Today we’d like to introduce you to Kimberly Gionta & Yvette Frampton.
When Kimberly and Yvette met at a party in December 2014, they bonded over their passion for live music. Kimberly had been learning to play guitar and referred Yvette to her guitar teacher. Soon, they were playing together and eventually formed cover band, VINE, which played mostly female-lead 90’s songs such as The Cranberries, Breeders, and Fiona Apple at various venues around Denver. After many performances, they were inspired to start writing their own music. The band re-branded with the addition of Blake Watts, drummer, and became The Honey Empire. They released their first self-titled album, The Honey Empire, in 2019. Ryan Skiles, keyboard, and Nick Golder, bass, joined the band in 2020. Their new single, So Long, My Love, was released last year. You can find The Honey Empire on Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, YouTube and more.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The biggest obstacle we’ve faced has definitely been the pandemic. We are completely in agreement with safety protocols, but have also been sad to see how the entire live music industry has suffered from shut downs this past year. After a few months of isolating in our homes, we figured out a safe way to set up our instruments in Kimberly’s yard so that we could start playing together and rehearsing as a band again. That led us to think about creative ways we might be able to play for a live audience and we came up with the idea for the fundraiser we held in Yvette’s back yard in August. The small, socially-distanced concert raised over $25,000 for the Colorado Music Relief Fund, a non-profit benefitting artists and music industry professionals. The highlight for us was that we got to open for Wildermiss. Since then, we’ve managed to play a handful of socially-distanced live shows around town and we are always happy to be supporting our local venues.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
We are proud to be a female lead indie rock band. We also feel that we are setting a good example for our children. You can follow your passion at any age, and be brave and vulnerable and put yourself out there.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
The band is a gratifying creative outlet and we’ve managed to develop a healthy collaborative writing process over the last couple of years. The best days are those when the ideas are flowing and we are all clicking as writers. Taking songs we have written to an audience is an added bonus, especially when we can see that they are connecting with them.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@thehoneyempire.com
- Website: www.thehoneyempire.com
- Instagram: @thehoneyempire
- Facebook: thehoneyempire
- Youtube: thehoneyempire
- SoundCloud: thehoneyempire
Image Credits
Nikki Rae Photography
