Wielding a one-of-a-kind, piano-powered roots-pop sound, the Claudettes merge earthy blues and soul with pop hooks and punk spirit, writing an intriguing new chapter in American roots music. Pianist/songwriter Johnny Iguana joins seductive singer Berit Ulseth, bassist/vocalist Zach Verdoorn and drummer Michael Caskey. Johnny, who toured for years with his cult-favorite rock band Oh My God, has played on albums featuring Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, Derek Trucks, Keb’ Mo’, Gary Clark Jr., Shemekia Copeland, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and more. He has toured/recorded with Junior Wells and Otis Rush, played on three Grammy-nominated albums and earned a prestigious 2021 Blues Music Award nomination for Piano Player of the Year as well as a 2022 Living Blues Award nomination for Outstanding Musician.

The Claudettes recorded their 2018 album “DANCE SCANDAL AT THE GYMNASIUM!” (Yellow Dog Records) with Grammy-winning producer Mark Neill (Black Keys). In 2020 the Claudettes released “High Times in the Dark” (Forty Below Records), helmed by Grammy-winning producer Ted Hutt (Violent Femmes, Old Crow Medicine Show). The Claudettes worked with Hutt and with Grammy winner Kevin Killen (David Bowie, U2, Elvis Costello) on a slew of new tracks that will arrive in 2022: a series of single releases from spring through summer and a full-length album on Forty Below Records in the fall.

JIM OHLSCHMIDT BLUES DUO:

Jim Ohlschmidt is a guitarist, singer, performer, songwriter, session player, and producer who began strumming chords in 1967 in Sheboygan, Wis. Since then he has worked as a soloist, in bands and accompanying performers throughout Wisconsin and Minnesota (The Velveetatones, Lorenzo Menzerschmidt, Boxcar Scholars), as well as Birmingham, Alabama (Mae Robertson, The Martini Shakers), and Cincinnati, Ohio (Stardevils Trio). Jim plays a mixed-up bag of old-school blues, swing, Americana, rockabilly and country, and he is equally at home on electric or acoustic guitar, as his many recordings demonstrate. Jim currently performs with his own group, the Jim Ohlschmidt Band, and also with BBMC (Brown Baer Music Club), Dave Steffen & Craig Neuser, Michael Ammons, and Gordon Thorne, on Minnesota’s “North Shore.” Jim also plays solo dates in Sheboygan around the Midwest, performing many of his own songs and instrumentals, along with the music of Mississippi John Hurt and other country blues artists.