The Pennies play Americana, roots-rock, gospel and soul, sing killer harmonies and make you dance your face off. Come see our shows!
We are a fun loving quartet that can alternately get you to dance your pants off or woo your gal or male pal with our killer Americana, Roots Rock, Gospel, Soul tunes. With tight harmonies and genre busting arrangements, we bring dixieland to Otis Redding and serious spice to old-time country.
We came together as a weekly, roaming music jam in Somerville and became distilled over several years down to the four finest, shiniest pennies that stand on stage before audiences today. A shared passion for country, blues and soul singers like Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Townes Van Zandt, Hank Williams, Bonnie Raitt, Otis Redding and Nina Simone kept us bouncing between genres and creating our own sound that can make honky tonk sultry, and soul into a two-step.
Caroline is the heart and the guts of the band, as her unmistakable voice, which can be a low grind, an ethereal high or magic in between, insists that even the most often heard tune be given another listen.
Chris plays guitar, banjo and drums and brings a high-spirited energy to the band with his sense of humor.
An expert recording engineer and multi-instrumentalist, Dave brings his lifetime of training and musical passion to creating original arrangements of old songs, and turning new songs into true originals, all while holding down the low end with rapid-fire bass.
The stringed equivalent of Caroline's voice is Tom's guitar, which cannot be matched. Without his solid rhythm, wailing solos, and boundary-bursting style, the Pretty Pennies might still be playing two beat country covers for each other.
Our high energy carries the audience from one end of our shows to the other. No one gets bored. This is helped by our senses of humor and sheer delight in playing music and performing together. Our impressive musicianship is marked by Tom's guitar, Caroline's voice, Dave's bass and harmonies and Chris' percussive guitar and banjo. However, you might be unaware of all these facets because you are having such a good time dancing.
You should come hear us sometime.
