Oteil Burbridge Brings Out Benji Hughes At Charlotte Show

Bassist Oteil Burbridge brought his current Oteil & Friends lineup to Charlotte for a concert this week at the Neighborhood Theatre. Local singer-songwriter Benji Hughes acted as a bonus “friend,” sitting in with the band for two songs.

Burbridge recently embarked on a run of shows that sees him joined by keyboardist Melvin Seals, guitarist Steve Kimock, drummer John Morgan Kimock, vocalist Lamar Williams Jr. and multi-instrumentalists Jason Crosby and Tom Guarna.

The show’s setlist saw Burbridge mixing together originals, Grateful Dead/Jerry Garcia repertoire and other selections, including a mashup of the Dead’s “Estimated Prophet” and Pink Floyd’s “Money.” The performance also worked in takes on Steve Kimock’s “Hillbillies On PCP” and “Mother’s Song.”

Burbridge prefaced Hughes’ guest spot by introducing the Charlotte native.

“We’d like to bring up a good friend that we had up here last time, Mr. Benji Hughes,” Burbridge said. “The man knows about the 3I/ATLAS … Right after this tour, I mean right after, I’m going to Egypt for my first time. And Benji wrote these two songs, that I don’t know, it just seems like a co-inky-dink: this one is called ‘The Mummy’ and the other one’s called ‘Magic And Leave.’”

Listen to Benji Hughes leading Oteil & Friends through “The Mummy” and “Magic And Leave” and the rest of the show via taper Z-Man’s audience recording: