Gig Updates

April 27, 2010-Tuesday

Bocktown Grill: Pittsburgh,PA

Everytime we’ve played da Bocktown we’ve had a blast, but this time it was even more fun. Shari Richards brought her husband Tom Compton to play drums, which was a very nice touch. We started off with Shari rippin some bluesy standards that just got da madness started. Set two started with Shari doin “Look What You Done” & “Million Tears”. Then ole friend and musical force, Bob Banerjee joined da band on fiddle for some energized takes on tunes like, “Playin In A Rock n’ Roll Band”, “I’m A Man”, “Today I Stepped In Something” & “The Morning After”. Banerjee then switched over to mandolin for “Sick n’ Tired” & “Over Said And Done”. We became an international act instantly this evening considering that Tom Comption is from England and Bob Banerjee in from India. We got a lady from the audience up to sing a blues thang that she made up on the spot called “Coffee In My Beer”. This young lady had a huge voice and a very relaxed stage presence. Her name is Tara and even Shari seemed to be very impressed with her. The night closed out with Banerjee playing Shari’s acoustic guitar and singing lead on two original songs of his, “Beer Me” & “Found Someone”. This was a special show; me & Harry was excited all da way back to da eastside.

 April 24, 2010-Saturday

Moondogs: Blawnox,PA

Our own Pittsburgh Penquins were playing a playoff game tonight, so da crowd was a little light. But we did da best we could with what we had. “Minimum Wage” came off real sleazy in the first set. “Rich Kid” was a highlight also. We gave Mark Stutso da chance to shine tonight on “Million Tears”, “Victoria’s Secret”, “You Go Your Way” & “Three Times Your Fool”. Now that Mr. Stutso is a full time member of the legendary Nighthawks, I try to make the most of our opportunity’s to play together. As I don’t know when we’ll get the chance to throw down again and I’ve really enjoyed the music we’ve made in the past year or two. My niece Tara came out with her mom, my sister Ann, which gave me da chance to sing “Happy Birthday” to her.

April 22, 2010-Thursday

Inn Termission Lounge: Southside/Pittsburgh,PA

This was a unique experience, a blending of cultures and generations. What might have seemed like just another band in a bar was really much more than that, at least for me. This was an opportunity to use a different color of the rainbow, da squeeze a da box, as played by legendary polka ace, Dave Dombrosky…..nice…huh? Harry, Stutso & I kicked it off real slick with “Lazy Bones” n’ ‘’Rebel Rouser”. We smoked  “Somethin’s Cookin”, have I mentioned how much daddy likes da flat tire shuffle Stutso plays on that number. “Over Said And Done” seemed to call Dave(double D) Dombrosky to da box & by da time “Over Said And Done” was over said n’ done, double D was squeezing. “The Blues Come Blowin In” took on a new face as did “Somethin Yogi Said”………Bobby D, in da house said, “the best thing Yogi ever said was “It’s over my head” last inning, last game, 1960 World Series, at least here in Pittsfield……We did a cool version of “Lover Please”, a song I picked up from an Augie Meyers disc. How bout,” Are You Lonesome Tonight” the Elvis classic, did dat, n’ a buncha ole cool tunes “For The Good Times”, “Help Me Make It Thru The Night”, “You Better Move On” . We jammed an instrumental version of “Hit the Road Jack” that was pretty slick. Of course we played up “Just Because”, da polka dat I used to sing with my ole man, da righteous Arturo. The highlight of the show came toward the end of set two, just when everybody seemed to be runnin outta gas, I started to talk about what it was like to be a precious, beautiful Italian child and double D played his squeeze box as I spoke. This turned into a comic goldmine……evenings like dis are precious n’ beautiful

April 16, 2010-Friday

Moondogs: Blawnox,PA

I haven’t been workin lately so I was a little nervous before we went onstage. I think having the legendary NightHawks in the house upped da antey a lil’ bit also. We came out swinging with a brisk take on “Nightclub” that came off real well. A lil small talk, ok a lotta small talk, then we busted into “Somethin’s Cookin”, which also came down clean as a whistle. I then looked back at Stutso and told him that we’re going to play a tune he doesn’t know, “The Blues Come Blowin In”; he just rolled his eyes and hunkered down on the groove. Yea baby, it felt good to just blow a tune that the band doesn’t know……..just keep your ears open…..n’ let ‘er rip. We then performed da highly politically incorrect, “Shit House Rat”. The time was right to have Mr Mark Stutso sing a couple, so da hillybilly deluxe chirped “Three Times Your Fool” & the terribly politically incorrect “Victoria’s Secret”. Lottsa applause ……”Rock n’ Roll City” poured off the stage….in a good way…..time to do another tune we don’t know, “Somethin Yogi Said” sounded great for a virgin run. “Little Things” was a total gas, seems like Harry Bottoms found this dark place in the groove and it shivered my timbers n’ got me wild…….We did “Comin Home” to settle the natives & closed out with “Rich Kid”………dis show was a da bomb…..the Hawks come on strong n’ stay on long. This is a great band, these Nighthawks, a great rhythm section that features Mark Stutso on drums & Johnny Castle on bass, both give good groove for Paul Bell on guitar and the longtime harp hero Mark Wenner to clean up da joint……..STRONG

Stay tuned for the latest updates! Better yet, come to one of the shows and experience "The Manful Handful" himself, first hand!

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