“Curtain” Showcases Honey Cellar’s Collaborative Creativity Ahead of New Album

Chicago folk-rock group Honey Cellar returns with their new single “Curtain” on June 3rd – a slow, but hopeful track on the experience of losing a long-time love. In the typical attraction of a rose-coloured glass, this song follows the narrator as she time-travels through the good and bad memories, disguising raw emotion behind the veil of theatrical metaphors, all to contemplate one question: was it meant to be?

“Each relationship is a new adventure, a new night on a new stage, performing with someone you are so enthralled with that it paints your dreams,” says lead vocalist and bassist, Catherine Krol. “When it’s over, maybe as a coping mechanism, you begin to fade out the harsh realities of the struggles you overcame together and focus on the good moments. Regret is a byproduct, but it’s natural. By naming these fears, writing this song helped me accept that as a part of the grieving process and learn to move on.”

“Curtain” showcases Honey Cellar’s exquisite talent for collaboration and musicality as the concept of the song was introduced by Krol as a coping mechanism, but the group’s collaborative efforts moulded the final product into what is heard today. Band members Danny Connolly (guitar, vocals) and Lucy Holden (violin, mandolin, vocals) leaned on their theatre experience, sifting through popular lines from their favourite stage shows to help build the story. Tariq Shihadah (guitar) wove his own way through the song, writing a countermelody with his lead guitar, while Holden leveraged both mandolin and violin at intentional moments of the song to either support a build or add coloration in the bridge. Joey Buttlar (drums, percussion). brought his own flavour to the mix as the group experimented with the arrangement of the bridge to transition into a completely new feel, using that breath to simulate an intermission.

Honey Cellar’s debut album In Our Time was built around more traditional folk instrumentation and arrangement. Their second album, Borders, will be released in the Summer of 2022 and is a natural evolution of their sound, leaning on folk-rock, folk-pop, and even indie-rock sensibilities. Their new sound brings the band to spacey new heights with the introduction of lead guitarist Shihadah and a more collaborative blend of songwriting. Each song is still shaped by their deep roots in folk music through the prominent featuring of violin, mandolin and flute.

Cover art for “Curtain” by Honey Cellar