riveting chapter of their story right now. Pianist/songwriter Johnny Iguana formed the Claudettes with
drummer Michael Caskey, dazzling with the barrelhouse bravura of their 2013 debut Infernal Piano
Plot…HATCHED! Another Yellow Dog Records release followed in 2015 featuring Nigerian-American singer
Yana: No Hotel . Vocalist Berit Ulseth joined the band for Pull Closer to Me: Live in the Piano Room (2017) and
Dance Scandal at the Gymnasium (2018, helmed by Grammy-winning Black Keys producer Mark Neill).
A new Claudettes era began when the band moved to Forty Below Records and released the acclaimed 2020
album High Times in the Dark (produced Grammy winner Ted Hutt) and The Claudettes Go Out! , another
collaboration with Hutt, with mixing by renowned producer Kevin Killen (U2, Elvis Costello, David Bowie). Now,
the Claudettes introduce Rachel Williams, a six-foot Texan with a mohawk, a big voice and powerful stage
presence. New music and videos are coming...
Outside the Claudettes, Johnny Iguana has earned a Blues Music Award nomination and Living Blues Award
nomination for piano player of the year. Johnny co-founded indie-rock cult favorites Oh My God, toured as
pianist for blues stars Junior Wells and Otis Rush, played piano on three Grammy-nominated albums and
played on albums featuring Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, James Cotton, Derek Trucks, Gary Clark Jr., Shemekia
Copeland, Keb' Mo', Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and more. Johnny is also co-composer of the score for the hit
FX/Hulu series The Bear
“Chicago's original recipe band…The Claudettes' sonic playing field is the blues and everything after, all
tastefully and artfully blended together….Perhaps the band’s greatest super power: songwriting.”—NPR Music
“A skewed cabaret band of blues, jazz and rockabilly…a sensibility that feels equal parts James Dean and David
Lynch.”—Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Holy Mackerel…I hear so many levels of what I consider amazing creativity…I hear touches of Jerry Lee Lewis
at his most manic…of cinema…of multiple genres wrapping around one another…These guys are the B-movies
of the music world—maybe not understood now, but in the future, the kings and queens of the
universe!”—Frank Gutch Jr., No Depression"
The Claudettes Go Out! shows the band’s mastery of every era of American music, from the roots of the blues
to today’s modern pop….the Claudettes pen standards for a new generation."—J. Poet, Rock & Roll Globe
The Perfect Children are the romp and stomp;the fresh wound of broken love;laughing in spite of pain.They are a girl with something to say and a boy to help deliver the message,cathartic but engaging.Their energy is infectious,the notes ring out and the space between is an emotional exhalation-personal but vague.They live at the intersection of Holly Golightly,Dex Romweber,Nina Simone,Al Green and Otis Redding. They play from the gut,heart,and soul and are rough,raw, and real.They will guilt trip you into getting outta your seats,their dirty showcase further punctuated by 2 backing vocalists who aid in lifting the stage off the floor and blowing the doors off the joint.To quote Little Richard,they will curl up under your big toe.
The band's sonic stew of gospel, garage, blues, rock and even punk has created a buzz that's leaving jaws open, rumps shakin' and feet stompin'. With singer/songwriter Kristen Kreft (Pearlene/J. Dorsey Blues Revival) at the helm, the dynamic duo of Beth Harris(The Hiders/Pearlene) and Nicole Potter Borngrebe on backing vox, and the rhythm section inertia of Adam Shelton(RX2/Kallip) on drums and bass player Christopher Owens(Blacklight Barbarian) the vocal velocity of this frenetic force will etch an impression that will last. They are something to behold.