August 30, 2008- Saturday

Road Worthy Tavern: West Liberty, West Virginia

As we drove up the final hill to get to the club I noticed the chainsaw art black bear standing to my left, cool. Right before we went on I snuck out back behind the club to say hello to the chainsaw art red fox I met last time we was here, cool. We kept things kind of lazy n’ blue first set, then some young buck shouted out that he wanted to here “Sittin On The Dock Of The Bay”. So I looked at Whitey n’ he said he thought he could sing it, and so it came to pass. Then this young buck sent drinks up to the stage. OK. An ole friend, Froggy, was in da house so we got him onstage to sing “Stormy Monday”. We also got another buddy Everett, up to sing “One Way Out”. Truth is, both of ‘em sounded great. Luv dat. “That Girl” got sent out to Stacia from Bruce. Almost heaven……. West Virginia………..Blue Ridge Mountains………Shenandoah River……….John Denver said dat……..

August 16, 2008-Saturday

Billy’s Roadhouse: Wexford, Pa.

We played pretty well right from da git, n’ we kept it goin pretty slick. “Yesterday’s Gone” and “People Takin Care” have both been fun to play lately. “Look What You Done” felt good, I think I called it because this guy kept requesting Stevie Ray Vaughn tunes. I think I called “Somethin’s Cookin” and “Minimum Wage” for the same reason. I hope he was satisfied. Artie, Glitter and Ro & their gang was out having a couple cocktails, OK. Keith, Tracey and John was out eating huge slabs of meat, OK. Special requests for “That Girl” and “Burnin Up” turned into blasts of energy when we banged out them ole war horses. Shari Richards, one of Pittsburgh’s finest rock n’ blues singers, got up with us to rock the house. “Teeny Weenie Bit” gave Shari a chance to establish her presence; I was watching folks watch her. We then laid down a lazy shuffle while Shari sang “Hidin n’ Peepin”, the ole Jimmy Reed classic, n’ it was gooder n’ hell.

August 15, 2008-Friday

Excuses: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Tonight I kept noticing how powerful Whitey and Harry are. These two gentlemen are a force, playing with them is like climbing a huge wall and just fighting to stay on top. And when its right, its like…….well……….easy. I called “Hells Highway” and was glad I did. Sent a mess of tunes out for Terrible Tom, all his faves, “Burnin Up”, “Nothin To Lose”, “Weekend”, “Sidewalk Romeo”, the ole Silencers mainstay. “Ain’t It Amazin” kicked all kinds of ass, and when Harry Bottoms sang “Pots n’ Pans” he touched the heart strings of white trash. We played a special request for “When I Die and Go to Hell” and then Terrible yelled out that he was gonna add it to his faves.

August 12, 2008-Tuesday

North Park Pool: Pittsburgh, Pa.

This show was unique for several reasons. First off, Whitey Cooper couldn’t make it, so we used George the Greek to play drums. Secondly, playing by the poolside made me remember playing at pool parties, back when I was a kid, weird. Thirdly, we was getting blasted by the rays of the sun in a large way…….da show must go on…..we kicked off with “Lazy Bones” and “Nightclub” then busted into “Till The Cows Come Home”. By this time folks was starting to gather on the lawn, this gave me a reason to live………a young father brought his three year daughter up close to the stage and I asked him if this was the first time his daughter saw a live band up this close, he said yes and told me his daughter had a request for “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” so I sang “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” with a twinkle in my eye, weird. We banged around “Hoochie Mama” and “If I Had A Child” and the Greek did his own thing to em’ n’ it was workin. We closed out with “Somethin’s Cookin” and the sun was shining, da Greek was sweatin, Harry was Harry, n’ da wop wit da bop was servin up da slop.

August 2, 2008-Saturday

Mogie’s: Lower Burrell, Pa.

We’d just been at Mogie’s three weeks ago, so I didn’t know what to expect. I noticed that the crowd consisted of different folks than what was here three weeks ago. Cool. Things fired up just the way they s’pose to.  We were all glad to see ole bud Higgy out n’ about. Something someone said got me thinking bout “People Takin Care”, so we played it, n’ it was good. Something someone said also got me thinking bout the ole Sam & Dave tune “ Hold On, I’m Comin”, so we played it, hadn’t played it in a coons age. The young bucks in the house was rockin so strong that I called for “Ain’t It Amazing” to calm them down. We banged out “Loverboy” for a special request to start set two. “Son Of A Gun” got a big applause out on the patio, as everybody felt the winds blow. Harry said something about a level 5, whatever dat is. “Hoochie Mama” was drivin da young bucks goofy, thankfully there was a few young does for them to grind. It’s almost ruttin season. Katie Simone joined us to sing a very well received version of “I’d Rather Go Blind” and a fresh take on “Walkin the Dog”. George the Greek was in the house so we got him up to bang the tubs while Whitey Cooper sang a short but powerful set of sweet soul music. Got to see Mogie himself, early in the night, said he was on good behavior……..cool……… both of these summer shows at Mogies have been a blast, got to see lots a folks I ain’t seen in awhile……..can I bend a string for ya?