Wednesdays may stereotypically be considered a slower night for most clubs — but not anywhere that rockabilly stalwart Rip Carson is performing. Known for a riveting and occasionally manic performance style, Carson, alongside his band the Carcin-O-Genics, has been a Wednesday night mainstay at The Harp for more than a year in Ocean Beach. The popularity of his weekly, no-cover, three-sets-a-night show speaks to his musical staying power. For Carson, the appeal of rockabilly, more than five decades after its heyday, is obvious. “I guess it’s stuck around so long because it’s fun music,” Carson said. “You can understand the words, it has energy and it’s fun to dance to.” While swing dancing is the norm at rockabilly shows, Carson noted that in Ocean Beach things are just a little different. “Dancing is always encouraged,” Carson said. “But it is OB, after all, so the dancing isn’t always swing dancing or jiving. Sometimes it’s people spinning around aimlessly on the dance floor.” The Harp was Carson’s first steady gig with the Carcin-O-Genics. “We started this project about a year ago,” Carson said. He pointed out that there are differences in his music when he performs in Ocean Beach. “We do a lot of the original stuff from my previous albums, but what makes this project different from my straight Rip Carson stuff is that we throw in covers to appeal to a broader audience,” Carson said. Carson’s choice of covers often causes clubgoers to do a double-take. “People like to hear stuff they know, and we give it to ’em,” Carson said. “But I rearrange everything.” Carson points out that nightclubs have different types of crowds. “If I play a hardcore rockabilly show in Los Angeles, I give ’em all the originals,” Carson said. “But for regular beach folks, you gotta give them a handful of stuff they know or they become lethargic.” He said his audience won’t hear obvious songs like “Rock Around the Clock” or “Hound Dog.” Instead, he has fun transforming songs that are “so not rockabilly” into genre classics. “For example, we do ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears, ‘A Little Respect’ by Erasure and I turned ‘Portions for Foxes’ by indie rock band Rilo Kiley into a Motown-sounding song,” Carson said. “They may get a song they know like ‘Rape Me’ from Nirvana, but they‘re gonna get it with Merle Travis-style pickin’ and hiccups.” Carson has also become a studio favorite for session work. “I started doing studio work with legendary producer Mark Neill at Soil of The South studios in La Mesa,” Carson said. “I got to play on a lot of cool stuff there. I’m currently doing studio work up in the Valley, where they seem to utilize the fact that I can play any instrument pretty much. So they just hire me and I layer stuff. It beats having to hire five guys.” Carson has appeared on albums by The Paladins, Deke Dickerson and British soul singer James Hunter and others. Currently, Carson is working on a pop project and is recording his fifth album. While new sounds will always draw his attention, he considers rockabilly his core sound. “When I was about 16, I just got really heavy into it,” Carson said. “When I found out there was an actual scene for rockabilly and ’50s rock ’n’ roll, I got on board.” Carson notes his other musical endeavors are going well, including an indie pop band and occasional forays into the world of ’60’s garage rock. But Carson said rockabilly will remain his bread and butter. “I must say, the genre has been good to me over the years,” Carson said. “I make a living just doing this, and that’s nice.” Rip Carson and the Carcin-O-Genics perform on Wednesdays at The Harp, 4935 Newport Ave. at 9 p.m. The show is for 21 and up, and there is no cover. For more information, visit www.myspace.com/ripcarsonbooking.