Zoë Langsdale sings and plays the saxophone in June & the Bee. The band will be opening for The Wailin’ Jennys at The Calvin in Northampton on Friday, May 9th.
House: Albright
Year: 2017
Major: Music/Ethnomusicology
How did you get involved with June & the Bee? June & the Bee was started by a sibling duo who both went to my high school — Emma Ayres and her brother Eli Ayres. I had seen them perform and really liked their music, so I was pleasantly surprised when Emma ran up to me after a chorus concert and asked me to play with them. The rest is history.
Where does the name “June & the Bee” come from? “June” is Emma’s middle name, and her parents call her “June bug” a lot, and then “bee” is Eli’s nickname from when he was a little kid. We like to joke that I’m the ampersand.
How would you describe June & the Bee’s music? We got tired of telling people we’re “kind of contemporary, upbeat folk, but not really” so we made up our own genre called “fauxk” and let listeners decide what that means for themselves.
Who are some bands/singers/songs that you personally really like? I am a huge Joni Mitchell fan. My goal in life is to be Joni Mitchell. I also really love Bob Dylan, Dar Williams, Tom Waits, Buena Vista Social Club, Van Morrison, Dr. John, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Stevie Wonder… Just to name a few.
What’s your favorite memory of playing with June & the Bee? We played a show back in April of 2013 in NYC and after we were done we decided to play on the street. Around 1:00 or 1:30 in the morning, the cops came and told us we had to move, but that they were truly sorry and that they loved our music. We walked a few blocks uptown and found a corner shish kebob restaurant and asked the manager if we could play inside. We played there until about three in the morning to a very enthusiastic (and drunk) crowd and got everyone to sing with us on the chorus of our last song. It was a great and hilarious night.