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

Tonight's Setlist: 1/25/15 Weather Permitting (Winter), New Bohemian, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Shakin' the walls at ol' St. Wenceslaus...

St. Wenceslaus, an old Polish church on Pittsburgh's North Side, has been converted into the New Bohemian, an awesome artspace/tattoo studio/host for today's Winter Weather Permitting food/music/beer extravaganza.

We played an acoustic set with Dave on congas for the first time, and it went over well. We cranked up "Friend of the Devil" to the original tempo and cast a nod to ska group and co-headliners The Pressure with an old-school Wailers tune, complete with a little spur'o'the moment "Bend Down Low" tease thrown in because I was listening to it over breakfast this morning!

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

One set:

Dauphine*

Gentleman of Leisure (J. Winchester)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Mother's Meth Head Blues*

Friend of the Devil (Dead)

Garden of Eden (New Riders of the Purple Sage) >

Let Him Go (Marley/Tosh/Livingston) >

Bend Down Low tease (Marley) > Let Him Go

Ophelia (The Band)

Back on the Train (Phish)

*Original

Tonight's Setlist: 10/25/14, KC's Birthday, All Saints Brewing Co., Greensburg, Pa.

'Friend of the devil is a friend of mine...'

In a kind of public rehearsal for our Oct. 31 show (Club Café, 56 S. 12th St., Pittsburgh, Pa., 10 p.m., $7 in advance, $10 at the door or $7 at the door with a costume, don't miss it!), we had a chance to celebrate with our friend KC at her 30th birthday/Halloween party. 

While they have some fine beers, All Saints is basically a giant concrete box with a metal roof and literally nothing to absorb the sound of the band. It sounded like an echo chamber while we were playing, and the tape has our drummer sounding John-Bonham levels of epic. We should've added "When the Levee Breaks" to the setlist.

Click here to download the full-band first set, courtesy of Archive.org:

Early set#:

Soul Serenade (C. Ousley)

Quite a Night*

Dock of the Bay (O. Redding)

Garbage Man (M. McKinley) >

Black Peter (Dead)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Good Lovin' (A. Resnick/R. Clark)

Les Brers in A Minor (Allman/Betts) >

Equinox (Coltrane) >

'Spooky' Jam > Les Brers Reprise >

Floating Bridge (J. Estes) >

Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)

Come On In My Kitchen (R. Johnson)

Can You Picture That? (D. Teeth/F. Pepper)

Don't Let Go (J. Stone) >

Back on the Train (Phish) >

Don't Let Go

Late set:

China Cat Sunflower (Dead) >

Feelin' Blue (CCR)

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

Jam >

Smokestack Lightning (C. Burnett)

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

Friend of the Devil (Dead) > Jam >

Sympathy for the Devil (Stones)

Werewolves of London (W. Zevon) >

Viola Lee Blues (G. Cannon)

*Original

#"Soul Serenade" through "Good Lovin" without lead guitar

Saturday's 'Setlist': 10/18/14 Super-Dave's Super-Jam

Jammin'...

Our drummer hosted a massive jam session this weekend in his rehearsal space. It was glorious. 

One thing about jam sessions: there's always too many guitar players. So I strummed for the first 45 minutes or so, then took the opportunity to jump behind the second drum kit and proceed to go all Rhythm-Devils-crazy with Dave the remainder of the night. It was a blast. Besides, too many of the songs I wanna play on guitar have some little tricky part that no one wants to take the time to learn (for evidence, see the "There's Actually a Third Part Jam," which goes nowhere fast!).

Taki the Mad Keyboardist was our leader for the most part, subtly guiding us through changes in the shape and feel of the jams. There are plenty of influences at work, and what comes out is a heady blend of hard-driving funk, R&B and blues, with just a touch of psychedelic madness courtesy of some well-timed guitar effects, Taki's insane Moog acumen and our double-drumming pushing and pulling the jams back and forth.

What a gas. Enjoy!

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

Setlist (bearing in mind that I'm randomly naming most of the jams):

Jam

Let Him Go (Wailers)

Jam*

Sweet Jane (L. Reed)

All Along the Watchtower (Dylan) > Whipping Post (false start)

Whipping Post Shuffle Jam

Lil' Red Rooster (C. Burnett)

Soul Jam

Taki's Spacey Jam

Phishy Funk Jam

Free Your Mind Jam* >

Second Line Jam** >

Breakdown Jam >

Superstitious-ish Jam** >

Jam

Blues Jam >

Monster Moog Jam >

Get On Up Jam** > Fame tease

Kyle's Low-End Warm-Up Jam >

Groovin'

Stretchy Funk Jam >

Kyle's Jam I** >

Hurricane Funk Jam

There's Actually a Third Part Jam

Just Pick Four Chords Jam

Chunky Funk Jam

*Billy T., improvised vocals

**Kyle Lawson, improvised vocals

From Charlie Hustle:

Dave Varasse, drums

Patrick Varine, guitar/vocals (through 'Soul Jam'), drums (rest of set)

Other players:

Kyle Lawson, guitar/vocals/bass

Taki Batis, keys/Moog

Billy T., vocals/congas

Will the Bass Player, bass

Several Other Fine Gentleman Whose Names Escape Me at the Moment, guitar/bass

Tonight's Setlist: 5/29/14, Howler's, Pittsburgh, Pa.

'Goin' down south, gonna make the mornin' howl...'

Tonight we triple-billed with Jester Jenkins and Miss Freddye's Homecookin' Trio, and it was excellent... aside from some heinously out-of-tune slide guitar on what should have been the centerpiece of the evening, Miss Freddye joining us on "Lil' Red Rooster." Alas...

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

One set:

Jam > New Mexican Shuffle*

Stealin' (Trad.)

Third Street Woman (J. Willie Reynolds)

Evil Mind*

Lil' Red Rooster# (C. Burnett)

Slow Train (T. Bruno)

Garbage Man (M. McKinley)

China Cat Sunflower (Dead) >

Feelin' Blue (CCR)

Big Bad Blues (Furthur) >

Smokestack Lightning (C. Burnett) >

Gris Gris Gumbo Ya-Ya (M. Rebennack) >

Stone Soup* >

Don't Let Go (J. Stone) >

Viola Lee Blues (Trad., Dead arr.)

*Original

#with Miss Freddye

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

Tonight's Setlist: 2/25/12, The Hideout, Pittsburgh, Pa.

Man, is it great to be part of a full-on band.

Tonight was the debut of Charlie Hustle, and it was a blast. It's fun to play solo acoustic shows, and you have some more flexibility in your song selection, but the give-and-take of four musicians onstage, even when it gets a little awkward, is a totally different and tremendous beast.

We had our hiccups, but considering this was only the fourth time we've played including rehearsals — and the first time we'd played with our bassist! — I feel like it went smashingly well. Click here to download/stream the show, courtesy of Archive.org!

Early set:

Feelin' Alright (S. Winwood)

Quite a Night* >

Floating Bridge (J. Estes)

Dock of the Bay (O. Redding)

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

Rosin the Bow (Trad., original arr.) >

Franklin's Tower (Dead)

Late set:

Jimmy Olsen's Blues (G. Schenkman)

New Mexican Shuffle*

All Along the Watchtower (Dylan)

Good Morning Lil' Schoolgirl# (J. Williamson)

Warrior with a Bottle# (Old E Allstars)

Ain't No Sunshine# (B. Withers)

Mystery Train (J. Parker)

I Ain't Supersitious (C. Burnett)

*Original

#Feat. Langston Kelly, saxophone

Charlie Hustle is:

Kyle Lawson, electric guitar/vocals

Patrick Varine, acoustic guitar/vocals

Dave Varasse, drums

Tony Thomas, bass guitar

Come check out the debut of CHARLIE HUSTLE!

So we were the Varine/Lawson Project for all of about 72 hours before we settled on an actual band name... so come check out the debut of CHARLIE HUSTLE, Feb. 25 at 9 p.m. at The Hideout, 45 Bates St., in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood.

Come check out the debut of a band soon-to-not-be-called The Varine/Lawson Project!

Soooo the club owner was pressing us for a band name so he could get his fliers together, aaaaand the best that we could come up with was The Varine/Lawson Project. Rest assured, it won't be that for long. HOWEVA, you should still come check out our debut gig, Feb. 25 at 9 p.m. at The Hideout, 45 Bates St., in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood (it's right off the Bates Street exit on the Parkway West).

Right now we're working on originals and covering everything from Bill Withers to Howlin' Wolf to the Dead, Dylan, Traffic and more!

128 Oz. of Great-erade: 'Off the Grid,' by Dinner at the Thompson's

French singer Lucille Tee and Cali-based producer Fablive have combined to put together one of the best Franco-U.S. collaborations since French fries, a heady, psych- and hip-hop-influenced soul record that oozes cool.

Tee's vocal presence is like a less-nasal Erykah Badu, but with the same penchant for breathy, multilayered harmonies. But where Badu, for the most part, stays grounded in soul and R&B, even when working with hip-hoppers like Madlib, Dinner at the Thompson's sound on Off the Grid has the heavy knock to support a guest MC like Guilty Simpson, who shows up on the swinging "Rice'n'Beans."

Fablive's intricate production - which this particular reviewer would love to see paired up with any number of MCs - weaves hip-hop, jazz-soul, bits of electro and a heavy dose of modern psychedelia into the mix. On tracks like the twitchy "Levitating," the synth-stabbing "Whatever It Takes" and the uptempo "Different Beings" (featuring modern funkateer Lee Fields), the music is unerringly catchy, diverse and accomplished.

Three short, hidden tracks following the closer, "You are Love," also hint at the great potential this duo has to expand their range into solidly hip-hop territory.

Sit down to a little Dinner at the Thompson's; it's a well-prepared meal.

• Dinner at the Thompson's on MySpace

Outer-Space Soul with Georgia Anne Muldrow, a.k.a. Jyoti

I don't know if it's already been used, but if not, the otherworldly future-soul stylings of Ocotea would work perfectly as the soundtrack for any number of "Adult Swim" promo segments. The reverb-heavy, jazz-swingy sound is provided by Jyoti, alias Georgia Anne Muldrow, no stranger to this brand of soul.

It's just that her full, commanding voice is nowhere to be found. Jyoti is apparently an instrumentalist, content with creating shifting, interesting soundscapes.

"Blessed Matches" is awash in atonal piano and fluttering cymbals; "Language of the Flame" is plodding, tense and bouncy all at the same time, and "Unchanged Reverie" is almost a dub-reggae workout, peppered with snare drum and ghostly synth work.

Ocotea is almost like the score to a blaxploitation sci-fi movie that was never made... or kind of like if Ridley Scott had hired Sun Ra to do the "Blade Runner" soundtrack.

Whatever it is, it's well worth a listen. Muldrow and fellow Stones Thrower Dudley Perkins are at the forefront of out-there, P-Funkish, occasionally freeform neo-soul.
Check out samples from Ocotea at Amazon.com.

Musical Country of the Year 2009: Ethiopia

"Only Ethiopia protect we from the cold..." - Buju Banton

Yes I. This year's musical country of the year takes us back to the cradle of civilization. I have to give it up to Ethiopia, primarily because of four things: Ras G, KenLo, the Heliocentrics and Oh No's sophomore beat record, Ethiopium.

The first two were beatmakers who I really got into this past year. Both create a wavering, dusty-but-digital sound that feeds off of J. Dilla but throws in a heavy dash of electronic, ambient noise and static.

Ras G is definitely the dustier of the two, whipping up a muddy, frazzled electric brand of hip-hop on the excellent Beats of Mind. KenLo's fourth Craqnuques volume, Orange, is high-flying, future-soul hip-hop, skittering and blipping back and forth. He also teamed up with like-minded producer VLooper for two quality volumes of Bullesbubbles instrumentals (all of them are available for free, by the way, via KenLo and VLoopers' MySpace pages).

And Oh No crafted some nasty bangers on Ethiopium. I was impressed at what he was able to do with Turkish records last time around, so giving him access to a back catalog of Ethiopian funk and jazz (just having access to the Ethiopiques series alone would be worth it) could only have resulted in fire.

And on top of all this, jazz-funk outfit the Heliocentrics collaborated with Ethiopian pianist Mulatu Astatke on probably my favorite release of the bunch, Inspiration Information, a shit-hot set of tense grooves augmented by Malcolm Catto's neck-snap drumming and the Heliocentrics' knob-tweaking atmospherics.

So here's to Ethiopia, baby!