The little-known band that Elton John and Barack Obama love

When President Obama’s Spotify playlist was launched in 2015, it was full of songs from giants like Bob Dylan, the Stones and Stevie Marvel. However nestled amongst them was “Boozophilia,” a rollicking get together anthem from just a little recognized, Philadelphia-based band named Low Lower Connie. The band will launch its fifth album, “Soiled Footage (Half 2)” and take the stage at Bowery Ballroom Friday. When the information broke, the piano-driven rock band’s Jersey native frontman, Adam Weiner, noticed his telephone mild up with congratulatory texts from mates and household. Absolutely such a high-profile endorsement can be a slingshot to stardom. However no. “It didn’t change our fortune in any respect,” Weiner, 38, tells The Publish. “That evening we performed the Vacation Inn cocktail bar in Totowa, NJ.” Shaped in 2010 — and named for a stereotypical Jersey diner waitress — Low Lower Connie was nonetheless reserving its personal reveals and releasing its albums beneath his label, Contender Data, when the Spotify story got here out. However it wasn’t till a September 2017 gig in a small Nashville, Tenn., report retailer that the band lastly escaped the Backyard State chain-hotel circuit. “Somebody from William Morris Endeavor heard about us and stumbled into the present,” Weiner says. “Two days later, we had six reserving brokers that needed to signal us. We went with William Morris, and they’ve completely remodeled our profession.” ‘I grew up with Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow in the home. I couldn’t escape the schmaltz.’ Now he and his bandmates are enjoying main summer season festivals like Bonnaroo and BottleRock. In March, they lit up South by Southwest, the place Rolling Stone named them among the many finest 30 artists on the fest. And so they’ve amassed extra boldface followers: Elton John provides them heavy play on his radio present, “Rocket Hour,” and Howard Stern tapped them for a Bowie-tribute album he’s curating. “I simply refused to take no for a solution,” says Weiner, who minimize his tooth enjoying piano in homosexual bars such because the TownHouse and Brandy’s on the Higher East Facet whereas dabbling with a punk band on weekends. Earlier than Low Lower Connie, he honed his performing chops with an act referred to as LadyFingers that he calls a mixture of “cabaret piano with lo-fi punk.” “As a lot as I love rock ’n’ roll, I’m a Jewish boy from New Jersey, so I grew up with Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow in the home,” he says. “I couldn’t escape the schmaltz.” Regardless of years of business neglect, the band constructed a loyal fan base, due to its electrical performances. Weiner, who treats his piano the way in which a gymnast would a pommel horse, is a showman of a throwback period, dripping sweat, leaping everywhere in the stage and preserving the depth at a continuing 10. And, amazingly, the “Boozophilia” singer is sober. “I don’t drink. I don’t get together,” Weiner says. “I prefer to facilitate the get together for everybody else.” Though Obama’s shoutout didn’t translate right into a profession boon, Weiner continues to be grateful. Invited to the White Home in 2016, Weiner says he met the 44th president, who informed him, “I like what you’re doing. I like your type. Stick with it.” “It put wind in my sails,” Weiner says. “Barack Obama was whispering to me, ‘Simply stick with it, man.’ It wasn’t a profession factor. It was an inspiring factor.” [embedded content] Share this: https://nypost.com/2018/05/17/the-little-known-band-that-elton-john-and-barack-obama-love/ The post The little-known band that Elton John and Barack Obama love appeared first on My style by Kartia.