Everyone in New Orleans likes the taste of sweet music, and next month the Honey Island Swamp Band will be ready and willing to treat the Crescent City's famously sweet musical tooth with the upcoming release of their new album, titled - no doubt prophetically - Good To You.

Good to You - which was recorded right here in New Orleans in association with Threadhead Records - features 13 original tracks, some of which the HISB have been performing live for some time, and others that no one has yet had the chance to taste .

The album will be available after April 9th and includes the current HISB funk favorite Chocolate Cake, and the country-inspired Josephine. It also showcases what the boys described as a new, truly collaborative sound between all of the band members, one that focuses on the extraordinary power of their live performances, as well as their signature blending of New Orleans funk, country and root music.

"There's more energy when you play music live," said guitarist Chris Mulé to WWOZ. "There is more flow to it. When you do a track you're trying to get the drum and the bass track first, and then you are putting everything else on top. It just takes away a lot of the human element. There is just more of a live feeling to the CD."

"We just did a lot more of us recording together in the same room," singer and mandolin player Aaron Wilkinson went on. "You know, everyone in the studio recording as much as you can in one take, rather than everyone overdubbing this, and overdubbing that. More of an attitude of let's do it all together, and getting the feel of the track, rather than the perfect guitar solo. It's more about the sum of the parts."

"Another thing that I think has changed with this disc, as opposed to the first two, is just the natural evolution of the band," added bass player Sam Price. "The four elements that we all bring to this music mix have kinda congealed at this moment, and that comes across."

Just back from a three week tour of the East Coast, the HISB told WWOZ that they were pleased by the number of new fans that lined up for a slice of their music cake, and they are also looking forward to playing at the French Quarter Fest, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. This will be their second time playing Jazz Fest and it will be, according to Aaron Wilkinson, awesome.

"We played the Gentilly Stage last year, and it was really exciting, but, it being our first year, we were on really early in the morning. It was great but it was just hard to get up that early. " Wilkinson laughed. "This year we are playing on the Fais Do Do, and I think that it is going to be a great stage for us. They do a lot of Americana, and roots music there, and that is where we are most at home - it's one of our favorite stages. We are playing 4:15  to 5:15 Saturday, May 1."

The Honey Island Swamp Band will be head-lining at One Eyed Jacks on Saturday, March 27, with Andrew Duhon and the Lonesome Crows opening at 10 PM.

Further information regarding upcoming HISB shows is available at:

http://www.honeyislandswampband.com/