Hold On Honeys finds the harmony
Trio joins others Sunday for Joni Mitchell tribute
Emily Curro, Raya Malcolm and Shannon Rafferty each have many years of experience on the stage. But playing music as harmonizing folk trio Hold On Honeys is a vastly different (and nerve-wracking) performance experience.
“I’ve done theater my whole life, and in high school and college, I would do poetry and spoken word at open mics, but if I performed music I’d feel particularly vulnerable,” Malcolm said.
“I’ve literally been naked on stage, but performing music makes me feel more vulnerable,” Curro concurred.
Vulnerability hasn’t thwarted the group’s forward progress and musical growth, and this Sunday at Cohoes Music Hall will be their biggest show yet.
The three singers have known each other for a long time. Curro and Rafferty first met at the New York State Theatre Institute 18 years ago, and all
Hold On Honeys
three are active participants in Troy Foundry Theatre. But it wasn’t until 2020 that the idea of making music together developed.
Malcolm and Rafferty, both Capital Region natives, had been living in New
York City and relocated to Troy when the COVID pandemic hit. Curro, producing director of Troy Foundry, was already living there. With theater and most activities shut down, they were looking for another creative activity.
“We were all feeling sad and were looking for something that would cheer us up,” Rafferty said. “We thought we’d get together like once a week and it’d be fun. But then we started and we were like, ‘Oh, we’re kind of good.’”
“We would meet up on my porch to rehearse in the freezing cold back in 2021,” Curro said. “We’re all friends and spend so much time together, so we could skip the ‘let’s learn about each other,’ and learn how our voices go together.”
Using folk artists like Mountain Man, Wailin’ Jennys and Alison Krauss as reference points, Hold On Honeys developed their own minimalist approach to singing and writing. It has helped them carve a unique sound and a niche locally. Performing as either an a cappella trio or with a backing band of guitarist Matt Malone, banjo player
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