The Honeycutters will take the stage for the second time at the Mars Theatre on May 6 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door or in advance at www.marstheatre.com.

The Honeycutters, an Asheville, N.C.-based original country roots band, have a voice you can’t ignore; a voice of persistence, of struggle and of hope, a voice that leads the new music movement. Poised to release their fourth studio album “On The Ropes” on May 20 on Organic Records, Nashville’s Music City Roots’ Craig Havighurst says principal songwriter and frontwoman, Amanda Anne Platt “has a voice that’s complex, sweet and aching. Even more potently, she writes songs that folks are citing as up there with the best of the field, such as Mary Gauthier and Lucinda Williams.” Along with Platt, The Honeycutters are Rick Cooper (electric and upright bass), Josh Milligan (drums and vocal harmonies), Matt Smith (pedal steel and electric guitar), and Tal Taylor (mandolin). 

“Fitting in at country honky-tonks and hard-scrabble bars alike, the Honeycutters have built a reputation for high energy shows coupled with tight harmonies and wistfully delicate lyrics of longing, heartbreak, and the American experience,” writes Alan Cackett (UK).

In "On The Ropes," Platt continues to bring songs of heartache, yearning, and comebacks using phrases so relatable you wish you had thought of them yourself, ”Love ain’t ever black and white, it’s pink and gray and blue besides” (“Blue Besides”).  Platt’s writing is always personal. The title track, “On The Ropes,” is a rally song about coming back from hard knocks. In a recent interview with David Dye of the World Cafe, Dye pointed out Platt’s string of songs with ‘love gone wrong’ themes. Her response, “Doesn’t everyone have stories of love gone wrong?” Part of Amanda’s significance as a songwriter lies in her ability to write everybody’s story and allow each listener to feel it’s theirs alone.

“On The Ropes” has 13 tracks of all original material with the exception of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” a song Plat has been playing since before she moved to Asheville.

“We’ve had a number of people ask us to record our version, so here ’tis,” she said.