The Chicago-based duo's intrepid Yellow Dog Records debut, "Infernal Piano Plot...HATCHED!" is a roller coaster through Otis Spann Chicago blues, Bobby Timmons soul-jazz, Vince Guaraldi impressionism and Minutemen punk energy.
Performing as The Claudettes, the piano-drums duo of Johnny Iguana and Michael Caskey have created their own fanatical fusion of blues and soul-jazz - like
Ray Charles on a punk kick. Imagine an amped-up piano hybrid of Charles and Mose Allison, joined by a jolly madman drummer and conducted in gonzo fashion by
Raymond Scott. They also have a crazy backstory - respected, hard-working, world-traveling musicians who end up being enslaved by a ruthless bar owner who humiliates and degrades them at every turn, forcing them to wear scrolling drink specials on their bodies as they play, and to advertise beer brands on their stage, and to stop playing whenever she gets a phone call during their set (business first).
The Claudettes recently released their debut record, "Infernal Piano Plot...HATCHED!" on Yellow Dog Records, and from blues radio shows to eclectic programs, the duo's off-kilter mix of blues, soul, jazz, rockabilly space-echo and punk energy has been received as a breath of fresh air by disc jockeys and music journalists.
Touchstone digital retailer iTunes agrees, currently featuring the release in their Blues store headline banner and "New and Noteworthy" shelf. Now, on the heels of the radio success of the record's title track, The Claudettes are releasing a new album track, "Big Sucker Punch".
Here's a download link for "Big Sucker Punch":
https://soundcloud.com/ydrecords/big-sucker-punch.
Here's a link for the live video shot on October 25 at their sold out hometown show at the venerable venue the Hideout:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kOSxWlKgnw.
"Infernal Piano Plot...HATCHED!" is peppered with time-capsule blues tracks like "Stumblin' Home Satisfied" and their spin on Little
Brother Montgomery's classic "Tremblin' Blues" - but also the schizoid trip "Chin-Up Tango," the stomping Crescent City sound of "New
Orleans Yard Sale," the dynamic double-shot of creative composition and wicked improvisation that is "Motörhome/Land of Precisely Three Dances" and the positively Schumann-esque "Do You See It Too?".
Live, The Claudettes have already taken their show from upper Michigan to the East Village in NYC and back, winning over astonished locals with frenzied joy and infectious energy. See "Live in the Studio" video:
http://youtu.be/oRazL_pPnwg.
Johnny Iguana and Michael Caskey are both internationally respected musicians. Johnny was in the Junior Wells band for years, toured with Otis Rush, and recorded with Carey Bell and Lil' Ed. He's currently the piano player in the Grammy-nominated "Chicago Blues: A Living History", featuring Billy Boy Arnold, John Primer, Lurrie Bell,
Billy Branch and Carlos Johnson. He also co-founded the prog-pop band oh my god, whose organ-bass-drums madness was profiled on MTV and featured at SXSW, CMJ and festivals and clubs all around the U.S. and the UK throughout the 2000s.
Michael, a "Downbeat" magazine award winner and five-time Detroit Music Awards recipient, has played with everyone from
koko Taylor to Chuck Mangione to
Marvin Hamlisch to
John Sinclair and is a member of Balkan fusion group Eastern Blok. He recently toured Europe with Grammy nominees the Heritage Blues Orchestra.
As previously mentioned, the story about how the duo came to be is strange but true - starting with Claudette herself, an unhinged bar owner who hired the duo as her "house band" but works out deals to showcase them at other venues: traditional nightspots as well as unconventional locations including Blockbuster Video and
Staples Center (literally; the center of a local Staples office store).
http://theclaudettes.com
http://facebook.com/TheClaudetteshttp://yellowdogrecords.com/TheClaudettes
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