Meet Black Joe Lewis

© Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears

Black Joe Lewis (3rd from left) with his Honeybears.

Drive down Airport Blvd. in East Austin and there's an unassuming restaurant called Quality Seafood Market that, up until three months ago, employed Joe Lewis as an oyster shucker. Now a full-time musician, Joe Lewis, front man of the Austin, Texas soul-funk ensemble, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, can add soon to be two-time Austin City Limits performer and guest musical act on the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson to his resume. But ask Joe if anything has changed and he'll tell you, "Nah. Not for me. I guess a lot of people saw us play. I still feel the same. "

As a solo artist, Joe Lewis had little success and even less interest in a music career. But once Joe teamed up with the band that Zach Ernst (guitarist) built, the Honeybears, Joe says that "everything happened pretty fast. We just practiced a whole lot and got a lot of gigs. And just been playing and the band got better. I think it worked out pretty easily."

Joe credits the stiff musical competition in Austin as a factor that pushed them to play more to get noticed. Their early local success in Austin scored them some high profile gigs, such as a spot on the 2008 Austin City Limits lineup and as an opening band at a rally for then presidential candidate Barack Obama. "We played outside the Capitol. And the whole city heard us because they had Congress all rigged up. Nobody got to meet Obama. But we got to listen and hear everything. It was a lot of fun."

Joe is described by Honeybear and keyboardist, Ian Varley, as a "let's just do it" kind of guy. While Joe admits that all of this aspirations for becoming a full-time musician (namely, not having to shuck oysters in a seafood restaurant anymore) have been met, his uncomplicated attitude might account for his dislike of the "politics" of the business. "The business gets old sometimes but that's the only thing really." For Joe, the best part of being a musician is "some of the places that I've gotten to see. I like the West Coast a lot. Going off to Canada is fun. Just the fact that I don't have to go to work." Although Joe really hated working in the fish market, he's not afraid of hard work. "You just gotta keep working hard to make it a big deal. You think you already made it, you don't want to think like that when you haven't."

This Sunday at Austin City Limits, Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears will be killing it on the AMD stage from 12:30-1:15, playing hits from their recently released album, Tell Em What Your Name Is. (Joe is most excited to see the Levon Helm Band.) Despite Joe's understated demeanor, when he takes the stage he is a man possessed, channeling the soul, funk, and inspiration of James Brown and spitting out explosive lyrics in a call and response with the band a la the old school funk tradition.

It's that energy that's helped the band's reputation grow. But as they do, and as they continue to draw huge crowds in Austin, Joe's grounded opinion of himself hasn't changed. "[I] guess that's just who I am. I haven't had any problems with it."