The Local Honeys are a charming duo, born and raised in Central and Eastern Kentucky. The pairing is comprised of Montana Hobbs and Linda Jean Stokley. Montana and Linda Jean are the first females to graduate with Bachelor of Arts degrees in Traditional Music from Morehead State University.

Their sincere dedication to Kentucky music led them to spend many late evenings in the college’s traditional music archives where they listened in awe to the many regional fiddle and banjo players from which they have drawn much of their repertoire. They listened eagerly through the static and crackle of many field recordings to transliterate the living and late Kentucky artists whose stories, songs, and tunes were recorded by those foreseeing the importance of their survival.

These ladies have cultivated a distinguishing sound by utilizing their powerful voices, in both sweet and haunting, intricate harmony. Their voices lay fittingly suspended in air in a capella fashion or befittingly entwined with appropriate instrumental accompaniment. Late one evening in Cork City, Ireland they found themselves singing in an abandoned stairwell with thirty-sum Irish companions where a man proclaimed, “My sweet girls, you sing like angels and play like devils!” They diversely incorporate entrancing balladry, pleasing lullabies, the blues, and driving fiddle and banjo tunes.

These ladies are bringing the home music of the mountains to listening audiences throughout the region and elsewhere. They have sung and played for audiences across the Appalachian region and internationally in Ireland, Jamaica, and Canada. They are so very proud of their culture and hope to instill a sense of curiosity in their audiences about their own heritage while strengthening the appreciation of the high lonesome sound some have forgotten.