people have space to dance,” Belt said. “We like pick those songs so they can actually get up and move.”

The band has recorded a single in the studio and is making plans for more.

“Now that we have this really solid group, we’ve started building kind of a studio,” Belt said. “We are actually working on getting some recording done this year and hopefully releasing some stuff by winter or maybe early next year.”

American Honey is no stranger to this area; they’re based in Yakima but have played at the Moses Lake Roundup Rodeo in the past as well as other locations in the Basin.

“I’ve seen them out at the Gorge,” said Jenni Shelton, Creative Programs Coordinator for Moses Lake Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services, who organizes the concert series for the Moses Lake Creative District. “The Gorge will sometimes do concerts in the campground, just for the campers. They’re really fun.”

“Come ready to dance, and we hope everyone has an amazing time,” Belt said.

American Honey

Moses Lake

McCosh Park

July 25

8 p.m.

    American Honey, from left: Bret Smith, bass; Dan Stucki, lead guitar; Dave Greenburg, drums; Audre Belt, lead vocals; and Rob Tranch, keyboard.