Gov’t Mule & Old Crow Medicine Show Members Slide Into ‘Lonesome Whistle’ In Clearwater
Warren Haynes and Mike Harris tore it up on slide guitar during the Hank Williams cover.
By Scott Bernstein Oct 18, 2022 • 9:41 am PDT
Gov’t Mule and Old Crow Medicine Show continued their time on the road together in Florida at the Clearwater Jazz Festival on Sunday. OCMS frontman Ketch Secor and guitarist Mike Harris came out during Mule’s headlining set to join the quartet for a debut cover of Hank Williams’ “(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle.”
The day at Clearwater, Florida’s Bay Care Stadium also included performances from The Champ Jaxon Band and St. Paul & The Broken Bones. Gov’t Mule ended the night and festival with a 90-minute set. The band consisting of guitarist Warren Haynes, drummer Matt Abts, multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis and bassist Jorgen Carlsson kicked off the frame with a take on The Staple Singers’ “Hammer And Nails” and a romp through the eponymous “Mule.”
Haynes then led his mates through oldie “Banks Of The Deep End” and continued a trend of working The Allman Brothers Band’s “Mountain Jam” within “Game Face.” The four-piece went on to play the reggae-tinged The Deep End, Volume 2 number “Time To Confess.” Haynes then welcomed Secor and Harris to the stage for the aforementioned “(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle.” Both Warren Haynes and Mike Harris tore it up on slide guitar while Ketch Secor added harmonica to the mix. Haynes and Secor traded vocal duties on a song Hank Williams wrote with Jimmie Davis originally released in 1951.
Watch fan-shot video of “Lonesome Whistle” below:
Gov’t Mule followed the collaboration by looking to their latest album, 2021’s Heavy Load Blues, for original “Wake Up Dead” and Junior Wells’ “Snatch It Back And Hold It.” The latter featured the “Hold It Back” jam created by Mule in the studio while recording the LP. A well-jammed take on the beloved “Thorazine Shuffle” ended the quartet’s set. Louis provided a gorgeous electric piano intro for the evening’s emotion-laden “Soulshine” encore. Tonight, Mule and OCMS end Florida swing in Key West.
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Setlist (via Gov’t Mule Facebook)
Set: Hammer and Nails, Mule, Banks Of The Deep End, Game Face > Mountain Jam > Game Face, Time To Confess, Lonesome Whistle Blues*, Wake Up Dead, Snatch It Back And Hold It > Hold It Back > Snatch It Back And Hold It, Thorazine Shuffle
Encore: Soulshine
* – With Ketch Secor (Harmonica/Vocals) / Mike Harris (Guitar) of Old Crow Medicine Show
