By Ken Severson
Carmel PorchFest, a six-hour music extravaganza from noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 15 in downtown Carmel, will feature more than 60 bands performing multiple musical genres.
An Indiana band performing at the PorchFest for the first time is King Bee & The Stingers, a six-piece blues, soul and funk band based in Bloomington. The band has attracted a strong following across Indiana and the Midwest, playing classic roadhouse blues, according to the group.
The band, formed in 2006, started as a duo with founder and guitarist/harmonica Mark “King” Menefee and his daughter, lead singer Sarah Menefee. As the band evolved, it started writing original blues tunes in addition to playing covers. Sarah Menefee was born in Boston but raised in Bloomington. By day, she’s a carpenter, but at night, she’s the voice for King Bee & The Stingers.
“I started singing full time with the band when I was about 25,” Sarah said. “All of us have day jobs outside of the group. Some of us work within the music industry and some don’t, but I don’t know that any of us would call it a side project.”
King Bee & The Stingers have released two studio albums and recently released a third live album, “Live From The Slippery Noodle.” The official release party will be Sept. 20 at the Slippery Noodle in downtown Indianapolis.
Sarah said the band will play about 50 shows this year, mostly on weekends, with some weekdays and possibly more next year. They have played the Southern Indiana Blues Fest, the Cincinnati Winter Blues Fest and were 2018, 2019 and 2023 semifinalists in The Blues Foundation’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn.
As for influences, Sarah said as all six members have different musical backgrounds, but said she was heavily influenced by female blues singers like Big Mama Thornton and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
“(What they) bring to the stage is something to aspire to, and the vocals from women like Etta James and Danielle Nicole and Beth Hart are the vocals that make you want to show up and practice every day,” Sarah said.
For PorchFest, Sarah said the band will play some new material.
“Some of our favorite songs are not released yet but we will definitely play them at PorchFest,” Sarah said. “Personally, some of my favorites to sing right now are ‘Shakin’ to The Bone’ and ‘Late Night Crew.’ We just filmed a music video for ‘Late Night Crew’ at the Southern Indiana Blues Festival, so be on the lookout for that.”
Sarah said King Bee & The Stingers look forward to playing PorchFest. They have never performed in Carmel.
Besides Sarah and her father Mark, the other band members are bassist Jeff Shew, Paul Karaffa on drums, Matt Boat on guitar and Mark Carnes on harmonica and vocals.
For more, visit carmelporchfest.org. For more on King Bee & The Stingers, visit kingbeestingers.com.
