Wild Honey and the Locusts (Matt. 3:4) has been performing since 1998, originating at a church in New Brighton, Minnesota, where the group backed visiting Minneapolis luminaries such as Patty Peterson, Prudence Johnson, and Gwen Matthews, with whom they presented a major gospel concert, “Celebrate Faith” in 2000.  Ever versatile, Wild Honey has produced liturgies in jazz, rock, country, dixieland, and even an original polka service! Wild Honey’s CD Release concert in 2005 drew 400-500 enthusiastic listeners.  The group  has been concertizing in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area since 2006.

Wild Honey has been featured on KBEM Jazz 88.5’s program, “Jazz and the Spirit.”  They have also appeared on KARE-11 Television’s “Minnesota Showcase.”

Cheri Sykes (www.cherisykes.com) is well prepared to lead Wild Honey and the Locu

sts (WH&L).  She holds a B.A. in piano, an M.A. in sacred music, and an M.A. in theology from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, where she recently served as director of contemporary worship for chapel.  Cheri has been a full-time professional musician for more than two decades.  She founded WH&L in 1999 to merge her two great passions: jazz and spirituality.  Cheri discerns a correlation between the improvisation found in jazz and the movement of the Spirit.  She has found musicians for WH&L who, like herself, find joy in bringing fresh interpretation to familiar sacred music.  As Wild Honey’s principal arranger, she claims, "The way songs are presented in a hymnal is like a jazz lead sheet.  All you see are the melody, words, and chords.  The rest is left to the Spirit!"

Harry Reiner has had a passion for playing the trumpet as far back as he can remember ― and he can remember back pretty far!  A man who honed his craft by playing thousands of gigs in dance band combos, Harry performs in the Twin Cities and also around his winter home on Sanibel Island, Florida. Gifted with a great musical ear, even after 70+ years of playing, Harry still practices every day to develop his craft. Influences Louis Armstrong and Harry James can be heard in his signature sound.  

Guitarist Ralph Hintz has been a regular on the Twin Cities music scene since the 1960s ― and for more than 20 years has

been performing with The Castaways, whose international hit, "Liar, Liar," is a true rock n' roll classic.  With early C&W influence from his dad, who was a square dance caller, Ralph's music grew to embrace influences from The Beatles and other rockers as well as jazz greats like George Benson and Wes Montgomery.  Ralph says, "Wild Honey is distinctive because it brings together musicians with such a wealth of musical backgrounds and styles.  I feel privileged to be part of it."

Drummer Bill Boyce grew up in the heartland of Illinois and remembers listening to Dick Biondi spinning the latest rock hits late i

nto the night on Chicago's WLS.  Bill came of age playing in a swing/Dixieland band and in the 70s toured the US and Canada in a 10-piece horn band that covered Chicago; Earth, Wind and Fire; The Temptations; and The Spinners.  Bill then returned to college, studying jazz and absorbing the drumming techniques of David Garibaldi (Tower of Power), Steve Gadd, and Elvin Jones.  Because Bill can play everything from rock to jazz to symphony orchestra, he's a busy jobber on the Twin Cities music scene.

Richard Kronick studied orchestral string bass with James Clute, the associate principal bassist of the Minnesota Orchestra, and jazz bass with Terry Burns, head of the bass department at the McNally-Smith College of Music in St. Paul.  Richard was a member of Steamboat Willie, which was nominated for best country-rock band in the 1981 Minnesota Music Awards.  Today, he leads his own jazz combo, The Kronick Trio.  But the musical moment he cherishes most was sitting in for a set with the legendary Muddy Waters Band at the Cozy Bar in North Minneapolis in 1969.  He says, "It's a privilege to play in Wild Honey because of the high level of musicianship and the gorgeous arrangements Cheri creates for us.”

Vocalist Monica Healy, who has been with WH&L since its inception, is the band's resident rocker ― though she's also

at home in jazz and Latin grooves.  Monica holds a bachelor's degree in vocal music education, teaches elementary school, leads Sunday school music, and rocks out on camp songs with her three daughters.  While Monica is out on the trails training for upcoming foot races, she paces herself with an iPod loaded with everything from big band jazz to hard rock, Broadway to C&W, and Sinatra to Nickelback.

Vocalist Amy Howard holds bachelor's and master's degrees in music education and has experienced the joy of teaching music to children for more than 20 years.  Whether she is singing a solo or merging with Monica and Arlys to produce rich harmonies, Amy says, "I consider it a gift to be a part of Wild Honey & the Locusts because of how innovative this group is."