American Scandal

A combination of thrift-store hats, old-timey folk and Southern blues

Hot Damn Scandal
Hot Damn Scandal

If toe-tapping and swingin’ beats with eerie, Romanian undertones are your thing, check out Hot Damn Scandal.

The band is a combination of thrift-store hats, old-timey folk and Southern blues — washboard and saw included. In 2008, the founders loosely came together in an alternative drum circle at the Rainbow Gathering. After a few members came and went, six ramblin’ folks officially became Hot Damn Scandal. Now, whiskey and heartbreak seem to fuel Hot Damn’s good ol’ drunk-in-love Southern sound.

“Stinky” Pete Irving spits riddles on vocals while plucking his faithful gee-tar. Micky Stylin’ (upright bass), Krisputin (electric guitar) and Chandra Johnson (fiddle) bring in a funky folk feel. And, of course, what would a “tipsy American Gypsy blues” band be without a trombone (Jimmy “The-Boner-Tromboner” Austin) and a tenor saxophone (Sarah “The Pun-isher” Covert-Bowlds)? This is a scandal worth investigating.

Catch Hot Damn Scandal with ragtime blues band The Free Range Reveleers 9 pm Tuesday, July 5, at Hi-Fi Music Hall Lounge; $5, 21-plus. — Kelsey Anne Rankin