Americana/punk band, Sassparilla, returns with their eighth record, Honey, I’m Using Again, on February 20, 2026. The Portland, Oregon, and Golden, Colorado, based bandmates Kevin Blackwell, Doug Ebert, and Dan Power worked together on the project, recording the entire album from Blackwell’s basement. 

Sassparilla quickly made their mark on the Portland music scene, bound by friendship and their shared love of music. However, according to Blackwell, the band’s immense success was entirely unexpected.    

“It never really was intended to become something,” says Blackwell. “It was just supposed to be fun among friends. We didn’t really know what we were doing, but it turned into something really special for all of us.”

In fact, it was a few drinks between friends and an off-the-cuff comment that ultimately led to the band’s name. 

“We didn’t even have a name when we started. That’s how we got ‘Sassparilla,’” says Blackwell. “The newspaper asked us what our name was, and we were all drinking whiskey ginger ales in Nalgene bottles, and someone said, ‘Sassparilla!’”

Growing up in Chicago, Illinois, Blackwell was inspired by the sights and sounds of historic Maxwell Street. Once known as the birthplace of the Chicago blues scene, the now-closed market is where Blackwell first realized his passion for music and the genre as a whole. 

“I just fell in love with that sound of a resonator guitar and a slide guitar,” says Blackwell. “I remember seeing it for the first time and my jaw hitting the ground, like, ‘What is that guy doing!’[…] That really gritty slide guitar, steel guitar, and kind of down-home mountain banjo stuff…the really dark, dark music, that’s what I fell in love with. And so, I learned how to play slide guitar in high school and then went from there.” 

The band’s new stripped-down, blues-inspired record marks both a triumphant return and a new beginning. 

The 15-track album explores themes of loss, addiction, and hope, portraying scenes of brutal honesty, heartfelt realizations, deep grief, whimsical musings, and hard-earned wisdom. The record also draws inspiration from Southern Gothic style, with its darker, grittier sound centered primarily around the banjo. 

“Being older and feeling like I’ve got one more shot to do something with this, I wanted the lyrics to be better and more mature, I wanted the music to be more cohesive, I wanted to be proud of every song on the record, rather than, ‘I wrote fifteen songs, so I’ve got to put out fifteen songs,’” says Blackwell. 

And for Blackwell, writing music that digs deep into the human experience is as enlightening as it is necessary. 

“Hope and expectancy for things to change, that’s all we really have right now,” says Blackwell. “And I feel like art helps us do that. Creating things helps me do that. That’s my therapy: writing songs and playing with my friends, recording songs and going through that process. So it’s hopeful to me because I’m putting something back. And I’m hoping someone who consumes it finds that hope, too, that joy that we’ve had making the record.” 

Perhaps what makes the project particularly special is the addition of Blackwell’s 13-year-old son, Emmett, who plays drums on the album. And in addition to the record, Blackwell recently had the opportunity to share the stage with both his sons, who possess musical talent all their own. 

“We just did a reunion show in Portland opening for Hillstomp, for their last show,” says Blackwell. “And both boys played bass and drums with me, and that was the greatest musical moment of my life, doing that show with those two.” 

From beginning to end, Honey, I’m Using Again tells a story of the unbreakable human spirit— overcoming the dark and forging ahead toward the light. Blackwell hopes listeners will connect with both the emotional elements, as well as the organic instrumentation that defines each track. 

“I hope people can appreciate [the record] for being a little more raw,” says Blackwell. “And get back to that basic, more archetypal sound of music.” 

And following the album’s release, Blackwell shares that he’s most looking forward to the chance to play for audiences again and create meaningful connections. 

“I want to start playing shows again,” says Blackwell. “I miss that energy of being with people […] I would like to have that experience again, where I meet people, I’m making friends in different towns and having new experiences. So, I’d like to start playing out, moving around, and making friends.”   

Photos courtesy of Alex Steininger/Sassparilla | Interviewed on November 18, 2025