Low Cut Connie will perform at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, April 28.
They may be described as “out of the Philadelphia area” but Low Cut Connie’s roots stretch pretty far across the Delaware River. “I grew up in South Jersey: Cherry Hill,” said frontman Adam Weiner, who went on to explain that they formed approximately eight years ago and have had multiple personnel changes before settling on this current configuration.
“In 2010, we recorded our first album (Get Out the Lotion), which came out in the beginning of 2011,” he said. “But we didn’t become a fulltime touring band until about four years ago. We’ve had 14 people in this band. I had a whole different group of guys in the beginning but this crew I’ve had for a while and they’re just fantastic. James Everhart is the lead guitar, Will Donnelly is rhythm guitar, Larry Scotton is the drummer, Lucas Rinz on bass and Saundra Williams sings and plays tambourine.”
Get Out the Lotion, recorded in a scant four days’ time, was well received by the music press, including Rolling Stone, which had high praise for the group. However, despite his best efforts, Weiner couldn’t seem to get major labels interested in the project, so he created his own label, Contender. The soon-to-be-released Dirty Pictures (Part 2)is the follow-up to last year’s Contender album, Dirty Pictures (Part 1).
“Yeah, that’s the label that I started,” he said. “I started it out of desperation because we couldn’t get signed, but now it’s become a lot of fun to play Phil Spector to the world or a Berry Gordy. I just don’t have time at the moment to work with other bands, but I definitely have an interest in producing.”
Weiner reportedly plays a piano called Shondra, which was named after an exotic dancer he encountered in Atlanta. The band’s music and music videos definitely indulge their racy side; even their name and record label are steeped in the same.
“The name? It was a nightmare,” he said. “It’s got a bunch of different applications and it wasn’t really a well thought out conversation. It was a reference to a diner waitress in South Jersey, but it’s taken on a new meaning. Me and the rest of the band are big fans of boxing. I like to go watch boxing when I’m at home near Philly, and Connie is a female boxer who has come to represent the band. She’s down but she’s not out. Meaning she takes a licking and keeps on ticking, if you know what I mean.”
Those band’s songs are dirty, fun, rockin’ good time music. Weiner says that although he writes the majority of the music, he’s no dictator, and it’s all a group effort.
“On this album and on the last album,” he said, “our guitar player James, he has a song (on each) — both great songs. But I write 95 percent of the songs. We as a band work out the arrangements and play them live and then we kind of pour some beer on them and put them in the oven for a while and out they come.”
Low Cut Connie has begun to draw major interest, not only in the United States but overseas as well. In July 2017, Elton John interviewed Adam about the band.
“Elton has played us on his radio show a few times and he called me and interviewed me for his radio show,” he said. “We did an interview that you can hear on our website … it was fantastic. I always felt like he and I would connect because I grew up with his music and playing piano along to his songs. We had a lot to talk about. We’re both piano rock ‘n’ roll guys and both kind of funny lookin’ and have an outrageous kind of performance style. I just connected with him.”
On April 28, Low Cut Connie will perform at the Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, before heading overseas. The show is part of the Asbury Park Music and Film Festival.
“We’ve played at The Stone Pony, The Saint, the Wonder Bar and we’re very excited to be back there and we’re on directly after the Danny DeVito award ceremony,” said Weiner. “They are giving him a lifetime achievement award so hopefully some of the folks from that will stumble into our show which is kind of an official after-party for that.
“I love Asbury; it’s just a fantastic scene in that town that has developed. People in New Jersey are my people. They’re the best live music crowds; they’re not afraid to get their hair messed up.”
For more about Low Cut Connie, visit facebook.com/lowcutconnie.
