If you’re looking for a show that will relax you, let you escape for a while, or maybe you want to let music fade into the background while you have a drink, then you’re not looking for Low Cut Connie.
Performing at xBk Live, a Des Moines night club, on March 26, Low Cut Connie aims to activate you, wake you up and breed a connection between performer and audience.
This is imperative to frontman and namesake Adam Weiner, otherwise known as Low Cut Connie.
“I want them to get up and take notice, and feel it in their body, feel it in their mind, feel it in their spirit, feel it in their soul,” he said.
Receiving acclaim and attention from greats like Bruce Springsteen and Elton John, Low Cut Connie is a cult classic. When you attend one of their shows, they are asking you to open up, to allow yourself the freedom to connect with not only the band and music but with the people around you.
“When I see people in the audience put their arms around each other strangers, hold hands, dance together, scream, cry, flirt with each other, whatever they want to do, it’s all different kinds of connections,” Weiner said. “There’s a connection between me and the audience, there’s a connection with the audience to me and the band, there’s a connection with the audience to themselves. It’s all about turning on those connections. And it’s just something that you cannot replicate remotely.”
During the pandemic, Weiner and guitarist Will Donnelly performed live-streaming rock and soul variety shows from their homes, but nothing can replicate the feeling you get in person.
“There’s something about being in a theater or a club together, sweaty together for a couple of hours,” Weiner said. “That’s magic. And I love to provide that service for people, and I can’t wait to do it in Iowa.”
People who are looking for that connection have no problem finding the band. Through 13 years and eight albums, Low Cut Connie has gained a following through nothing more than word of mouth.
“I’ve never had a record deal, I’ve done all eight albums DIY and we’ve never had money to spend on advertising, including for ‘ART DEALERS’. It’s all been word of mouth,” Weiner said. “I’ve been blessed with a lot of critical acclaim, which has helped, which is another form of word of mouth, you know, not advertising…It’s been like, pretty much organic, all 13 years.”
“ART DEALERS” is the newest album in their discography, released in 2023. Their performance at xBk will mark the start of their spring tour promoting it.
Penned during the pandemic, “ART DEALERS” is an explosive mix of storytelling, emotions and experiences that Weiner has connected with over the years.
“My songs are always about people. Sometimes it’s about people I know, sometimes it’s people I imagine, sometimes it’s people that I used to know that have passed away,” Weiner said. “And when I kind of blurred my eyes and looked at all the different people that are in this group of songs, when I tried to name that group of people, the first thing that came to me was art dealers. It’s people that kind of live an art life, which kind of takes them to the edge in a lot of ways.”
Whether it be in terms of their financial situation, their health, their social status, whatever it is, Weiner wanted to write about people who push it to the edge in pursuit of art. And so came “ART DEALERS,” an album for the artists and for all.
“I see Low Cut Connie as a collaborative project between me and my audience,” Weiner said. “And when I put a show on, it’s a collaboration between me and the crowd. We’re trying to make a magic trick happen together. The band wouldn’t exist and these magic tricks wouldn’t exist without the fans. They’re a big part of what the energy of Low Cut Connie is.”
Be sure to catch Low Cut Connie on Tuesday night at xBk Live. Doors open at 6:00 p.m., and the show starts at 7:00 p.m. You can find tickets here. General admission (online) price is $31.77.
