Tonight's Setlist: 9/13/13, Pittsburgh Abides (Lebowski-Fest), Artist Image Resources, Pittsburgh, Pa.

"I'm the penthouse pauper, baby, I got nothin' to my name..."

What a fantastic night. Scores of folks dressed up as 'Big Lebowski' characters including a very convincing Viking Maude Lebowski, Yinz'N'Out Burgers from the Lomito food truck, maybe the best print I ever bought for $10 of the event logo, and us laying down an all-Creedence set in honor of their prominent place in the film of the evening.

On a side note, that John Fogerty is one high-tenor-yellin'-sumummabitch. There are a couple points where my voice just won't do it anymore, on "Graveyard Train" and "Born on the Bayou." He gets waaaaaaaaay up there.

Best sights of the night:

• The guy who took second place in the costume contest dressed as Jackie Treehorn's notepad with the giant dick drawing.

• Me finding two bottles of Sioux City Sasparilla at, of all places, Stanford Home Center.

• White Russian popsicles!

• The best lightshow we'll ever get as a band, a running loop of naked-women-on-trampolines at Jackie Treehorn's house.

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

One set:

Run Through the Jungle

Lodi

Bad Moon Rising

Cotton Fields

Fortunate Son

Penthouse Pauper

Feelin' Blue

Graveyard Train

Travelin' Band

Born on the Bayou

Lookin' Out My Backdoor

Saturday's Setlist: Charlie Hustle & the Grifters, 8/31/13, Rosedale Beach Club, Penn Hills, Pa.

We jam. People dance.

Tonight's set continued our burgeoning tradition of taking slight steps outside our comfort zone. We jammed our way through a couple of unrehearsed segues, skipped a mid-suite song on the fly and had to cut our second set short because of lightning in the area. But all in all, it was great fun and an excellent way to celebrate two band members' birthdays.

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

Early set:

Jam > Feelin' Alright (S. Winwood)

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

Me and My Uncle (Dead)

Jam > Stealin' (Trad.)

Soul Serenade (C. Ousley) >

Good Morning Lil' Schoolgirl (J. Lee Williamson)

Come On In My Kitchen (R. Johnson)

Rain (Lennon-McCartney) > Jam >

Friend of the Devil (Dead) >

Whiskey River (W. Nelson)

Late set:

Garbage Man (M. McKinley)

Magnolia (J.J. Cale) >

Jam >

Don't Let Go (J. Stone)

Gentleman of Leisure (J. Winchester)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Big Bad Blues (Furthur) >

Jam > Stone Soup* > Jam >

Dock of the Bay (O. Redding) >

Jam//**

*Original

**Set cut short by lightning strikes in the area

'PITTSBURGH ABIDES,' Sept. 13 feat. CHARLIE HUSTLE & THE GRIFTERS

Get our of your element and come enjoy an evening that will really tie the room together...

Charlie Hustle & the Grifters is honored to play "Pittsburgh Abides: 'That's Not Her Toe, Dude," An Evening of Lebowski-Related Activities," Sept. 13 at the Bayardstown Social Club in the Strip District. We're playing a special set under the pseudonym "The Tape Deck... and The Creedence," doing all CCR in honor of The Dude's favorite travel music.

There will be White Russians. There will be the Harlan Twins doing other songs from the soundtrack. There will be a costume contest. It will be the double-shiznitty-flim-flam-snip-snap-bric-a-brac! Hope to see you there, or else in the immortal words of Walter Sobchak, "You are entering a world of pain."

Click here for the Facebook event listing.

Sunday's Setlist: Charlie Hustle & the Grifters, 8/25/13, Railroad Park, Verona, Pa.

'Like a tiger in a trance...'

I could get used to this all-electric thang.

At Hula Bar, I was forced to use my electric on songs I'd previously done acoustic. It worked out alright. This time, we planned on an all-electric night, and it worked out great. My electric had a nice sharp bite to it, reminded me a little bit of Jefferson Airplane/Moby Grape, tone-wise.

We've also been experimenting a little more with effects. Pete is working with a tremolo pedal to get the right sound for our super-extra-special all-Creedence set at "Pittsburgh Abides," the local Lebowski-fest on Sept. 13 (see details in the post above), and I've been trying out different vibrato settings during the "Stone Soup" jams. Last time I used the heavy end for a watery tone; this time I tried the opposite end, a very long vibrato that lends a spacey tone to things that I really dug. Hope you will too!

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

Early set:

Big Bad Blues (Furthur) >

Smokestack Lightning (C. Burnett)

Gentleman of Leisure (J. Winchester)

Me and My Uncle (Dead)

Floating Bridge (J. Estes)

Mother's Meth Head Blues*

Friend of the Devil (Dead)

I Like It*

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

Althea (Dead)

Late set:

Jam > Feelin' Alright (S. Winwood)

Mystery Train (J. Parker)

Come On In My Kitchen (R. Johnson)

Whiskey River (W. Nelson)

Let It Rock (C. Berry)

Dock of the Bay (O. Redding) > 

Jam > 'Kids in the Hall' Tease >

Rain (Lennon-McCartney)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Jam > Soul Serenade (C. Ousley) >

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

Jam > Stone Soup* >

Jam > Cumberland Blues (Dead)

*Original

Tonight's Setlist: 8/9/13, Hula Bar, Verona, Pa.

Tonight's secret word is, "SONOFABITCH!"

Tonight's Charlie Hustle show was starting to look like a real shipwreck in the early going. In the first tune, my acoustic-electric guitar lost power, resulting in our first all-electric show, Pete had broken two strings by the middle of the first set... but on the anniversary of the untimely passing of Captain Trips, we poor Lost Sailors managed to right our Ship of Fools.

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

Early set:

Floating Bridge (J. Estes) >

Kiss and Tell (G. Love)

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

New Mexican Shuffle*

Mother's Meth-Head Blues*

Whiskey River (W. Nelson)

Jam > Garbage Man (M. McKinley)

Big River (J. Cash)

Althea (Dead) >

Don't Let Go (J. Stone)

Late set:

Meet Me in the Morning (Dylan)

Dock of the Bay (O. Redding) >

Jam > Friend of the Devil (Dead) >

Rain (Lennon/McCartney) >

Stealin' (Trad.)

Gentleman of Leisure (J. Winchester)

Magnolia (J.J. Cale) >

Jam > Stone Soup* >

Big Bad Blues (Furthur)

*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

Today's Setlist: 2013/06/02 Verona Park, Verona, Pa.

'When it rains and shines/It's just a state of mind..."

We have some sort of mystical effect on the weather forecast. Twice we've played Verona Park, and it was supposed to rain both times. Does it have anything to do with the fact that we played the Beatles' "Rain" both times? I'd like to think so. 

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

Early set:

Lil' Red Rooster (C. Burnett)

New Mexican Shuffle*

Althea (Dead)

Gentleman of Leisure (J. Winchester)

Feelin' Alright (S. Winwood)

Floating Bridge (J. Estes)

Rain (Lennon-McCartney) >

Stealin' (Trad.)

Dock of the Bay (O. Redding)

You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Dylan)

Late set:

Soul Serenade (C. Ousley)

Deep Elem Blues (Trad.)

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

Kiss and Tell (G. Love)

Big River (J. Cash)

China Cat Sunflower (Dead) >

I Know You Rider (Dead)

*Original