Listen to Low Cut Connie perform and chat for WCPO Lounge Acts in the podcast player above.
If you’ve never seen Philadelphia’s Low Cut Connie live, let’s just say your nights have been kind of boring so far.
The excitable boogie-woogie rockers have been crisscrossing the country for the past seven years baptizing ever-increasing crowds with their patented high-energy tunes, propelled by wildman singer Adam Weiner and his trusty upright piano, “Shondra.”
Yes, she has a name, and by the end of Low Cut Connie's set you will know it well.
Think Jerry Lee Lewis fury meets Replacements-like gutter punk bounce on tracks such as signature shout-along anthem “Boozophilia” from 2012’s "Call Me Sylvia" album. (Not for nothing, but former Pres. Barack Obama put the song on his 2015 Summer Playlist, which landed Weiner and his wife a lunch at the White House.) Rounded out by drummer Larry Scotton, bassist Lucas Rinz and guitarists James Everhart and Will Donnelly, the band’s unique sound was born a decade ago when Weiner began landing gigs in old age homes, gay cabaret bars, children’s ballet classes and dive bars, perfecting his unique combination of '50s rock and punk attitude in front of any audience that would have him.
Watch Low Cut Connie perform "Death and Destruction" live for WCPO Lounge Acts:
In addition to the Obama co-sign, the group got the ultimate 88-key stamp of approval earlier this year when the real Rocket Man, Elton John, kicked off an episode of his Rocket Hour Beats 1 radio show with the song “Dirty Water” from the group's latest album, "Dirty Pictures (Part 1)." That was topped off by John interviewing Weiner on the show and pledging to join the group on stage when Low Cut Connie plays in England in December.
"Dirty Pictures" is perhaps the best example yet of the group’s versatile sound, bouncing from the four-on-the-floor handclap young man blues of “Death and Destruction” to a Talking Heads-like new wave cover of Prince’s “Controversy” and the moody Memphis rumble of the title track.
If that sounds like your kind of party, come out and see the group on Saturday night (Oct. 21) at MOTR Pub in Over-the-Rhine, and listen to Low Cut Connie tear it up in the WCPO Digital Lounge at 4 p.m. Saturday during the latest episode of WCPO Lounge Acts.
If You Go:
Low Cut Connie with The Yawpers
10:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21
MOTR Pub (1345 Main St., Over-the-Rhine)
Free