Adam Levy, right, performed with the band formerly known as Hookers & Blow at the "Love Is the Law" marriage bill party in St. Paul in 2013. / Jeff Wheeler, Star Tribune (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Maybe Hookers & Blow wasn't a good band name after all, Adam Levy admits
The Honeydogs frontman's popular '70s covers group will now work under a much cuddlier moniker in light of the times.
May 2, 2018 at 6:11PM
For reasons all too plain to anyone who follows the real news of the day, Twin Cities music vet Adam Levy has decided to change the name of his popular '70s-flavored cover band Hookers & Blow to something a little more politically correct. Actually, it's a lot more P.C.
The Honeydogs frontman -- who started H&B as a for-fun all-star side project in 2002 -- cited the scourge of human sex-trafficking and the rising opioid crisis in an announcement about the name change. His group will now carry the much more agreeable and Google-friendly moniker the Sunshine Committee.
"The name started out as a joke about the perceived excess of the music business," Levy said. "We're entertainers. We don't take ourselves too seriously. But we do realize that now, more than ever before in our lifetimes, words matter. And we don't feel right making light of prostitution when human trafficking is a huge problem or kidding about drug use when the country is experiencing an opiate epidemic."
The news comes a few days ahead of H&B's, er, the SC's latest marathon gig at Lee's Liquor Lounge on Friday. They will also be playing a string of Thursday and Sunday outdoor gigs at Lord Fletcher's in Spring Park this summer.
Prone to cover everything from Mick Taylor-era Stones to J5-era Michael Jackson, the group's regular participants include George Scot McKelvey,Trent Norton, Peter J Sands, Matt Darling, Stephen Kung, Joe Savage, Billy Thommes, Noah Levy, Katie Gearty, Jennifer Grimm and Sophia Shorai.
Coincidentally, this is not the only band-name announcement Levy has made over the past week. After playing around for several months now and building up a good buzz, his newest group has settled on a much less optimistic moniker, Adam Levy & the Coming Collapse. The rocky outfit features Tony Zaccardi on bass (Romantica, Eleganza, Palmer's Bar), DeVon Gray on organ (Heiruspecs, Chastity Brown) and drummer Josh Kaplan (VanStee). They're playing the Lady Heat DJ residency party at Mortimer's tonight (Wednesday) with 26 Bats! (9 p.m., $5).
Here's a little video that explains the former Hookers & Blow's original m.o.
Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead.
