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)

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 Night's Setlist: 10/30/15 Club Café, Pgh., Pa.

'Now the Eiffel Tower's holdin' up a flower,

I gave it to a Texas cat — can you picture that?'

It was another excellent Halloween as Dr. Teeth & the Electric Mayhem from "The Muppet Show," and this year it was even topical since they brought the show back!

This time we had "Zoot" — our buddy Kyle Lawson — sit in for the entire second set, which saw us expand our horizons with a funky detour through some Bill Withers and J.J. Cale tunes.

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

Early set:

Mystery Train (J. Parker)

Strange Moon

Dauphine

That's It >

Jam >

Queen Cobra

Can You Picture That? (D. Teeth) >

Jam >

Blackjack Molly

Midnight Rambler (Stones)

Late set*:

Werewolves of London (W. Zevon)

After Midnight (J.J. Cale)

Craney Crow (M. Rebennack) >

Stone Soup >

Use Me (B. Withers)

Spooky (Rascals) >

Equinox (Coltrane) >

Les Brers in A Minor (D. Betts) >

All Along the Watchtower (Dylan)

Fire on the Mountain (Dead)

*Full set w. Kyle Lawson, guitar/vocals

Tonight's Setlist: 10/9/15, PGH Abides III, Spirit Hall, Pittsburgh, Pa.

"Shut the f*ck up, Donnie..."

It was the typical blast at tonight's Lebowski-fest, PGH Abides at Spirit Hall in Lawrenceville. A nice big crowd, a nice high stage and our boy Huff subbing in on electric bass to add a little extra thump to the party.

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

One set:

Blackjack Molly*

Gentleman of Leisure (J. Winchester)

Nine-Toed Blues*#

Big Bad Blues (Furthur)

Penthouse Pauper (CCR)

Lil' Red Rooster (C. Burnett)

Kiss and Tell (G. Love) >

Feelin' Blue (CCR)

Don't Let Go (J. Stone) >

Drumz >

Midnight Rambler (Stones)

*Original

#Written for PGH Abides

Tonight's Setlist: 8/14/15, Penn Hills Library Amphitheater, Penn Hills, Pa.

'Hit the flo', out the do', head on down to New Mexico...'

It was an uptempo night at the library's outdoor amphitheater. We blazed through about 16 songs in under two hours, with a quick set break.

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

Early set:

Blackjack Molly* > Half-Steppin' Jam >

Feelin' Alright (S. Winwood)

St. Mary Jail*

Big River (J. Cash)

Friend of the Devil (Dead)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Dauphine* >

Cumberland Blues (Dead)

Late set:

Strange Moon*

Me and My Uncle (J. Philips)

Floating Bridge (J. Estes) >

Les Brers in A Minor (D. Betts) >

Equinox (Coltrane) >

Les Brers Reprise

Ophelia (The Band)

Meet Me in the Morning (Dylan)

That's It* >
Queen Cobra*

*Original

Last Night's Setlist: 5/9/15, Howler's Coyote Café, Pittsburgh, Pa. (w/Grand Bell)

'Dragon with matches, loose on the town...'

We debuted a gang of new originals last night, and they all seemed to get a decent reception. We also paired up with our pals Grand Bell, and if you haven't seen them, do it.

We also did a couple new covers, a slowed-down bluegrass standard, "The Old Home Place," and the Dead's "Fire on the Mountain," which we did do once before, the very first time I played electric guitar with the band... this time was significantly better. For a fairly straightforward tune, it's tougher than you might think to nail the kind of epic feel it has. But we're gettin' close.

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

Early set:

Winter (Stones)

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

Feelin' Blue (CCR)

The Old Home Place (Trad.) >

China Cat Sunflower (Dead) > 'Rider' Jam >

Friend of the Devil (Dead) >

Viola Lee Blues (Dead)

Blackjack Molly*

Strange Moon*^

Queen Cobra*^

Late set:

Cumberland Blues (Dead)

Quite a Night (in Spain)*

Dauphine*

The One That Got Away (T. Waits) >

Stone Soup* >

St. Mary Jail*^ >

Fire on the Mountain

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

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

*Original

^First time played

Friday's Setlist: 1/16/15, Bloomfest 'Rock Against Racism,' Poppy's, Pgh., Pa.

'Father Joe falls out the bar,

Singin' hope that you know where you are...'

We played our first all-original setlist tonight. Having only 25 minutes makes it easier to do! Due to the rush getting on and offstage — there were eight groups at our venue, with a super-tight schedule that we pretty much stuck to, rare for such a large group of musicians! — I didn't record the set.

Thanks to the folks at Poppy's, Self Cyphadeen, Ferdinand the Bull, Wire Riots and everyone else who contributed great music to a great night all over Bloomfield:

All originals:

Dauphine

Quite a Night (in Spain)

Mother's Meth Head Blues

New Mexican Shuffle

That's It

Tonight's Setlist: 1/10/15, Thunderbird Café, Pgh., Pa (w/Kyle Lawson Band)

'The piano has been drinking,

my necktie is asleep...'

In the immortal words of Ric Flair: "WOOOOOO!"

It was a great night sharing the stage with the Kyle Lawson Band at Thunderbird Café. We debuted a new original as well as a personal favorite, a cover of Tom Waits' gin-soaked ode to shitty bars, "The Piano Has Been Drinking."

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

One set:

Dauphine*^

Mother's Meth Head Blues*

Quite a Night (in Spain)*

That's It*

Feelin' Alright (S. Winwood) > 

Half-Steppin' Jam > Feelin' Alright >

Les Brers in A Minor (D. Betts/G. Allman) >

'Spooky Jam' > Les Brers Reprise >

Rain (Lennon/McCartney) >

The Piano Has Been Drinking (T. Waits) >

China Cat Sunflower (Dead) >

Werewolves of London (W. Zevon)

Nobody Knows the Way I Feel This Morning (D. Van Ronk) >
Don't Let Go (J. Stone)

*Original

^First time played

COMING SOON! Charlie Hustle & the Grifters — Live!

"American Horror Story: Freak Show" is running way off the rails. I've given up on trying to rationalize its insanity by way of reviews.

So why not take the opportunity to invite you all to one of two upcoming Charlie Hustle & the Grifters shows in the Pittsburgh area?

• Jan. 10, 9 p.m., at Thunderbird Café, 4023 Butler St. (poster above), in Pittsburgh's Lawrenceville neighborhood. We're double-billing with our buddies in the Kyle Lawson Band for a night of blues, folk, funk, soul and more. $7/21+. Check out Thunderbird's page for more info.

• Jan. 25, 3-8 p.m. at the New Bohemian, 887 Progress St., on the North Side. We're one of three bands (the others are The Working Poor and The Pressure) playing throughout the day. $10/All-ages, kids are free. There will be beer available from Rock Bottom and food trucks as well (I can only hope one will be the Lomito truck.) Check out the Facebook event page for more info.

Hope to see you there!

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: 9/20/14 Nied's Hotel, Pgh., Pa.

'We're gonna cover a song by my guilty-pleasure 

band... and Trish's earnest-pleasure band...'

Tonight felt like a good night. I'm listening to the first-set tape right now, but the second set always tells the tale. Nied's Hotel amphitheater is pretty great. We barely needed monitors because of the brick walls on either side of the stage, and started to hit a real nice groove midway through the early set, probably due to the addition of a few new numbers: an old bluegrass tune, "Midnight Moonlight," and a big bouncy Phish song, "Back on the Train."

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

Early set:

Cumberland Blues (Dead)

Quite a Night (in Spain)*

I Like It*

New Mexican Shuffle*

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

Midnight Moonlight (P. Rowan)

Mother's Meth Head Blues*

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

Slow Train (T. Bruno) >

Gentleman of Leisure (J. Winchester)

Back on the Train (Phish)

Late set:

Evil Mind* >

That's It*

Friend of the Devil (Dead) >

Run through the Jungle (CCR) > 

Friend of the Devil

Equinox > 

Jam >

Stone Soup* >

Spoonful (W. Dixon) >

Jam >

Smokestack Lightning (C. Burnett) >

Viola Lee Blues (Dead) >

China Cat Sunflower (Dead) >

Viola Lee Blues

E: Mama Tried (M Haggard)#

Move It On Over (H. Williams)#

*Original

#with Slim Forsythe

Tonight's Setlist: 8/8/14, Penn Hills Library, Penn Hills, Pa.

"Don't say I didn't warn you, when your train gets lost..."

Our lead guitarist got stuck in traffic on the way to the gig, so we had to debut the Charlie Hustle Blues Trio for a hot minute on the first two tunes. Otherwise, it was a high-energy night under the lovely retractable roof on the back pavilion of the library.

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

Early set:

Soul Serenade (C. Ousley)

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

Cumberland Blues (Dead)

Come On In My Kitchen (R. Johnson)

Me and My Uncle (Dead)

Quite a Night*

New Mexican Shuffle*

Friend of the Devil (Dead)

That's It*

Late set:

China Cat Sunflower (Dead) >

Feelin' Blue (CCR)

Slow Train (T. Bruno) >

Equinox (Coltrane) > Jam >

Feelin' Alright (S. Winwood)

Rain (Lennon/McCartney)

Big Bad Blues (Furthur) >

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

Stone Soup* >

Viola Lee Blues (Dead)

*Original

Last Night's Setlist: 7/19/13, Rosedale Beach Club, Penn Hills, Pa.

We're now 3-for-3 in chasing away the rain at our shows. 

That's Yasiel Puig sh*t right there. That's All-Star-snub material...

Thanks to the folks at the Rosedale Beach Club for not only having us, but for sticking out the spitty-sh*tty rain that ultimately only delayed us for about half an hour. Great high-energy opening set by Katie Hate and despite the United-Arab-Emirates-style heat during the day, the rain got us down to about 79 degrees by the time we took the stage. The pool was open and we had another great night of tunes. Thanks to everyone who came out.

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

One set:

Whiskey River (W. Nelson)

Floating Bridge (J. Estes)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Kiss and Tell (G. Love)

Me and My Uncle (Dead)

Stealin' (Trad.)

Magnolia (J.J. Cale) >

Jam >

Deep Elem Blues (Trad.)

Mother's Meth Head Blues*

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

Let It Rock (C. Berry)

Gentleman of Leisure (J. Winchester)

Big Bad Blues (Furthur) >

Jam >

Stone Soup* >

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

Don't Let Go (J. Stone) >

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

*Original