Baton Rouge, Louisiana may not be on the map as a place to catch extravagant rock shows, but the city’s wild child, Moon Honey, has relentlessly pushed through with their psychedelic dreams. Regionally, they are well known for providing performances that often incorporates inspired artistic extras such as string quartets, harpists, experimental dancers and choirs, choreographed dome projections, film reel projections, light shows, and traditional art installments. Their ever evolving style, musical vision, and reputation for putting on larger-than-life live performances has caused them to be called Intense, direct, driving; hypnotically focused with excellent execution; extremely skilled at filling up a venue, with both people and sound.” (DIG Magazine, 2012).

The band came to life when Andrew Martin, a self-taught guitarist who trained himself using a Jimi Hendrix tab book, left his home in the Cayman Islands. When he combined his naturally bizarre talents with the celebrated drumming abilities of Jermaine Butler, Moon Honey began writing their first EP, Lemon Heart Opera. Jessica Ramsey joined two years later when she offered to paint Andrew’s guitar cabinet. She ended up trying out for the band. Her inexperience in music and unorthodox voice are two of the main reasons that their EP, released in 2010, was such an explosive and innovative work.

Music composition took a turn in 2012 when Andrew and Jessica began frequenting the orchestra, falling in love with sparkling French impressionistic pieces and intense Russian epics. Jermaine, on the other hand, was spending his summers in Africa and the Middle East, soaking in percussion influences ranging from Jordanian pop ballads to Moroccan Sufi transcendental ritual beats. Being deeply rooted in a hip-hop and progressive rock background, Jermaine truly found a clever niche in beat making with experimental bassist/keyboardist, Jeffrey Livingston. All of the above combined with an open attitude, and Jessica’s colorful narrative poetry, led to the creation of Moon Honey’s debut album, Hand-Painted Dream Photographs. And what is the magic ingredient that puts this album over the top? Mixing by Greg Saunier, the well-respected drummer of the epic band Deerhoof.