Saturday, August 13, 2016

Thursday's (Solo) Setlist: 8/11/16 CoCo Coffeehouse, Leechburg, Pa.

Counting Crows cover...? Check.

After playing with a full band for the past four years, I'm never really fully satisfied playing solo shows. I have fun, and it's a great opportunity to road-test new material and pull out some of the slower, more-emotional tunes that don't fit very well into the Charlie Hustle repertoire — and I do occasionally find something that makes me go, 'Huh, that was pretty cool' on the tapes — but for the most part, I just find myself wishing there was at least one other person there playing alongside me.

That said, this is probably the most varied solo show I've played in a while, which probably made it a little less coherent for the crowd, but whatchagonnado?

Click here to download/stream the set, courtesy of Archive.org!

Early set:
Hearts and Bones (P. Simon)
You Can Keep It
Incident on 57th Street (Springsteen)
Madam Will You Walk (J. Davis)
Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)
Western Wind* >
Southwest Sky
Anna Begins (A. Duritz)
Dire Wolf (Dead)
Cyprus Avenue (V. Morrison)
Somebody Changed the Lock (C. Weldon, M. Rebennack arr.)

Late set:
Loose Lucy (Dead)
Row Jimmy (Dead) >
Streetlight Mama
Blackjack Molly
Passing Afternoon (S. Beam)
Casey Jones (T.L. Seibert)
Catfish John (McDill/Reynolds)
Man of Constant Sorrow (D. Burnett)
On a Foggy Night (T. Waits)
Spanish Ladies (Trad. sea shanty, Varine arr.)
I Can't Wait to Get Off Work (T. Waits)
Stack-a-Lee (Trad., M. Rebennack arr.)

*First time played

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Last Weekend's Setlist (No. 2 of 2): 7/30/16 Four Seasons Brewing Co., Latrobe, Pa.

'That nine-pound hammer, it killed John Henry,
but it won't kill me, no it won't kill me...'

After hauling ass down to West Virginny for our noon full-band set, it was more ass-hauling back east for a bluegrass trio gig at the Four Seasons Brewing Co. in Latrobe. My fingers were destroyed by the end of the night, but we had a good time and I debuted my first attempt at writing a full-on bluegrass song, "Streetlight Mama." It hits all the requisite notes for bluegrass: unrequited love, violence and murder.

NOTE: The sound is not great, due to poor mic placement and due to Four Seasons essentially being a giant concrete box, so caveat emptor!

Click here to download/stream the set courtesy of Archive.org! (NOTE No. 2: At least presently, the Archive page says this is a concert by Charlie Hunter, because I was not paying close enough attention when selecting a band from the eTree list. We're right next to one another...)

Early set:
New Mexican Shuffle
Deep River Blues (D. Watson)
Have Someone Play Dixie For Me (P. Roy)
Blackjack Molly
Peggy-O (Trad., Dead arr.)
Boys in the Barroom (R. Hunter) >
Whiskey Before Breakfast
Althea (Dead)
Cocaine Blues (L. Jordan)
Let Me Love You One More Time (Stanley Bros.)
Strange Moon
Ophelia (The Band)
Junko Partner (J. Waynes)
Streetlight Mama*
Midnight Special (Leadbelly)
Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan) >
Mighty High (J. Ligon) >
Midnight Moonlight Reprise

Late set:
It's Raining Here This Morning (Stanley Bros.)
Hold Me Back
The Old Home Place (Webb/Jayne)
Nine Pound Hammer (M. Travis)
Me and My Uncle (J. Phillips) >
Eat My Dust (D. Grisman)
Roving Gambler (Stanley Bros.)
Salt Creek (Trad.)
A Lonesome Night (Stanley Bros.)
Stack-a-Lee (Trad., Rebennack arr.)
Honey Babe (E. Bishop)
You Better Get Right (Stanley Bros.) >
Big River (J. Cash)
I Know You Rider (Trad., Dead arr.)
Friend of the Devil (Dead) >
Blackberry Blossom (A. Smith) >
Friend of the Devil
How Mountain Girls Can Love (Stanley Bros.) >
Fox on the Run (T. Hazzard)

*First time played

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Last Weekend's Setlist (No. 1 of 2): 7/30/16 Bottoms Up Weekend Festival, Cameron, W.Va.

'It slipped right down the staircase,
it jumped right off the porch...'

We couldn't have asked for better weather at a late-summer show: 75 degrees and cloudy! Normally I'm a sweaty friggin' mess from Memorial Day to Labor Day, especially at outdoor gigs, but this was perfect, with a pleasant breeze blowing from behind the stage.

It was Show No. 1 of 2 that day: 75 percent of the band busted it back east for a bluegrass gig the same night at Four Seasons Brewing Co. in Latrobe.

Click here to download/stream the show courtesy of Archive.org!

One set:
That's It
Blackjack Molly
I Like It
Ophelia (The Band)
Stack-a-Lee (Trad., Rebennack arr.)
Gravel Road (M. Slim)
Deep Elem Blues (Trad.)
Strange Moon
Whiskey River (W. Nelson) >
Jam >
Feelin' Blue (CCR) >
Funky Werewolf
Viola Lee Blues (N. Cannon, Dead arr.)