2018 Everyone Orchestra Gathering at Charleston Pour House: Photos & Highlights

Photo: Scarlet Bucket

Matt Butler and his hand picked all-star Everyone Orchestra crew blew the roof off Charleston Pour House this past weekend. Heavyweights from String Cheese Incident, The Disco Biscuits, Umphrey’s McGee, and moe. teamed up with local favorites Wallace Mullinax, Mike Quinn, and surprise guests Kanika Moore and Ward Buckheister to bring a completely improvised and live sound to Poho.

Friday, March 2nd – Night One

Friday night kicked off with Ross Bogan and Robotrio playing an all instrumental set of music from The Doors catalog. Stand out jams included “Break on Through” with feverish work on Bogan’s Hammond rig. Through the end of “Break on Through” Bogan played a recording of Morrison’s poem “Far Arden” that gave metaphors of history’s forgotten lectures. Throughout this installment, Jonathan Peace gave back up on drums that built into jams such as “L.A. Woman,” “People are Strange,” and “Riders on the Storm.” “Mr. Mojo Risin” was a favorite as Wallace Mullinax led the rest of the group in a slower rendition of the 1971 title track.

Unfortunately, Natalie Cressman of Trey Anastasio Band could not make it during Night 1 because of storms in the Northeast. During set break there was not much gear to move around, as Bogan left his entire rig for Aron Magner. Throughout the improvised set, Butler looked to Al Schnier to kick off the first piece. Schnier led the group to a funk piece while Charleston native Ryan Stasik of Umphrey’s took on a bass line that followed suit.

Photo: Caitlin Moore

Throughout the piece Everyone Orchestra Conductor Matt Butler gave his improvised words while looking at Al, and a “Big Ear Jam” was formed as the first piece of the night. Butler turned to Michael Travis of SCI to kick off the next piece of improvised music. He gave a Cajun kick while Wallace Mullinax followed with something of the blues origin. With this in their minds, Al Schnier started to play blues chords while Butler looked to Wallace and Magner to continue the fun.

Check out Magner and Wallace working this jam towards the end of Night 1 thanks to Maddaloni’s Music Ranch on Youtube.

The end of Night 1 ended with a soaring jam led by local favorite Mike Quinn on Saxophone and Schnier trading licks right next to each other. Quinn often matched vocals with Butler throughout the night and incorporated his improvised rapping throughout the night. Night 1 was a showcase of funk and blues that left a Pour House crowd ready for more the next night.

Saturday, March 3rd – Full Day

Music started at 2:00 pm on Saturday. The Pour House crowd willing to wake up were treated to Reverend Jeff Mosier with George Hedgepath and Pickled Hollar on the deck stage. Patrons sat around and listened to Reverend Mosier tell stories of years past and recollect over the late Colonel Bruce Hampton’s thoughts on the great Charleston venue. Mosier said “Colonel Bruce Hampton loved this place…This is one of the last great clubs in America.” He continued to rap equating the Charleston outpost to a “Church of Music” somewhere we can come and love instead of hate. Mosier played a few original tunes along with covers. He left talking to fans with a tease that he may show up later.

Photo: Caitlin Moore

An hour or so later on the Everyone’s Dead set began to set up. The crowd filled in for a highly anticipated deck set. Local bassist Bob Hogg of Runaway Gin: A Tribute to Phish and The Reckoning set up alongside Wallace Mullinax, Magner, Schnier, and Butler on Drums. They completed their sound check with “Mama Tried” and thanking everyone for joining in on it.

Photo: Caitlin Moore

The set began with the seasoned Dead opener “Jack Straw” followed by “Man Smart (Woman Smarter)” dedicated to Wallace’s Mother who was in attendance. “Althea” followed with Mullinax leading on guitar with Bob Hogg as they’ve done throughout The Reckoning Pour House Residencies. After the 4th verse Mullinax looked to Magner and asked him to increase the tempo that set up for an incredible peak after the space got hot.

Photo: Caitlin Moore

Cassidy came next in lieu of the late writer John Perry Barlow. The band weaved its way into “Fire on the Mountain” led by Bob Hogg on vocals before a segue into an unexpected “Dear Mr. Fantasy.” While a few of the lyrics were lost, not a beat was skipped as they peaked right back over into “Cassidy” to close out the set. Schnier led an explosive encore of “The Music Never Stopped” that put a cap on the Everyone’s Dead set, bowing out to The Reckoning for 2 more sets of Grateful Dead Music.

The Reckoning kicked off with 3 of their first 5 songs from the Jerry Garcia Band catalog. “Love In The Afternoon,” “Push Comes to Shove,” and “Let It Rock” rounded off this sequence. “Ramble on Rose” and “Ripple” sung by Bob Hogg gave the crowd something to sing along with. Possibly the best part of the set was their far reaching “China Rider” that ended with crashing drums from Wes Powers and tender harmonies from Wallace, Rusty, and Bob.

Photo: Caitlin Moore

The Brent Mydland classic “Liberty” came next and Chris Duvall did an incredible job weaving a Mydland like solo into his piece. JGB classic “Tough Mama” came after and The Reckoning outdid themselves in the home stretch with takes on the incredibly rare “Cryptical Envelopment,” the Weir Barlow favorite “The Other One,” “Wharf Rat,” and an always dynamic “St. Stephen” to close out their set.

Photo: Caitlin Moore

Richmond’s own Trongone Band opened up Night 2 to support Everyone Orchestra. Started by Andrew, Johnny, and their father, The Trongone band frequents Charleston while passing through on tour. The group brought tunes off their 2017 debut album Keys to the House. Songs like “Another Lost Rambler,” “Love Away,” and intro song “Blind” were driven by the winding sound of a Leslie Speaker and incredibly reminiscent of The Allman Brothers Band.

Photo: Caitlin Moore

Andrew Trongone (Guitar/Vocals), Johnny Trongone (Drums/Vocals), Ben White (Keys), and Todd Herrington (Bass) stage presence was incredible moving around stage and thrashing their hair to the drums. These guys are on a heavy touring schedule while promoting their album and gearing up for a tour in Europe this November and December.

Photo: Caitlin Moore

Check out more of their Southern Rock, Soul, and Blues fused sound on Spotify or visit their site here to snag a hard copy of their debut album.

Night 2 of Everyone Orchestra started out with just 4 musicians on stage and Butler as the conductor. He noted that the band will grow from this four piece throughout the night. They started out with Rock ‘n’ Soul pieces eventually building up to an appearance from Ward Buckheister (Trombone) of Sol Driven Train and Mike Quinn once again on Sax and Vocals. The pair grew a horn section that complimented Magner on keys and both guitars.

Photo: Caitlin Moore

Finally a woman arrived. Kanika Moore of Kanika Moore and The Motown Throwdown came out to take on lead vocals. The incredible blue-chip singer was playing a wedding earlier with Quinn and Buckheister. Congrats to local musician Alex Irwin of tomatoband on getting hitched! Moore’s presence added an intimate and soulful spirit that powered the rest of the set.

Photo: Scarlet Bucket

Moore’s vocals fit perfectly in between rifts from a guitar and horn section. Stasik and Moore came together as well when a distant Zeppelin tease came into view, Moore sounded like an early 90’s Ann Wilson on stage with a youthful fire that sounded of incredible potential from the young vocalist.

Photo: Scarlet Bucket

The 2018 Everyone Orchestra Gathering at Charleston Pour House certainly matched up with last year’s. The addition of local surprises like Kanika Moore and Buckheister were incredible surprises. Thanks to all the musicians, Pour House staff, and Matt Butler for putting on another incredible weekend in Charleston. Hope to see you guys next year.