Ice Jammin': This Weekend's Setlists

'In the moonlight, in the midnight...'

It was 36 straight hours of bluegrass from Saturday afternoon onward — we took the stage as the closing full band at the January Ice Jam in Butler on Saturday night, then it was time to head a few miles south on Sunday for a private party.

First off, if you're not familiar with the Ice Jam, about 800 bluegrass fans and players basically take over the Days Inn Conference Center in Butler and play music for two-and-a-half days straight. I'm talking every hotel door open and every room (and most of the hallways) filled with people playing bluegrass until about 5 a.m. I'm talking about GYM JAM 2017, where pickers hit the Days Inn fitness room and played mandolin while treadmilling and Stair-Mastering. It was a beautiful time.

Our pal Danny Rectenwald joined us at Ice Jam for our set as Covered in Grass, and then Charlie Hustle & the Pickers played a party for some great folks at the North Park Lodge.

Click the links below to check out the shows courtesy of Archive.org!

11/14/17 January Ice Jam, Butler, Pa.

(click here to download/stream)

One set:

Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)

Roving Gambler (Stanley Bros.)

Fox on the Run (T. Hazzard)

Rain (Lennon-McCartney)

Blackjack County Chains (R. Lane) >

Eat My Dust (D. Grisman)

I Know You Rider (Trad.) >

Whiskey Before Breakfast (Trad.)

11/15/17 Private event, North Park Lodge, McCandless, Pa.

(click here to download/stream)

Early set:

Have Someone Play Dixie For Me (P. Roy)

Eat My Dust (D. Grisman)

Ophelia (The Band)

Honey Babe (E. Bishop)

Big River (J. Cash)

A Lonesome Night (Stanley Bros.)

You Better Get Right (Stanley Bros.) >

Cherokee Shuffle (Trad.)

Friend of the Devil (Dead)

Bury Me Beneath the Willow (Trad.)

Banks of the Ohio (Trad.)

Althea (Dead)

Streetlight Mama

No Expectation (Stones)

Angel From Montgomery (J. Prine)

Long Black Veil (Dill/Wilkins)

Ol' Slew Foot (J. Horton)

Roving Gambler (Stanley Bros.)

Rain (Lennon-McCartney)

I Know You Rider (Trad.) >

Whiskey Before Breakfast (Trad.)

Late set:

Old Train (T. Rice)

Deep River Blues (D. Watson)

Midnight Flyer (P. Craft)

Dark Hollow (B. Browning)

Glendale Train (J. Dawson)

Tumbling Tumbleweeds (R. Rogers)

New Mexican Shuffle

Rollin' In My Sweet Baby's Arms (Trad.)

Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)

Fox on the Run (T. Hazzard) >

Salt Creek (Trad.)

Saturday's Bluegrass Setlist: 1/7/17, Nied's Hotel, Pgh., Pa.

'On the banks of the Ohio...'

So we had to designate our bass player to injured-reserve status after a late-afternoon mishap... luckily, five head-staples later, she's good as new! In the meantime, we had our homie Danny Rectenwald join us for a night of hot pickin' at Nied's Hotel.

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

Early set:

Jam/Intro

Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)

Deep Elem Blues (Trad.)

Streetlight Mama

New Mexican Shuffle

In the Pines (Leadbelly)

Let Me Love You One More Time (Stanley Bros.)

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

Blackjack Molly

No Expectation (Stones)

Have Someone Play Dixie For Me (Dry Branch Fire Squad)

You'll Never Miss the Water 'Til the Well Runs Dry (H. Linn, Varine arr.)

Peggy-O (Dead) >

Roving Gambler (Stanley Bros.)

I Know You Rider (Trad.) >

Whiskey Before Breakfast (Trad.)

Casey Jones (Dead)

Late set:

This Little Jar

Hold Me Back

A Lonesome Night (Stanley Bros.)

Feelin' Alright (D. Mason)

Hang Me Oh Hang Me (Trad.)

Friend of the Devil (Dead)

Dark Hollow (B. Browning)

Fox on the Run (T. Hazzard)

Dead Flowers (Stones)

Mystery Train (J. Parker)

Me and My Uncle (J. Phillips) >

Eat My Dust (D. Grisman)

Loser (Dead)

Banks of the Ohio (Trad.)

Nine Pound Hammer (M. Travis) >

Cherokee Shuffle (Trad.)

Powderfinger (N. Young) >

Rain (Lennon-McCartney) >

Ol' Slew Foot (J. Horton)

E: How Mountain Girls Can Love (Stanley Bros.)

Tonight's Setlist: 6/21/16, Leechburg Firemen's Carnival, Leechburg, Pa.

'This nine-pound hammer, it killed John Henry,

but it won't kill me, no it won't kill me...'

We were joined tonight by my sister for a handful of songs at the beginning of the second set, and it was pretty awesome. She's a classically-trained opera singer, so we had to countrify her up a little to get the proper twaang for singing bluegrass, but we got there.

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

Early set:
New Mexican Shuffle
Nine Pound Hammer (M. Travis)
Let Me Love You One More Time (Stanley Bros.)
In the Pines (Leadbelly)
John Hardy (Trad.)
Mystery Train (J. Parker)
Blackberry Blossom (A. Smith)
Pig in a Pen (Trad.)
Eat My Dust (D. Grisman)
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (Dylan)
Glendale Train (J. Dawson) >
I Know You Rider (Trad.) >
Whiskey Before Breakfast

Late set:
Roving Gambler* (Stanley Bros.)
A Lonesome Night* (Stanley Bros.)
Leaning on the Everlasting Arm* (Stanley Bros.)
Friend of the Devil* (Dead)
Where We'll Never Grow Old* (Stanley Bros.)
Dark as a Dungeon* (M. Travis)
I Am Weary, Let Me Rest* (Cox Family)
You Better Get Right (Stanley Bros.) >
Mighty High (J. Ligon)
Honey Babe (E. Bishop) >
Gravel Road (M. Slim)
Peggy-O (Trad., Dead arr.)
Salt Creek (Trad.)
Deep Elem Blues (Trad.)
Fox on the Run (T. Hazzard)
How Mountain Girls Can Love (Stanley Bros.)

*with Rachel Grumet

Monday's (Solo) Setlist: 3/2/14 McCormick Place, Chicago, Ill.

Sweet home, Chicago. Sweet, snowy, frigid, 

bone-snapping, nice-but-thankfully-temporary home...

I left Pittsburgh for what Skippy the Local Weatherman deemed "among Chicago's coldest winters on record," soooo hooray for that. We got more snow during the Soldier Field hockey game than Pittsburgh got in the whole Titan "storm."

But I did squeeze in a couple sets with some accompaniment by my sister, in-between bouts with frostbite. Archive link forthcoming:

Early set:

Strange Moon*

Garbage Man (M. McKinley)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Cyprus Avenue (V. Morrison) >

Quite a Night*

Mystery Train (J. Walker)

Went to See the Gypsy (Dylan) >

Like a Rolling Stone/Uncle John's Band teases >

Shady Grove (Trad.)

Slow Train (T. Bruno) >

Lady with a Fan (Dead) >

Deep Elem Blues (Trad.)

Late set:

Dauphine*

The Captain* > 

'Spanish Ladies' tease > The Captain >

Jam >

Southwest Sky* >

Eyes of the World (Dead)

Dark as a Dungeon^ (M. Travis)

I Am Weary, Let Me Rest^ (Cox Family)

Goin' to Acapulco (Dylan/The Band)

Angel Band (Stanley Bros.)

Sweet Home Chicago (R. Johnson)

*Original

^with Rachel Grumet