Honky

Honky came together in 1996 as a power trio devoted to hot-wired boogie rock that blended classic-rock swagger with punk attitude, founded by Jeff Pinkus, the longest-serving bassist from the Butthole Surfers. Following his departure from that group in 1994, the Austin-based musician threw himself into several side projects, one of which was the short-lived Skinny Lynerd. Its guitarist, moonlighting tattoo artist Carson Vester, joined Pinkus and drummer Lance Farley for an impromptu jam session that convinced the three players their chemistry demanded a permanent band. Honky quickly became regulars on the Austin club scene and issued their first recording, the 1997 EP Ten Inches, on Man’s Ruin Records. Later that same year the group released its self-titled debut album on Pinkus’s own Honest Abe imprint. Extensive touring earned them a reputation for tireless, hard-partying performances, yet the pace eventually proved too much for Vester, who departed; Gable Barber stepped in on guitar. A notoriously unruly Chicago gig opening for L7 was captured and released as the band’s second album, Attacked by Lesbians in a Chicago Bowling Alley. In 2001 Honky returned to the studio for House of Good Tires, introducing guitarist Bobby Ed Landgraf, who would become Pinkus’s long-term creative partner while a rotating cast of drummers moved through the lineup. Kenny Wagner handled the kit on 2005’s Balls Out Inn, and Michael “Night Train” Brueggen played on 2012’s 421, which was mixed by Pinkus’s former Butthole Surfers colleague Paul Leary. During 2013 and 2014 dates, often as openers for the Melvins, Dale Crover of that band sat behind the drums for Honky. The group’s fifth studio album, Corduroy, arrived in 2016 with Trinidad Leal—formerly of Dixie Witch—on drums.