Switchin' It Up: Charlie Hustle & the Pickers!

'Switchin' speeds like Bruce Lee, right on the Fuji in a movie...'

Did I just quote Redman's "Can't Wait" to describe our recent bluegrass side project? 

Yes. Yes, I did.

In an effort to quench our endless thirst for playing live music, we decided to put together a bluegrass trio, Charlie Hustle & the Pickers. After a few rehearsals, we booked at March 18 gig at a local beerhouse, Bierport PGH, where they host a weekly "Bluegrass Friday."

Early set:

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

White Freightliner (T. Van Zandt)

Bedbug Blues (B. Smith)

Make Me a Pallet On Your Floor (J. Hurt)

The Race Is On (D. Rollins)

On and On (B. Monroe)

Nashville Blues (D. Watson)

Little Maggie (R. Stanley)

Cumberland Blues (Dead)

Blue Ridge Mountain Blues (D. Watson)

Me and My Uncle (J. Philips) >

Eat My Dust (D. Grisman)

John Hardy (Trad.)

Hold Me Back

Cocaine Blues (L. Jordan)

Gravel Road (M. Slim)

Nine Pound Hammer (M. Travis)

Fox on the Run (T. Hazzard)

I Know You Rider (Trad., Dead arr.) >
Whiskey Before Breakfast (Trad.)

Late set:

You Better Get Right (R. Stanley)

Mystery Train (J. Parker)

In the Pines (Leadbelly)

Honey Babe (E. Bishop)

Deep Elem Blues (Trad.)

Peggy-O (Trad.)

Friend of the Devil (Dead) >

Blackberry Blossom (A. Smith) >

Have Someone Play Dixie For Me (P. Roy)

Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)

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

You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Dylan)

Salt Creek (Trad.) >

Mighty High (D. Crawford)

Due to some regrettable mic placement, the recording of that show is less "Charlie Hustle & the Pickers" and more "Random Bar Conversation With A Bluegrass Band Somewhere in the Background," so no recording.

A few weeks later though, we got our first bluegrass opening gig, April 14 supporting Nashville phenoms The Barefoot Movement at Thunderbird Café, and we got a fine recording just for yinz. 

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

One set:

Friend of the Devil (Dead) >

I Know You Rider (Trad.) >

Whiskey Before Breakfast (Trad.)

You Better Get Right (R. Stanley)

Hold Me Back

New Mexican Shuffle

In the Pines (Leadbelly)

Have Someone Play Dixie For Me (P. Roy) >

Eat My Dust (D. Grisman)

John Hardy (Trad.) >

Laid (James)

Peggy-O (Trad., Dead arr.)

Salt Creek (Trad.) >
Fox on the Run (T. Hazzard)

Workingman's Blues (M. Haggard)