What is a Dirty Cello? Find out at Piper’s Opera House on Aug 26.

The band Dirty Cello is a globe trotting band that performs blues, rock and Americana, all fronted by virtuoso cellist Rebecca Roudman. A classically trained symphony player, Roudman dropped the straight- jacket of classical music years ago and hasn’t looked back since.

“We travel all over the place,” says Roudman, “and everywhere we go, the idea is to put on a high energy show. We’re a rock band, but with a cello instead of a lead guitar.” The Dirty Cello band really does get around - with shows from Iceland, to China, to a Santa Cruz nudist resort. The band will be returning to the venerable Piper’s Opera House on Aug 26 at 7 pm.

Among their many descriptions, Oakland Magazine describes the group as, "Dirty Cello’s music is all over the map: funky, carnival, romantic, sexy, tangled, electric, fiercely rhythmic, and textured, and only occasionally classical." Roudman agrees with this description and adds, “We’re all about the fun at our shows and we step on stage with only a vague plan as to what specific songs we are going to play, and we react to what the audience wants to hear and adjust accordingly.”

With a set list ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Charlie Daniels to rocking original songs, the band can deliver on this promise. Tickets for the concert are available at DirtyCello.com