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KING CRIMSON AND FOREIGNER MUSIC LEGEND

FORMS NEW BAND CALLED

HONEY WEST

Ian McDonald is an English multi-instrumental musician, best known as a founding member of progressive rock group King Crimson, formed in 1969, and of the hard rock band Foreigner in 1976. He is also well known as a rock session musician, predominantly as a saxophonist. He also plays keyboards, flute, vibraphone, and guitar.

A British rock giant and an acclaimed and respected member of New York's acting community walk into a recording studio ... and produce one of 2017's strongest and most compelling albums.

This odd couple consists of multi-instrumentalist Ian McDonald, and guitarist and lead vocalist Ted Zurkowski, co-founder of New York's celebrated Shakespeare ensemble, Frog & Peach, and a long-time member of the world-famous Actors Studio. Together, this unlikely new songwriting team conjured the album Bad Old World under the banner of their quartet, HONEY WEST.

Bad Old World is filled with memorable melodies and clever and sophisticated lyrics served on a bed of guitar-driven rock 'n' roll played by top-shelf musicians, including drummer Steve Holley, whose credits include Paul McCartney & Wings and many others, and McDonald's son, Maxwell McDonald, on bass. The album also boasts a guest appearance by Graham Maby (Joe Jackson, They Might Be Giants) on bass ("Brand New Car," "California," "A Girl Called Life"). While it's a modern sound stamped by Ian McDonald's world-class musicianship and production, it also bears an instant familiarity, thanks to a sonic blueprint recalling such Brit-rock titans as The Move and Mott the Hoople.

Representative of the band's distinct sound is Bad Old World's self-deprecating first single, "Dementia," a four-on-the-floor rave-up that melds a driving beat and rampaging guitars with McDonald's signature baritone sax and Zurkowski's unique brand of lyrical mischief.

With a cheeky nod to McDonald's British roots, there also is a helping of sly humor that permeates HONEY WEST: Witness the new video containing the hard-charging "Generationless Man," which pays homage to both the visual style of the Beatles' influential film A Hard Day's Night, and the wackiness of fellow countryman Benny Hill.

As is usually the case in artistic collaborations, the pairing of McDonald and Zurkowski was the result of fate - and, in this case, proximity as well.

HONEY WEST - named in honor and celebration of the proto-feminist 1960s cult TV spy series starring the ever-alluring Anne Francis - was already up and running when the two came together. For McDonald, discovering the scope and breadth of Zurkowski's talents was the catalyst for wanting to create a musical partnership.

BAD OLD WORLD by HONEY WEST is available to purchase at amazon.com

JP SOTTILE is a freelance journalist, published historian, radio co-host and documentary filmmaker. His credits include a stint on the NewsHour news desk, C-SPAN, and as a newsmagazine producer for ABC affiliate WJLA in Washington. Joseph “JP” Sottile is a two-time Washington Regional Emmy Award Winner. Documentary film credits include: writer, director, producer of The Warning and various production and photography credits on other public interest films. His weekly show, Inside the Headlines w/ The Newsvandal, co-hosted by James Moore, airs every Friday on KRUU-FM in Fairfield, Iowa. He is the Newsvandal.