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

Tonight's Setlist: 10/8/16, PGH Abides 2016 (Lebowskifest), Spirit, Pgh., Pa.

'Yeah well, that's just, like, your opinion, man...' — The Dude

What a great time at PGH Abides. We always have a great time. Big thanks to Pandemic Pete, Steph Brea and the rest of the amazing folks who organize Pittsburgh's Lebowskifest every year. It just keeps getting better.

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

Tumbling Tumbleweeds (R. Rogers)

The Man In Me (Dylan)

Big River (J. Cash)

Riders on the Storm (Morrison/Manzark/Krieger)

Lodi (CCR)

Junko Partner (M. Rebennack)

That's It >

Eat My Dust (D. Grisman) >

That's It

Hotel California (Eagles, but we did the Gipsy Kings' version, in Spanish!)

Dead Flowers (Stones)

Salt Creek (Trad.) >

Nine Pound Hammer (M. Travis)

Feelin' Alright (D. Mason)

Theme from Branded (Alch/Frontiere)

Last Month's Setlist: 8/27/16, Oaks Theater, Oakmont, Pa.

'Bayou moonlight, got me wanderin'

Off Dauphine Street again...'

We found some awesome kindred spirits in Greensburg-based rock/funk band Habatat, who joined us for a double-bill at the beautiful Oaks Theater. Unfortunately, the crowd was kinda small, but we still had a great time. 

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

One set:

Big Bad Blues* (Furthur)

Blackjack Molly*

Strange Moon

Casey Jones** (T.L. Seibert)

Ophelia (The Band) >

Dauphine

Gravel Road* (M. Slim)

Cumberland Blues (Dead)

Somebody Changed the Lock*** (C. Weldon/M. Rebennack arr.)

Les Brers in A Minor (D. Betts)

Funky Werewolf >

Drumz > Space >

Stone Soup >

Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad (Dead) >

Don't Let Go (J. Stone)

*Not recorded

**Not that one

***feat. Josh Covert of Habatat, trumpet

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

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

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.)

Last Week's Setlist: 7/16/16 Arsenal Cider House, Pgh., Pa.

"They call it the 'Babywaker'... I thought it was called the 'Babymaker'..."

We had a tremendous time at Arsenal Cider House, a place I will be visiting in the future regardless of whether or not we have a gig there. Blackberry cider — "The Babywaker" — was out-of-control good.

After a short acoustic set where we opened for ourselves — Trish and I tossed off a few tunes while our drummer and lead guitarist were getting set up — I also got to try out my new Zoom G5n multi-effects processor, which proved itself well worth the purchase. I'll have to use it judiciously, but the nearly 70 different effects are going to come in awful handy at future shows.

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

Set I:

Lou-Easy-Ann (J.J. Cale)

Junko Partner (J. Waynes)

New Mexican Shuffle

Gravel Road (M. Slim)

Friend of the Devil (Dead)

Set II:

Jam > Queen Cobra

Dauphine >
Feelin' Blue (CCR) >

Funky Werewolf

Strange Moon

Deep Elem Blues (Trad.)

Meet Me in the Morning (Dylan)

Blackjack Molly

That's It

Set III:

Viola Lee Blues (N. Cannon, Dead. arr) >

China Cat Sunflower (Dead) > Jam >
After Midnight (J.J. Cale)

Stack-a-Lee (Trad., Rebennack arr.)

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

Good Morning Lil' Schoolgirl (J. Lee Williamson) >

Midnight Rambler (Stones) >
Drumz >

Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad (Trad., Dead arr.) >

Cold Rain and Snow (P. Rowan)

7/8/16 Live at the Deutschtown Music Festival!

Huszár, a Hungarian bar on Pittsburgh's North Side, might be the smallest bar we've ever packed ourselves into to play.

It was the site of the AcoustiCafé segment of the 4th Annual Deutschtown Music Festival, and we were the full-band headliners for the night. But we were set up in the middle of the bar, which is essentially a long hallway, so we were kind of blocking the way to the bathroom. Then Pete broke a string during "Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad," and I was left to my own guitar-related devices for "Don't Let Go."

But we debuted a new tune, "Funky Werewolf," and had a good time.

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

One set:

That's It

Queen Cobra

Strange Moon

Blackjack Molly >

Jam >

Feelin' Blue (CCR) >

Funky Werewolf

Mother's Meth Head Blues

Goin' Down the Road Feelin' Bad (Trad., Dead arr.) >

Don't Let Go (J. Stone)

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

Last Night's Setlist: 6/10/16, Penn Hills Library Amphitheater, Penn Hills, Pa.

'Daddy's got them Deep Elem blues...'

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

New tunes? Check. Disco-gospel? Check. My 3-year-old son occasionally wandering up to the stage to talk some shit? ("When does the music start, Daddy?") Check.

Early set:

Queen Cobra

Friend of the Devil (Dead) >

Let It Rock (C. Berry)

I Like It

Dauphine

The Cars Hiss By My Window (Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger)

New Mexican Shuffle

China Cat Sunflower (Dead) >

Feelin' Blue (CCR) >

Jam >

Gravel Road (M. Slim) >

Franklin's Tower (Dead)

Late set:

Cold Rain and Snow (Trad., Dead arr.) >

That's It

Lou-Easy-Ann (J.J. Cale)

Tupelo Honey (V. Morrison)

Deep Elem Blues (Trad., Dead arr.)

Magnolia (J.J. Cale) >

Stone Soup >

Drumz >

Mighty High (J. Ligon)

Last Month's Setlist: 5/14/16 American Legion Post No. 980, Plum, Pa.

'We gonna let it all hang out...'

There's nothing like a good crowd that's into the music. And just like when I played a couple solo shows at the Legion, this crowd was into it. They gave us energy, we gave it back, and in my opinion played one of our best shows to date.

It also helps that after three years of Playing in the Band, I'm finally starting to develop better solo instincts/chops.

Download/stream the show here, courtesy of Archive.org!

Early set:

Jam > Whiskey River (W. Nelson) >

Big River (J. Cash)

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

Feelin' Blue (CCR)

Meet Me in the Morning (Dylan) >

Mystery Train (J. Parker)

New Mexican Shuffle

The One That Got Away (T. Waits)
Big Bad Blues (Furthur)

Gravel Road (M. Slim)

Dauphine > Jam >

After Midnight (J.J. Cale)

Late set:

Equinox (Coltrane) >

Les Brers in A Minor (D. Betts) >

Feelin' Alright (D. Mason)

Me and My Uncle (J. Philips) >

Eat My Dust (D. Grisman)

Lil' Red Rooster (C. Burnett)

Queen Cobra

Althea (Dead) >
Don't Let Go (J. Stone) >

Drumz > 

China Cat Sunflower (Dead) >

Werewolves of London (W. Zevon) >

Viola Lee Blues (Dead)

E: Rain (Lennon-McCartney)

Last Night's Setlist: 4/22/16, Tree Pittsburgh (private event)

'In the pines, in the pines...'

So, in addition to having one of the coolest logos ever to incorporate Pittsburgh's municipal boundaries, Tree Pittsburgh is a bunch of really cool people. Trish and I got to play a duo show last night at one of the private events marking Earth Day 2016, where we picked a few tunes and chowed down on smoked salmon, pickled jalapeños, like six different kinds of hummus and Vietnamese coffee-flavored ice cream.

And despite about a half-dozen requests, we were unable to give the people a Prince cover. Sorry. 

Early set:

The Captain

Blackjack Molly

Honey Babe (E. Bishop)

Quite a Night

Althea (Dead) >
Deep Elem Blues (Trad.)

You Better Get Right (R. Stanley)

Northern Muse (Solid Ground) (V. Morrison)

New Mexican Shuffle

Strange Moon

Gravel Road (M. Slim)

Friend of the Devil (Dead)

Midnight Special (Leadbelly)

Floating Bridge (J. Estes)

Late set:

Have Someone Play Dixie For Me (P. Roy)

Mystery Train (J. Parker)

In the Pines (Leadbelly)

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

Slow Train (T. Bruno)

Astral Weeks (V. Morrison) >

Peggy-O (Trad., Dead arr.)

The One That Got Away (T. Waits)

Big River (J. Cash)

Black Peter (Dead)

Magnolia (J.J. Cale) >

Stone Soup >

Garden of Eden (J. Nelson)

Madame George (V. Morrison)

Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)