Dogs In A Pile Tap moe.’s Al Schnier to Cover Grateful Dead’s “Feel Like a Stranger” at Sunshine Hootenanny Music & Arts Festival

Photo Credit: Paul Citone

On Saturday, November 23, Dogs In A Pile arrived at Sunshine Hootenanny Music & Arts Festival, held at Florida Sand Music Ranch in Brooksville, Fla. The final day of the Sunshine State gathering featured an hour-and-a-half frame of music from the New Jersey-bred band, which kicked things off at 8 p.m., before moe.’s arrival for their 10 p.m. festival slot. Given proximity and regard for each other’s talents, Al Schnier assisted the next generation of jammers with a cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Feel Like a Stranger.” 

Before Schnier stepped out on stage, Dogs In A Pile warmed up and found their footing by running through the Tom Marshall and Anthony Krizan co-write, “You Didn’t Hear It From Me.” Rather than jump into the collaborative display, the billed group used their stage time to work through their originals “My Disguise” and “Ugly Song.” After completing the set’s third song, Dogs seized their chance to welcome Schnier. The group pressed into Grateful Dead’s jam catalyst with their guest present, striking the opportunity to trade riffs and build on the original composition as intended. 

After closing out the Dead classic, Dogs returned to form sans guests. The ensemble continued their festival display with a series of originals before psychedelia ensued with the arrival of Jefferson Airplanes’ “White Rabbit.” Notably, the group first covered the Surrealistic Pillow feature on August 5, performing it on four other occasions before this past weekend’s run-through. 

Following the festival sit-in, Dogs and moe. shared a collaborative post on Instagram which captured their shared stage time.