For Immediate Release November, 2015 HOWLIN’ WUELF MEDIA CHICAGO’S AMPED-UP BLUES/SOUL-JAZZ TRIO, THE CLAUDETTES, RELEASE FIRST VIDEO FROM NEW ALBUM, NO HOTEL "Chez Les Yé-yé" takes Serge Gainsbourg classic back to its American Blues roots The Claudettes’ new album NO HOTEL is a time-warping tour de force—steeped in the past but resoundingly fresh, alive and unlike anything else in the roots scene. Listeners voyage from the ’20s (a stomping spin on "California, Here I Come") to the ’40s (a raving-mad rendition of There’s No "Business Like Show Business") to the ’60s (French Yé-yé songs and pop-soul/hot-rod sounds). And yet alongside the bordello blues and vaudeville flashbacks, there’s the invigorating thrill of musical discovery and joyous genre smashing every step of the way. Recently described by Greg Kot (Chicago Tribune/Sound Opinions) as "a revelatory blend of jazz and blues, stirred with punk brio and topped with French cream," the Chicago-based piano-drums duo of Johnny Iguana (who has toured with Otis Rush and recorded with Buddy Guy, Junior Wells, James Cotton, Carey Bell, and Koko Taylor among many others) and Michael Caskey (a Downbeat magazine award winner and five-time Detroit Music Awards recipient who has drummed with everyone from Chuck Mangione to Balkan fusion band Eastern Blok) have expanded into a trio for their sophomore album with bewitching Nigerian-American singer/dancer Yana. The first single from NO HOTEL, "Chez Les Yé-yé", is basically a blues song with a beret instead of a fedora. But behind Yana’s sultry vocals and Caskey’s furious drumming (and deliberately asinine dancing), there is a disconsolate message—just as, behind the “tom toms” and “yeah yeahs” of Serge’s "Chez Les Yé-yé", there lurks something sinister. “The trappings of 'Chez Les Yé-yé' are swingin’ ’60s parties, pounding drums and spazzy dancing, but the lyrics are about an obsessed man hunting for a woman he’s crazy about, with a switchblade in his hand,” Johnny notes. “Our video features the Chicago dance troupe Lucky Plush, breaking into the studio and having a wild dance party all around us. But then the musicians start to feel that they, who are making the music, aren’t even invited to the party—that they are not only not the centerpiece of the dance party, but they’ve become completely invisible and dispensable to the revelers.” Johnny got the idea after witnessing a DJ set at the Ottawa Blues Festival, where the Claudettes were performing in 2014. “There were thousands of people dancing and having a blast, while one guy was pushing buttons to play pre-recorded music. Then, back on the road in the van you hear more music on the radio where the producer is the star, the technology is the focus, the proven hit-making songwriting team is in place and musicians aren’t spotlighted at all, even if it’s their killer performances that are sampled. I guess you could say that musicians are not invited to the party anymore, as far as pop music goes.” he declares. But even as the musicians are cast out, the party rages on. See it unfold as you watch the Claudettes’ new video for "Chez Les Yé-yé" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GrZiSDPlkA ### "Fresh and energizing... the Claudettes bring on the roots scene as you have never heard it before." —Elmore "The music is so infectious that, after a few bars, you just say the hell with it, jump in with both feet, get in the spirit, and celebrate..." —No Depression "It’s a forty-five minute barn-burning party that you never want to end... Just remember to duck when the fights break out." —The Big Takeover "I'd say you have to see them to believe it but, even at that, my guess is that you will wake up the next morning, shake your head and assume you were stoned out of your mind." — Reflections In Blue For more about the Claudettes, their back story with Claudette, the mysteries of Yana and the new album NO HOTEL, visit the band’s online EPK: https://youtu.be/Nh23xkyjIcY • Album art, liner notes, and press photos: http://yellowdogrecords.com/presskits/theclaudettes • Stream NO HOTEL: http://bit.ly/streamnohotel • Other video: http://theclaudettes.com/videos For additional information on The Claudettes and the new record NO HOTEL, please contact Jocelynn Loebl at Howlin' Wuelf Media at [email protected] or 917-523-8881. WWW.YELLOWDOGRECORDS.COM 1910 MADISON AVE #671 MEMPHIS, TN 38104 PHONE: (901) 452-4087 FAX: (901) 328-5632 .