Fri 9/30 @ 8PM
Philly-raised pianist Johnny Iguana, who founded the Chicago-based Claudettes, has deep roots in the city’s blues scene. He’s performed with legends like Buddy Guy, Junior Wells and James Cotton; meanwhile, the Claudettes polished their purposefully unpolished style playing in funky suburban bars. (The owner of one such bar gave the band its name.)
It’s led to a sound that gleefully mixes eras and genres: rockabilly, punk, classic soul, vintage burlesque house jazz and piano-driven jump blues all bubble up in their cauldron of sound produced by Iguana, vocalist Berit Ulseth (who has a background in jazz vocals), bassist/vocalist Zach Verdoorn and drummer and Claudettes co-founder Michael Caskey.
The band has made frequent stops in this area to promote their equally frequent album releases, such as 2018’s Dance Scandal at the Gymnasium!, made with Black Keys producer Mark Neill. They recorded their follow-up, called High Times in the Dark, in 2019, planning to release it with a tour in early 2020 but … you know. So instead of touring, they worked on yet another album, called The Claudettes Go Out!, which is now in their hot little hands. To celebrate with their Cleveland fans, they’ll be returning to Jilly’s Music Room in Akron, where they performed last March. Tickets are $10.