Gig Updates

September 26, 2008- Friday

Excuses: Southside, Pittsburgh, PA

Not a big crowd tonight, but we all laughed large the whole way thru. “Git By”, “Yesterday’s Gone”, “Over Said And Done”, somehow da conversation turned to something bout some guy who was so square dat he tucked his shirt into his underpants, of course I had to demonstrate. Harry jumped all over “Pot’s n’ Pans” and “Hoochie Mama” was a grinder deluxe. We spoke of my ambitions to become a tromblown virtuoso, and my extreme sadness when I realized my arms are too short to hit da really low notes. “Two Story House” was a showcase for the fat tones of my red tele, no wha I’m say’n? “Stiller Nation” gave me a chance to speak of dthe guy who told his son, ‘boy, you can be anyone you want to be, ‘cept dat guy wit da baton, high steppin out in front of da marchin band.’

September 18, 2008- Friday

The Rhythm House: Bridgeville, PA

This show was put together by “Circle C Youth and Family Services” and let me say, they packed the house with a whole bunch of nice people. Ole buddy, Steve Rohan was da host wit da most n’ he generally kept things rollin pretty slick. A solo performance by Tracy Lee kicked it all off, she got me on her side when she pulled out her uke. Me, Whitey & Harry smacked ‘em wit “Lazy Bones” & “Over Said and Done”. At this point, Shari Richards took the stage, front n’ center n’ sang “Let The Good Times Roll”. Everybody in da Rhythm House took her advice, folks was dancing n’ boozing n’ laughing, just da way dey spos to. I can’t recall how it all went down, but I do know that Shari sang da crap outta “Three Times Your Fool” and “Million Tears”. Me & the guys played “Boilermaker”, “Nightclub” & “Tequilla”. We also banged out a mess of ole blues covers that had a some sass to ‘em, probably because it was so much fun playin wit Shari. Let da good times…….how YOU doin…….

September 13, 2008- Saturday

P.D.’s Pub: Pittsburgh, PA

“Git By”, “Till The Cows Come Home”, “We Come A Long Way”, “Somethin’s Cookin”, all showed hard as did the soul rockers “People Takin Care “ and “Yesterday’s Gone”. Whitey got his vocal thang goin on “Shama Lama Ding Dong”. I don’t think anyone danced all night except Gator, I kinda remember seeing him on da flo wit a female. The 90 minute first set was a gas, making it look easy, dat’s what dis show was about. “End of the Line” was a standout. Towards the end of set 1 we did “Steeler Nation” and “Ole Number 21”, it was sort of cool ya know?, two Pittsburgh sports songs, back to back. “How You Like Me Now” kicked set 2 wide open, “Hoochie Mama” simmered. I got a Request for a Stones tune so we banged out “Not Fade Away”. Ole buddy, Amo was in da house, n’ we was singin his name to the melody of dat ole Harry Belefonte tune. Somebody requested “That Girl”, cool. Wait a minute, I just remembered, my booouye Carman & Darlene did some dancing during the first set. I could tell Carm was gittin ready to bust out wild, so he had to git outta there, ya know? Katie Simone sang a couple during the last set, and “Dead Flowers” really stood out. The last song of the night went out to Dr. Frankenstein, “Poor Little Rich Kid”, thought I saw him dere too.

September 12, 2008- Friday

Rock-A- Fellas Sports Bar: Sarver PA

Had some of my peeps in da house early, dat helps. But dere was a buncha youngins surrounding me. I was extremely pleased with the way our music slowly broke down the masses. Met a young musician tonight that plays mandolin and button box, n’ plays in a band wit a couple chicks, hope to hear em. Got a request from a girl for a Stevie Ray Vaughn song, I told her that I’m a not really a strat n’ a hat kinda guy, but I’d like to play her a song that I wrote that was inspired by the spirit of Stevie Ray. We ripped into “Minimum Wage” n’ da dance flo was rockin. It seemed as though our original material got over better than the handful of cover tunes that we did.  Props to da young peeps of Sarver, ya’ll musta been raised right.

September 6, 2008

Moondogs: Blawnox, PA

Things got rolling bout 10:15, me, Whitey & Harry did a short but sweet first set. “Boilermaker”, “How You Like Me Now”, “Hoochie Mama”, “Loverboy”, “Yesterday’s Gone” & “Friend Of Mine”. After a quick pause we got back onstage with Vinny Q, everybody’s favorite straight up rock n’ roll guitar player, at least round these parts. “Reddy Freddy” started the madness “Rock n’ Roll City” set the standard. We then did a powerful yet relaxed version of “Heat of the Night” and I realized that I didn’t have to play guitar all the time cause Vinny was holdin down da fort. COOL! “Weekend” was smoking. Laughter was in the air as I communicated to my people about a few of my alter egos, Uncle Pickles & Nipples da Clown. “End Of The Line”, “Amazin Grace”, “You Go Your Way”, “Who Dat Do Dat”, we got Vinny front n’ center to sing “You Better Move On”. Ole buddy Chuck Kohler took over V Q’s tele and got out front to lead us thru a very cool take of the ole Coasters tune “Young Blood”. Why would I resist the opportunity to get maximum applause da night before da first Stiller game of da year. “Steeler Nation” served to unite every man, woman and child within earshot of my big mouth. “I Seen Too Much” was almost too powerful, I think it overwhelmed some of the more innocent folks in the house. COOL! We closed out this over two hour set with a barrage from da ole testament “Nothin To Lose”, “High Times”, “That Girl”, “Burnin Up” n’ “Rich Kid”. My ole ass was draggin……… but man, I felt goooood……..livin…lovin…laughin…

September 4, 2008

Carnegie Arts & Heritage Festival: Carnegie, PA

On this beautiful evening we rocked da show. We brought Vinny Q with us to bang some guitar around. “Nightclub”, “Ready Freddy”, “Rock n’ Roll City”, now that’s how ya come out firing on all cylinders. Saw some folks I ain’t seen in a while, and I saw this very unique band that had tuba, clarinet, accordion, and drums, they scared me at first, but I warmed up to the concept. We banged out some ole Pittsburgh rock n’ roll tunes “Nothin To Lose”, “High Times”, “Rich Kid”, “Burnin’ Up” n’ “That Girl”. I was trying to get folks to move up closer to the stage, I was glad when some dancers started shaking things up a little. We got Vinny out front to sing Arthur Alexander’s “Ya Better Move On”. “Who Dat Do Dat” came down sweet wit me n’ Vinny on guitar. “End of the Line” also felt good with two guitars. As usual, Whitey and Harry were a powerful force. I thought it might be a good idea to do something seasonal, after all, da Stillers open their season dis Sunday. “Steeler Nation” rang out thru these Stiller faithful fanatics. A ballzy “Shake Your Moneymaker” closed out this good time set. I must say, the Carnegie Heritage Festival is quite an event, glad they asked us to jam.

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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