Wednesday, March 12   8:00 p.m.
Emo's Main Room   (603 Red River St)

  Black Joe Lewis & the Honey Bears - Gunpowder
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Soul is alive and well in the River City, but the old-timers have nothing to do with it. J.J. Lewis, aka Black Joe, in his mid-20s and full of spunk, stands tall and strong onstage with his band of gentlemen. He howls into the mic, half James Brown, half his own man, and he splays blood and heart all over the guitar. It’s imperfect yet beautiful. Reinventing his roots of Lighting Hopkins and Sam Cooke, Lewis adds a Red River vibe to the true blues of generations past. Born in Tucson, Ariz., Lewis moved to the Austin area as a child, attending Round Rock High School, if only temporarily. Starting out with his band Cool Breeze in 2002, an odd combo of Weary Boys pickers and harp-blower Walter Daniels, Lewis began honing his craft slowly and steadily: more guitar, more talkin’, more cryin’, more wailin’. In 2007, he ditched the Breeze and formed the Honey Bears, releasing an EP of the same name that summer.
– Darcie Stevens, Austin Chronicle