This week in Philly music: Marshall Allen turns 100 and ‘tis the season for collabs

This week in Philly music begins with Low Cut Connie’s collaboration with Steve Van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band.

Van Zandt — who plays LCC on his Sirius XM radio channel Little Steven’s Underground Garage and its Outlaw Country sister station — has teamed up with Adam Weiner of LCC with a new version of “Are You Gonna Run?” from the Philly rock and soul band’s album Art Dealers.

Springsteen’s consigliere adds his inimitable vocals plus lead guitar to the track, which comes out on Friday as a joint release of Van Zandt’s Wicked Cool label and LCC’s Contender Records. Next week, it’ll be “the Coolest Song in the World” on the Underground Garage.

On June 1, Weiner’s new radio show, The Connie Club, will debut on WXPN-FM (88.5). The hour-long program, which is scheduled to run for 10 weeks, will follow a variety show format similar to Tough Cookies, Weiner’s virtual show that made Low Cut Connie a household name to music fans stuck at home during the pandemic.

The first episode will pay tribute to Jerry “the Geator” Blavat and includes an interview with Frankie Valli of the Four Seasons. On June 13, the first live Connie Club taping at Ardmore Music Hall will feature guests Ron Aikens, Chill Moody, and comedian Peggy O’Leary.

Speaking of Little Steven’s boss, Bruce Springsteen has teamed with the great Texas songwriter and bandleader Joe Ely on “Odds of the Blues,” a brand new song from Ely’s album Driven to Drive, which is due Aug. 2.

The new collection by Ely — who has not toured in recent years with his bandmates in the Flatlanders due to health issues — collects songs the Lubbock, Texas-born singer has been working on for the past several years. Springsteen sang on two songs on Ely’s Letter to Laredo album in 1995, and they’ve played together many times, including at SXSW in 2012. Springsteen is on the road in Europe and due at Citizens Bank Park on Aug. 21.

On Friday — the day before he turns 100 — the amazing Marshall Allen will celebrate his centenary at Union Transfer. The wondrous sax and electronic wind instrument player has been leading the Sun Ra Arkestra since Sun Ra’s death in 1993 and — miraculously — shows no signs of slowing down.

Other shows of note in Philly and the surrounding area this week: Blues guitar star Christone “Kingfish” Ingram kicks off the Upper Merion Township Concerts Under the Stars season in King of Prussia on Thursday. That same night, Khruangbin wraps up its three-night-run at the Met Philly.

Philly indie pop band Another Michael have a new album, Pick Me Up, Turn Me Upside Down, that’s due May 31. They’re celebrating a week ahead with a show at Johnny Brenda’s on Friday.

Everybody’s going to be down the Shore this Memorial Day weekend, right? Not everybody. Hozier — the Irish “Take Me to Church” singer-songwriter whose new album is Unreal Unearth — is playing the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden on Saturday. Get there early for the always fantastic Allison Russell.

On Sunday, the R&B Money Tour brings three R&B vocalists to the Met Philly, with Tank, Keri Hilson, and Carl Thomas. On Wednesday, Indian musician Prateek Kuhad, who sings in Hindi and English, brings his Silhouettes tour to the TLA on South Street.

That same evening, Camera Obscura, the terrific Scottish indie pop band fronted by Tracyanne Campbell, plays Union Transfer in support of the fetching Look to the East, Look to the West, the band’s first album of new material in more than a decade.