Coalescing in Portland, Honeymoon is a band that sonically hails from a ways away and a while ago, bringing with them sound and prose you know you should have heard but somehow missed. With folk tradition at its roots, Honeymoon’s sound climbs elegantly past the clouds that so many ‘new country’ acts can get stuck in. Hannah Underwood and Sav Eades are the musical powerhouses that bring rhythm and harmony to earnest feelings of love, reminiscence, and most importantly, renewal. In 2023, Honeymoon added John Bailey Cox and the nimble, electrifying movements from his mandolin to their self-described ‘emo country’ group and put out their first EP, Wild Bird.

For future shows and music releases, follow Honeymoon on Instagram @musicwithhoneymoon and check out their bandcamp here!

 How did you guys meet? What  inspired you to form Honeymoon?

Hannah Underwood: Sav and I met while we were working at Trader Joes in 2021. We bonded over a shared love of the late great Blaze Foley and quickly discovered that we were each looking for people to play music with. We didn’t officially form Honeymoon until a year later, when it became clear that both of our songwriting paths were taking us in a similar folk-country direction. When John Bailey moved to Portland it was such a natural fit for him to join the band – his mandolin, fiddle, and drum talents bring such life and vibrancy to the songs.

John Bailey Cox:  Yeah it turns out we were all being lobbied by our mutual friend Max.  When my partner and I were moving to town, before we ever got to town, Max was telling me about Honeymoon and how great they were and how I should try to play music with them.  I only found out recently that he was having the same kind of conversations with Sav.  When I first heard them practicing, I was so moved by their voices and harmonies.  They seemed to lift right through the ceiling, like the room was somehow bigger.  When we first played together, they had a backlog of songs to show me.  It was so much fun right from the start, I think we all knew it was a special connection.

How has starting Honeymoon impacted your life? Is there anything you’d change about it?

HU: For me it’s been an exercise in learning to be vulnerable – sharing my creative work always feels scary and it’s intense to be sharing my work publicly. But it’s also been so fun to collaborate musically with two people who are on the same page as me, it’s really fun to help and challenge each other to make our songs as polished as they can be. Wouldn’t change a thing!

 The creative process is not something that can be forced, and everyone’s looks a little different. Would you mind describing the process of taking a song from thought and feeling to composition?

HU: I know we all do this differently, but for me it’s a pretty set process every time. I start with a chord progression I like, then I’ll hum or sing nonsense until I find a melody I like, and finally I’ll put words to it. I can have an idea or subject matter of song that I want to write that’ll inform the feeling of the chords, but for some reason I find it impossible to put music to existing lyrics. 

From there it becomes more collaborative. I’ll bring the song to John Bailey and Sav and we will workshop other instrumental parts and harmonies. 

Expanding Sky Studio worked with you guys on Wild Bird. How did that connection come about? How is the local music scene in terms of inclusivity and amenability to new members?

HU: We were connected with Will (Lederer, of Expanding Sky) through one of our former Trader Joes managers. Recording with Expanding Sky has been a dream, they’ve really supported our vision while giving us guidance on how to sound our best in the studio. Portland’s music scene in general has been really welcoming to us. The Apohadion in particular has been a venue that was super helpful to us as we were getting off the ground with performances. One of our favorites to play at!

If intent can be ascribed to Honeymoon, how would it be defined? If the band had an ethos, what might it be? How would you like the audience to implement these teachings?

HU: We work a lot with themes of nature, joy, friendship, and loss. I personally have written a lot about different kinds of grief. I want our listeners to go with me as I learn to live with these emotions, and flourish with them. That said, despite writing about a lot of heavy subjects, I want to celebrate the joy and levity in life, both through lyricism and playing with instrumentation. 

Can we expect another project soon? Any upcoming shows? 

HU: Yes! We recently released our newest single, “I’ll Never Change,” on March 11th. We are opening for Camp St Helene and Dominic Lavoie on May 4th at the Apohadion in Portland!