Tonight's Setlist: 9/21/12, Thunderbird Café, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Had a blast opening for the Old E Allstars at their record-release show. It's always a good time hanging out with Pittsburgh's premier funk band.

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

Third Street Woman (J. Willie Reynolds)

Dauphine*

Strange Moon*

Rain Song No. 3*

Mystery Train (J. Parker) >

Statesboro Blues (Blind Willie McTell) >

Mystery Train

Don't Look No Further (B.B. King)

I Like It*

*Original

Last Night's Setlist: 9/20/12, Coco Coffeehouse, Leechburg, Pa.

I took the calculated risk of going into last night's gig without any prepared setlist, which is a first for me. Even when I was going to open stages back in the early 2000s, I had a clear idea of what I wanted to play, mostly because of my preference for stringing together suites of songs.

But I wanted to try just flipping through the songbook and sort of following the vibe of the evening. At times, it made for a bit less cohesion, and there was the occasional flub, since as per usual, I was playing songs either for the first time at a gig or the first time in a long time at a gig.

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

Early set:

Anna Begins (Counting Crows)

Big Railroad Blues (Dead)

Drag the Lake, Charlie (Drive-By Truckers)

Lookin' Out My Back Door (CCR)

New Minglewood Blues (Dead)

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down (L. Helm/R. Robertson)

Dauphine*

Sugar Mountain (N. Young)

I Like It*

It Hurts Me Too (E. James)

Me and My Uncle (Dead)

Late set:

Don't Look No Further (B.B. King)

On a Foggy Night (T. Waits)

Man Smart, Woman Smarter (N. Span)

It Makes No Difference (R. Danko)

Strange Moon*

Little Wing (J. Hendrix)

Third Street Woman (J. Willie Reynolds)

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

In Color (J. Johnson)

Highway 29 (Springsteen)

Rosie (Trad., Varine arr.)

In the Pines (Leadbelly)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Will Ye Go Lassie Go? (Clancy Bros.)

You Can Keep It*

Slow Train (T. Bruno) >

Dark Star (Dead) >

Jam > Dark Star >

Slow Train

*Original

Tonight's Setlist: 9/7/12, The Twisted Thistle, Leechburg, Pa.

I was definitely in a country-blues mood last night...

Perhaps inspired by the blues stylings of Roger Montgomery at last weekend's Pears Garlic Fest, I was feelin' some country blues at the Twisted Thistle last night. Good crowd, saw a few old friends from back in the day. Good time. The setlist was a little bit all over the map — more than usual for me — and I think it's a little disjointed. I tried out a bunch of new tunes: "God Rest His Soul," an old Gregg Allman song from the Allmans' pre-fame days, "Third Street Woman," a down-and-dirty blues from the '20s by Blind Joe Reynolds... I even tried out an old field holler, "Rosie," that's got kind of a creepy edge to it.

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

Early set:

Smokestack Lightning (C. Burnett) >

The Captain* >

Spanish Ladies tease > The Captain*

Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight (Oak Ridge Boys) >

Glendale Train (New Riders of the Purple Sage)

Strange Moon*

God Rest His Soul (G. Allman)

Rain Song No. 3* >

Darkness on the Edge of Town (Springsteen)

I Like It*

It Hurts Me Too (E. James)

Friend of the Devil (Dead)

Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan) >

Love Please Come Home (B. Monroe) >

Cat Man Blues (Blind Boy Fuller)

Late set:

Mystery Train (J. Parker)

Cocaine Blues (G. Davis) >

Dire Wolf (Dead)

New Coat of Paint (T. Waits)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Dauphine*

Southwest Sky*

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

Third Street Woman (J. Willie Reynolds)

Factory*# >

Jam >

All Along the Watchtower (Dylan) >

Harbor Lights (S. Miller) >

Jam >

The Other One (Dead) >

Rosie (Trad., Varine arr.) >

Dark Star (Dead) >

The Other One >

Good Morning Lil' Schoolgirl (J. Lee Williamson)

*Original

#First time played