Fresh off national attention via a hit TV show sound track and iTunes, Baby Bee rocks the Blue Moon Saloon.
Fans of The Walking Dead have already heard Baby Bee, a pair of Houma brothers playing at The Blue Moon Thursday, May 8 (tonight). In season three, their song "Love Bug" plays over the din of men battling each other and toothless zombies in a post-apocalyptic hybrid of pro wrestling and MMA.
"We are huge fans of the show," says Joe Stark, guitarist and vocalist. "We were stoked to be a part of it all. ... Feels great! We think that whatever you can do to get music out there and keep being a band, you should do it."
The brothers signed a deal with Universal Republic in 2012, just a year after forming. A musician since the age of 9, Joe cut two albums by age 15. In the following two decades, they toured with Eddie Money, Peter Frampton, Bad Company, Styx and Billy Squire. Later this year, Baby Bee will release a single and possibly a full-length record. If there is a checklist for succeeding in today's music, both should be huge. On top of exposure from the show and other licensing endeavors, the band's "High Heel Leather Boots," off the four-song EP The Shaker, landed an iTunes single of the week.
Formerly, the Starks played in Sons of William, named after their father. Baby Bee takes its name from their mother who called them baby bees when they were young. After dissolving Sons of William, they moved away from songwriter-driven roots rock towards a more striped-down sound.
"We consistently aim for Cajun Ramones, if that makes any sense," says Stark.
The change yielded a catchy, old school rock sound somewhat similar to New Orleans' Supagroup minus the AC/DC fixation. There's an occasional surf rock riff and strum accenting raw and dirty, butt-shaking rock. It's nowhere near the glossy, semi-rap found on top of the rock charts but that's quite alright.
"We don't know how to make loops or play with tracks and have no interest in learning, so no one should expect that out of us," says Stark. "Rock is always around and when all the fads change, it's still there just being rock and rocking the f--- out. Two brothers from Houma will keep it alive just fine!"