Why Did We Play This? A Series: 8/27/24 Thunderbird Tuesday Bluegrass Sessions, Pgh., Pa.

[This is (maybe) an ongoing series looking at older and newer gigs by my band The Wolf Tones, which places a strong emphasis on improvisation and does not pick a setlist in advance... so why did we play these songs this time? Let us explore...]

I like to listen back to shows that have big jams in them, or where the tracks extend out into double digits. It's usually a good sign that we were doing some exploring, including some things I forget in the moment. This is one of those shows. Let's get into it:

Early set: Jam > Old & In the Way, I'll Never Get Outta This World Alive > Lonesome Road Blues > Jam > Ophelia > Dreams > Jam > Steam Powered Aereo Plane, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, My Gal, Smells Like Teen Spirit > House by the Sea

It starts with a jam. The entire mid-section is one continuous jam. And within that, there are some lengthy segue jams. The only thing missing is peanut butter and bread.

We started out jamming on a few of the chords from the first tune. Nemo called some Hank Williams, and after "Lonesome Road Blues" we started breakin' things down, moving through a couple keys before settling on C for The Band's "Ophelia." We ground the gears a little bit getting into the right key, but it worked out nicely. And as we jammed our way out of that tune, Nemo proved once again that he's always listening for new possibilities. He got us started on a simple F-G jam that turned out to be all we needed in order to add Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" to the repertoire.

[Side note: I don't think anyone should be allowed to name a song "Dreams" anymore. I can think of three right off the top of my head... this one, the Allman Bros. tune and a bluegrass tune we cover in Sweaty Already String Band.]

That same F-G structure got us to a nice introspective place on the jam out of "Dreams," then we ramped the energy back up, shifted gears down into G and plowed through John Hartford's "Steam Powered Aereo Plane." 

I often confuse Bob Dylan's "Positively 4th Street" with "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" until I get a glance at the first line of the song. Covering Dylan tunes can be a lot of fun, because you really have no choice but to make up at least part of the melody. You can't just go up there and sing-shout stuff the way Dylan did. At least I can't. It feels like walking a very fine line between tribute and caricature. The arrangements for much of his classic material are so bare-bones (for the most part) that you can usually put you own spin on them. Both of these tunes are doomed-romance songs that we've turned into a nice emotional shift in our sets.

The sincerity didn't last too long. We did some cheesy fake-jazz shiznit in "My Gal," with some verbal hi-hats and banjo brush-drumming, which is always a good time.

Nemo struck again with Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," a simple chord structure that's surprisingly well-suited to a bluegrass rhythm, and retains its semi-haunting sound. To round things off while keepin' it spooky, we finished the early set with "House by the Sea," and even changed up the ending to bring the post-jam energy down and finish the song quietly at the end of the final verse.

Late set: Loved You Enough, Possum, Natural Mystic > Columbus Stockade Blues > Glass Onion > Jam > 'Til the End of the World Rolls 'Round, Shuckin' the Corn

I didn't look back at the calendar, but a lengthy early set and a short late one usually means there was a show downstairs in the main room. When that happens — especially if it's a band with some crossover potential — we time our late set to try and snag some audience members on their way out. One of my favorite things is to see someone accidentally jam up the exit line because they like what we're playing and stop to listen.

We gave 'em a good reason in the late set. "Loved You Enough" might be my favorite Yonder Mountain/Jeff Austin Extended Universe tune. It's damn near a perfect bluegrass song, in my opinion. 

In a similar vein, "Possum" is damn near a perfect Phish song: Bouncy, goofy and fun. From there, we launched into a half-hour jam that kicked off with Marley's "Natural Mystic"... and for some reason I just stopped paying attention to the chart and sang whatever-the-f*ck. I think I did the first verse twice, forgot the part where it just hangs on the root for a few bars... but it worked out fine.

We put together a menacing little jam in E-minor, flipped it up to A-minor and railed off "Columbus Stockade Blues." That tune's been a mainstay in the repertoire, and it's fun to pull out when traditional-bluegrass heads are around. The old-school version that gets played at bluegrass jams is all major chords, but we do the Leon Russell/New Grass Revival version that flips it into a minor key.

During 2023 and '24, we were also really feelin' The Beatles' "Glass Onion." It's got just the right amount of weirdness and really perks up the ears of folks who aren't familiar with it. Transitioning from another A-minor song also gives me a chance to play one of my all-time favorite chords, an A-minor-9 with a gorgeous jazzy dissonance to it. 

After "Glass Onion," it was off into nearly 10 minutes of jamming, gradually peaking-and-valleying in A-minor and cooling things off by shifting up to C and doing what I now recognize as almost a "Knocking on Heaven's Door" jam. Nemo used some melodic bass to kick the energy back up and we took off into the old bluegrass chestnut "'Til the End of the World Rolls 'Round" to finish the late-set jam. 

Then it was a quick "Shuckin' the Corn" and we tipped on out.

I think this show is a great example of our philosophy of "play eight bars and then play something different" when it comes to jamming. Joe and Nemo are great at coming up with transitional jams that either help us move between songs or bring us to a place where we can change the key in a natural-sounding way and get into a new song.