Mo' Grass! Fall/Winter Setlists

'Shelter me from the powder and the finger...'

Fall into winter has been a pretty awesome run for Charlie Hustle & the Pickers, our bluegrass offshoot of Charlie Hustle & the Grifters. We got put on for two bluegrass festivals, the Butler Ice Jam in January and the Oil Country Bluegrass Festival in February, and we've kept plenty busy in the months leading up to Christmas. As much as I'm itching to get back together with our drummer to bang out some serious electric mayhem, this has been a ton of fun and we're looking forward to more bluegrass gigs as well!

Click the links to download/stream any of the shows below, courtesy of Archive.org!

11/18/16, Stand Up for Standing Rock Benefit, Hambone's, Pgh., Pa. 

(performed as Covered in Grass)

Powderfinger (N. Young)

Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover (P. Simon)

Hotel California (D. Henley)

Laid (James)

Loser (Dead)

Riders on the Storm (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger)

Knockin' On Heaven's Door (Dylan)

Rain (Lennon-McCartney)

Blackjack County Chains (D. McCoury) >

Eat My Dust (D. Grisman)

Cherokee Shuffle (Trad.)

11/26/16 American Legion Post. No. 980, Plum, Pa.

Deep River Blues (D. Watson)

Honey Babe (E. Bishop)

Blackjack Molly

Hang Me Oh Hang Me (D. Van Ronk)

Mystery Train (J. Parker)

Dark Hollow (B. Browning)

Come On In My Kitchen (R. Johnson)

Big River (J. Cash) >

New Mexican Shuffle

That's It

Angel Band (Stanley Bros.)

Powderfinger (N. Young)

Ophelia (The Band)

Junko Partner (M. Rebennack)

You Better Get Right (Stanley Bros.)

Friend of the Devil (Dead) >

Ol' Slew Foot (J. Horton)

Midnight Flyer (P. Craft)

In the Pines (Leadbelly)

Mean Ol' Bedbug Blues (B. Smith)

Foggy Mountain Top (L. Flatt)

Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)

Blackjack County Chains (D. McCoury) >

Eat My Dust (D. Grisman)

Casey Jones (Dead)

Gravel Road (M. Slim)

Roving Gambler (Stanley Bros.)

Maggie's Farm (Dylan) >

Cherokee Shuffle (Trad.)

Streetlight Mama

Feelin' Alright (D. Mason)

Loser (Dead) >

St. James Infirmary (Trad.)

Rain (Lennon-McCartney)

Fox on the Run (T. Hazzard)

12/9/16 Club Café, Pgh., Pa.*

Blackjack Molly

I Know You Rider (Trad.) >

Whiskey For Breakfast (Trad.)

It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (Dylan)

Dark Hollow (B. Browning)

Big River (J. Cash)

Rain (Lennon-McCartney) >

Powderfinger (N. Young) >

Casey Jones (Dead)

*Opened for the Rusty Haywhackers; performed without Trish; full set feat. Danny Rectenwald, mandolin

Bluegrass Fer Dat Ass! — 10/22 & 10/28/16 Setlists

'I'd rather be in some dark hollow,

Where the sun don't ever shine...'

We've been bluegrassing it up while our drummer and his wife welcome their little baby girl into the world, and it's been a blast. Part of how I got to be friends with our bass player and lead guitarist is we all brought instruments to a friend's birthday party and quickly found out that we knew all the same songs:

ME OR PETE OR TRISH: "Hey, let's do [this old Grateful Dead/random blues/semi-obscure folk song]."

TRISH OR PETE OR ME: "Sweet, we know that one!"

With this bluegrass group, we've discovered a bunch more of those songs, plus with a new project going, Covered in Grass (where we play bluegrass versions of well-known pop songs), we're adding more to the repertoire all the time.

At the first October show, we were joined by music professor and tremendous picker Danny Rectenwald on mandolin:

10/22/16, Hambone's, Pgh., Pa. (click here to stream/download)

Early set:
Roving Gambler (Stanley Bros.)
Jack-a-Roe (Trad.)
Friend of the Devil (Dead)
Shady Grove (Trad.)
In the Pines (Leadbelly)
Take On Me (M. Harket)
Hold Me Back
Me and My Uncle (J. Phillips) >
I Know What I Know (P. Simon)
John Hardy (Trad.) >
Laid (James) 
Foggy Mountain Top (L. Flatt)
Sweet Child O'Mine (G'n'F'n'R)

Late set:
Deep River Blues (D. Watson)
Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)
I Know You Rider (Trad.) >
Whiskey Before Breakfast (Trad.)
What Does the Deep Sea Say? (D. Watson)
Honey Babe (E. Bishop)
Peggy-O (Trad., Dead arr.)
Canyonero (M. Groening) >
Eat My Dust (D. Grisman) >
Riders on the Storm (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger)
Nine Pound Hammer (M. Travis) >
Salt Creek (Trad.)
More Pretty Girls Than One (T. O'Brien)
This Little Jar* >
How Mountain Girls Can Love (Stanley Bros.)

*First time played

The second show was a Halloween-themed set at Elwood's Pub. Bluegrass-wise, that means a whole lotta shootin', stabbin', killin' and jailin'...

10/28/16 Elwood's Pub, Rural Ridge, Pa. (click here to stream/download)

Set I: 
Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya (M. Rebennack)
Evil Mind
Send Me to the Electric Chair (D. Bromberg)
Blackjack Molly
Roving Gambler (Stanley Bros.)
Long Black Veil (Dill/Wilkin)
Maggie's Farm (Dylan)
Tumbling Tumbleweeds (R. Rogers)
Angel From Montgomery (J. Prine)
Honey Babe (E. Bishop) >
Werewolves of London (W. Zevon)

Set II:
Sympathy for the Devil (Stones)
Dark Hollow (B. Browning)
Man of Constant Sorrow (Trad.)
Streetlight Mama
After Midnight (J.J. Cale)
I Know What I Know (P. Simon)
Stack-a-Lee (Trad., M. Rebennack arr.)
Angel Band (W. Bradbury)
New Minglewood Blues (N. Cannon, Dead arr.)

Set III:
Cash on the Barrelhead (C. Louvin/I. Louvin)
Riders on the Storm (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger)
Banks of the Ohio (Trad.)
Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)
Cherokee Shuffle (Trad.)
Friend of the Devil (Dead)
Hang Me Oh Hang Me (D. Van Ronk)
St. James Infirmary (Trad.)
This Little Jar >
How Mountain Girls Can Love (Stanley Bros.)
An Hour Before Dawn

Friday's (Acoustic) Setlist: 3/20/15, Hambone's, Pittsburgh, Pa.

'Bend down low, let me tell you what I know...'

In spite of some chest congestion, great time dropping an acoustic set with Dave on congas, in the intimate surroundings of Hambone's in Lawrenceville. Not to mention the disgustingly-awesome burger that came with pulled pork (whaaat?), a fried egg, a gigantic onion ring and some delicious barbecue sauce.

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

Early set:

Cumberland Blues (Dead)

Mother's Meth Head Blues*

New Mexican Shuffle*

Gentleman of Leisure (J. Winchester)

Ophelia (The Band)

Slow Train (T. Bruno)

Deep Elem Blues (Cofer Bros.)

Blackjack Molly*#

Let Him Go/Bend Down Low (Marley/Tosh/Livingston)

Lookin' Out My Back Door (CCR)

Late set:

Dauphine*

Evil Mind*

I Like It*

Floating Bridge (J. Estes) >

Equinox (Coltrane) > Floating Bridge >

Big River (J. Cash)

Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning (D. Van Ronk) >

Stone Soup* >

Friend of the Devil (Dead) >

Whiskey River (W. Nelson)

Love Please Come Home (B. Monroe)

E: Pig in a Pen (Trad.)

*Original

#First time played