Gig Updates

June 25, 2010-Saturday

Birdies Landing: Port Vue, PA

On the lovely summer eve, down by da riverside, a buncha nice folks left their troubles behind. We kicked off the show real lazy like cause I knew that this was gonna be a long haul, probably 5 hours anyway. Tunes like “Look What You Done”, “Over Said and Done”, “Comin Home”, and “Boilermaker” carried us thru the first hour. I saw our special guest Kenny Blake, come walkin toward da stage and called the ole Willy Nelson tune, “Good Hearted Woman” and by the time we got to the solo, Kenny was on stage blowin strong. We stayed on stage for another hour with Mr Blake leadin da charge. Tunes like “The Blues Come Blowin In”, “If I Had a Child”, “Peter Gunn”, and “Mercy Mercy” carried us forward. Da Rat Clan was in da house, my sister & her posse showed, biker Tom & Sue had this weird beard braiding thag goin on. Saw “down by Al’s riverside” Al & Amy, and the Bettors bunch wit Zack, Maureen & her lovely daughter, Kathy and Ron da wrestler. Kenny Blake said that this evening felt like “The Summer of Love”, so I took him at his word. The last 2 one hour sets flew by so fast, we was findin sweet spots in da music & was milkin ‘em for all they was worth. “Burnin Up” & “Shit House Rat” got this Dixieland feel with Kenny’s melodies hauntin da very soul of da rhythm. “Into The Mystic”, “Walkin to My Baby”, “Burnin Love” and “Smoke Two Joints” got freaky, in a good way. Truth is, everybody walked away with a good feein in their bones…….IN THEIR BONES……………

June 24, 2010-Friday

Moondogs: Blawnox,PA

How much fun can a weasel have, when a weasel’s havin fun?.............TONS……This show was all ‘bout laughin out loud. Spent mosta’ da night talkin stupit, nobody seemed to mind. Told some stories I shoulda not told….an ole carnie like me will say any thing for a laugh, even if it makes me look bad. I broke a string on the first tune, & as I was switching guitars I started getting the message that anything goes tonight kinda thang. We did “Today I Stepped in Something” just to set da table.” I Hate a Nickel” charged out of the gate & da music flowed. “Somethins Cookin”, “Boilermaker”, “Over Said And Done”, “Nothin To Lose”, “Comin Home” and “The Blues Come Blowin In”……I heard someone in the audience say, ‘the apple didn’t fall far from the tree’, and I just wrote a new song last week by that title & decided to play it, even though my band never heard it before. So I warned everybody that it might suck and proceeded to play this tune I just wrote about my pop. Brice Foster sang “If I Had a Child” and got a strong response from da house. We did “Somethin Yogi Said” in the second set. Did “Sick n’ Tired”, “Hoochie Mama”………..I know that this evening will never happen again……but……I know that I was apart of it, and dat’s alright wit me

June 19, 2010-Sunday

Sprague Farm and Brew Works: Venango,PA

A young local boy playing a drum solo was on stage when we got there. A local party band, Shadows Force, got up next & kept the joint goin. The stage was under this very cool outdoor pavilion, & the house was sweatin up a storm by the time my friend, Jake Banta took the stage. Jake was backed by a strong rhythm section, Ronnie on tubs & J Lew on the bottom, really bringing something to da show………………How you gonna stand up and show hard with out a manful rhythm section?.........answer is ……you ain’t…..Jake was playin at high level & I was watchin back stage…..”Get High”, “Fever”, “Down in the Gut”……..after a few more tunes, Jake called a harp player from Houston, Texas onstage. Steve Krase got up & blew some face and sounded good doin it. Bout dis time I get da call and git on wit it. We kicked into a shuffle and started lickin it up…..right…..did a couple tunes I didn’t know, had a blast playin ‘em….Jake said, ‘sing one’, so I grabbed my slide guitar and started singin “I Hate A Nickel”. Hung wit Jake’s boys, John & Stevie…..Stevie got up and sang the last song of the night, I think Jake wrote it. Me and Moondog drove up to the show together…..sounds like fun?

June 13, 2010-Sunday

The Altar Bar: Strip District- Pgh, PA

This special benefit performance was designed to honor the late great Warren King. Gil Snyder and The Mystic Knights opened the show and soon brought up slide guitar master James Dougherty, who did a strong greasy take on “Come Back Baby”. Craig King and Randall Troy both did nice work when they were featured on guitar and vocals. Max Woodall and Joe Cunningham held down the rhythm section. Tom Valentine replaced Max on bass when guitar master Glenn Pavone took the stage and for the next half hour everyone in the room was fixed on the guitar work of Mr. Pavone. Without any obvious effort Glenn gave a room full of players and fans a lesson. What a treat it is to see this man make it look so easy, I don’t know if I’ve ever had more respect for a player or person than the BIG CHEESE, Glenn Pavone. Acoustic guitar hero Ernie Hawkins, took the stage next, with support supplied by Mark Riesman on harp and a tuba player who’s name I’ve forgotten, (sorry bout that, I hate bein someone who, like so many others, fails to give the tuba player some), Mr. Hawkins gave voice to a style of blues that’s been over shadowed by the electric guitar. On this night, we we’re all treated to a trip back in time to a place that gave birth to electric blues, thanks to Ernie Hawkins. Bill Toms got up next and with backing by Joffo Simmons on drums and a bass player Scott (but can’t remember his last name, sorry bout dat), Mark Riesman on harp and James Dougherty on slide, this line up came off well. It was time for me to play one, so I did “Shit House Rat”………….one for fun………in between performances, videos of Warren King talkin & playin guitar kept people staring at screens on the side walls of the club. Just as I was ready to introduce Billy Price, I looked at the screen and saw an ole video, circa 1988, of the Billy Price band & after it took us all back in time, I called Billy up to the stage. Don Hollowood played the guitar intro to “Can I Change My Mind” and it was on. Don sounded so good; I had a blast playin alongside him. Brice Foster was now on drums with Max on bass. Billy took over the stage, like yer ‘pos to. We then played a slow blues and the blending together of Billy and Don Hollowood was a natural gas. Billy closed out his segment with the Elmore James classic “Dust My Broom”…….applause…. applause…….Gary Beloma took center stage with a Chuck Berry thang & the Bobby Womak masterpiece “It’s All Over Now”……Brice Foster started feelin stronger on the tubs & Max was keepin on, on the bass & Don H was crushin on da plank. Mr Beloma had all eyes open with his stage persona. Shari Richards took the reins next with a showy take of “Let The Good Times Roll”…….about this time Kenny Blake starts putting his sax together on the side of the stage & just strolls out blowin…manful…..right…..”The Blues Come Blowin In” was up next & Shari ripped it up. Kenny was feelin da vibe so we rode the dynamics of the number hard…….nice…..speakin of dynamics, we then turned Shari and Kenny loose on “I’d Rather go Blind”……..powerful! Mr. Frank Czuri was standin center stage and just started drippin greese with dat ole Little Willy John thang……goes like……grits ain’t groceries…..eggs ain’t poultry…..n’ mona lisa was a man…….know that tune I’m talkin bout? Well, Frank tore it a new a-hole. We then played a tune that Frank & Warren used to play together back in the day “Hog For You”……I was just kinda watchin all dis music happen in front of me onstage and playin a little guitar here & there, just really suckin in the moment…….man I had a blast…….Herman Granati got behind the keys with his bro Rick on percussion, Zack Wiesinger picked up the other guitar, Kenny Blake got back up as did Shari Richards……and we all went to this new musical destination together…the song we played was “I’m A Man”, that ole Spencer Davis vibe……..well ….we had our way wit ‘er……..applause, applause…….so we got back up on stage and hit ‘em  with “Work Together” …Shari on vocals, Brice & Max, Gil singin and dancin, James Dougherty and Bill Toms on guitars, Larry Siefers on sax…..I handed my guitar to Mark Anderson……Da Kingfish woulda been proud……..LONG LIVE DA KING

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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