Cherry Poppin’ Daddies ~ At The Pink Rat Album Release Celebration!

Cherry Poppin’ Daddies ~ At The Pink Rat Album Release At Dimitrious Jazz Alley

Dimitiriou’s Jazz Alley welcomes the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies for three nights and three shows. Band members are: Steve Perry (vocals), Dana Heitman (trumpet), Willie Matheis (tenor sax), Chris Shuttleworth (trombone), Jason Moss (guitar), Dan Schmid (bass), and Nik Barber (drums). Show times Tuesday – Thursday at 7:30pm. Doors open at 6:00pm each night.

At The Pink Rat is Cherry Poppin’ Daddies 12th studio release. This is a high energy dance record that tackles a number of different genres and eras in the broad panoply of what can be considered Swing dance music, most notably the Hot Jazz/ Ragtime era of the early 20th century as well as the golden age of the Big Band era, circa WW2. Bandleader and songwriter Steve Perry has stated that the germ of At The Pink Rat was as a Broadway jukebox musical; “think Saturday Night Fever meets Swing Kids.” The final track is “Cookie Brown”, which is an extra special song as explained by Steve:

“Cookie Brown is about my wife, and tangentially about my being an accepted part of her extended Mexican American family. They are all from Azusa, California and ironically many of her direct relatives were involved and injured in the Zoot Suit Riots in 1943. I believe meeting my wife was written in the stars. Her artistry, passion, and wisdom have changed the course of my life for the better. I am ride or die with her for eternity.”

In the past few years Cherry Poppin’ Daddies have become the kind of band that you would want to book if you were throwing a soiree at the Gatsby mansion. Penning elegant, lush, pitch perfect arrangements of much of the great American songbook, from Cole Porter to Frank Sinatra, the Daddies have surprised many – likely familiar with them from the early 90’s- whose limited exposure to the band undoubtedly consists of an image of spray painted vans careening across the US as an iconoclastic, misfit part of an already marginalized punk/ska scene.

In fact the Daddies have of late put together a number of excellent swing/ jazz sit down theatre type shows, each tailored to a different era of swing music: a “Jazz Age Lawn Party” consisting of roaring 20’s and Cotton Club Era material, a swanky “Live at the Sands” type tribute to the Rat Pack, and a World War 2 “Christmas Canteen” show that is part Tiki, part Benny Goodman and comes across like a radio broadcast from Guadalcanal circa 1942. The sheer craftsmanship and professional attention to detail of these performances have shed new light on this criminally underestimated band.

On top of being a show band nonpareil, the Daddies have an “oh by the way” double platinum ability to pen original material that, while influenced by a history of American popular music, is wholly modern lyrically, and itself stands up as classic. The 1997 release of Zoot Suit Riot set the bar for the neo-swing movement of the era in terms of originality, lyrical depth, and flat out musical sales.

“Lately, by laying our hands on the great American songbook, we have been trying to fill in for audiences the historical back story of what inspires our original brand of Americana, because in essence that is what I consider us to be, an Americana band. But instead of taking mostly from a delta blues tradition- like many of the bands labeled “Americana”- we adhere mostly to a pre rock, pre mid 50’s, hot jazz and essentially Tin Pan Alley tradition. Then we attempt to deconstruct and détourne those set of tropes to fit modern themes, be that something like child abuse or say the opioid crisis. It’s unfortunate, but I believe it comforts modern audiences to see that we are able to play, in an orthodox fashion, material that is in the tradition, before they allow us to reach out for something unfamiliar, multifaceted, or god forbid anti-bourgeois in point of view like many of our originals are.” – Singer songwriter/ bandleader Steve Perry

Sadly, over the past year the band has been laying low and playing a bit closer to home in order that Perry can be a caregiver to his wife, business partner, and video muse, Yvette “Cherry” Perry who was recently diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer. “This setback for our family has brought us closer to our fans, who have been so giving of their best wishes and helping with small donations to Yvette’s cancer care. We pledge to continue our advocacy work nationally toward earlier colorectal screening protocols and baseline cancer research so that this scourge that has been loosed on so many families like ours can be wiped out sooner rather than later.”