BETHLEHEM, Pa. — An award-winning blues guitarist and a Philadelphia favorite rock 'n' roll revivalist band will perform at Musikfest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center.
Tommy Castro, who has won the Blues Foundation B.B. King Entertainer of the Year four times, will perform with his band The Painkillers at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27.
And Low Cut Connie, the Philadelphia retro-piano-rock band that has shown up on Barack Obama's Spotify Summer Playlist and gotten effusive praise from Elton John, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 5.
Tickets, at $30 each for Tommy Castro and The Painkillers and $20-$30 for Low Cut Connie, went on sale Friday at the SteelStacks website and at the box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.www.steelStacks.com
Tickets, at $30 each for Tommy Castro and The Painkillers and $20-$30 for Low Cut Connie, went on sale Friday at the SteelStacks website and at the box office at 101 Founders Way, Bethlehem.
The shows are among five new concerts recently announced for Musikfest cafe.
Castro was the Blues Foundation Entertainer of the Year in 2008, 2010, 2022 and 2023.
In 2010 he also won the Blues Music Awards’ Male Artist of the Year and Contemporary Blues Album of the Year, and with his band won Band of the Year.
In 1995, soon after releasing his first album, his Tommy Castro Band was chosen as the house band for three seasons on NBC-TV's "Comedy Showcase."
The guitarist, vocalist and songwriter has released 23 albums, ranging from horn-fueled soul and R&B to hot blues and rock.
He is scheduled to release a new disc, "Closer to the Bone," on Feb. 7.
He was a headliner at ArtsQuest’s Blast Furnace Blues in 2015 and 2023, and played Musikfest Cafe in 2019.
Low Cut Connie
Low Cut Connie, led by charismatic and indefatigable front man Adam Weiner, has released nine albums since its 2011 debut "Get Out the Lotion."
The group's latest studio album is 2023's "Art Dealers," which is accompanied by a documentary film that was shown at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Richmond International Film Festival and the Sound Unseen festival.
It's now streaming on demand.
In 2015, Low Cut Connie's song "Boozophilia" showed up on Obama's his presidential Spotify playlist and was ranked the 31st best song of 2012 by Rolling Stone magazine.
Low Cut Connie also recently released a live album, "Connie Live."
In 2015, the band's song "Boozophilia" showed up on Obama's presidential Spotify playlist and was ranked the 31st best song of 2012 by Rolling Stone magazine.
In 2017 and 2018, the band was featured on Elton John's radio show "Rocket Hour," and in 2018 he dedicated a song to Low Cut Connie at his sold-out show at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
In 2018, while touring on its best-selling album "Dirty Pictures Part 2," Low Cut Connie appeared on "Late Night With Seth Meyers" and was included in Rolling Stone's list of "Newport Folk Festival 2018: 12 Best Things We Saw."
It played free shows at Musikfest in 2016 and 2017, played another free show at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks in 2017, played at Musikfest Cafe in 2019 and played a virtual show during the 2020 coronavirus-restricted Musikfest.
Three more shows
Other recently announced shows at Musikfest Cafe are:
Home Again: A Tribute to the Music of Carole King, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25. Tickets, at $20-$30, went on sale Friday. A different Carole King tribute show, "Tapestry: The Music of Carole King," scheduled for that day has been canceled.
The British Invasion Years — A '60s Musical Revolution, 7:30 p.m. Friday March 28. Tickets, at $30-$35, went on sale Friday. The show offers songs not just by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, but by The Zombies, Dave Clark Five, The Who, The Moody Blues, Herman’s Hermits, The Kinks, The Monkees, The Beach Boys, Steppenwolf, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, The Mamas and The Papas, Neil Diamond and The Turtles.
The Aardvarks, 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 11. Tickets, at $10-$30, went on sale Friday. The longtime Lehigh Valley favorite party cover band is a mainstay of Musikfest and also has closed ArtsQuest's Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks season for the past two years.
