THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Little Feat — the criminally underrated rock band who blend genres from blues to country, as played by some of the most skilled American musicians of all time — are back with the dynamic new album Strike Up The Band.
From the very first note, you will hear and understand that Little Feat — who have been rocking and rolling since 1969 — mean business. Songs like 4 Days Of Heaven, 3 Days Of Work, Shipwrecks, Midnight Flight and Bluegrass Pines (feat. Molly Tuttle, Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams) are as dexterous, considered, and creative as any song in the band’s vast, acclaimed canon. Their lyrics are inventive, transportive, abstract and emotive in their pursuit of celebrating the good times and holding you close in the bad. Guitars scream and slide, pianos rock and boogie, drums shuffle you down the road in the way that only Little Feat can. This is the album Little Feat fans have been waiting for — and is an undeniable statement from a band who are still going strong in their 56th year.
Check out the single Too High To Cut My Hair, accompanied by a hilarious video starring Lilly Winwood as an inebriated hairdresser who tries and fails to cut the hair of each ban member. A trademark funk-fueled jam written by Fred Tackett and featuring Sam Clayton’s classic growl, the cut is the perfect reintroduction to a band who are back to their very best. Leader and keyboardist Bill Payne says, “Fred Tackett shines all over this record, as he always does, but in particular in his writing. Too High To Cut My Hair is based on a true story… he and his wife Patricia were in a hotel room in New Orleans. Fred had asked for a trim, but decided that she was too high to cut his hair. And then he thought, ‘Oh my god, what a title!’ People love the humor in our records, a cherished entree to those when they find it. So I’m happy this song displays that humor, and in full… Everyone that has heard it has said, ‘That’s a Little Feat song,’ and I know what they mean!
“When discussing the album with the band and where it sits in our canon, our predecessor to this record in my mind was Let It Roll. We are in a similar position to introduce Little Feat once again with this new collection of songs. It is my feeling that, from what we had been playing over the last few years, there’s no question the overwhelming majority of fans would accept the album for what it is: An unmistakable iteration of Little Feat that highlights, with great songs and musicianship, the very best of an ongoing legacy, expressly evoking and expanding upon what people think of when they hear Little Feat.”
Strike Up The Band was created with the help of producer Vance Powell (Phish, Chris Stapleton, Jack White) and collaborators including Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter. “Strike Up The Band really began in the winter of 2019 when I was subbing for Paul Barrere, and he passed away on the day of that first show,” said guitarist Scott Sharrard, “continuing through the pandemic shutdown (and a lot of practising and songwriting during that time), to our return to the road in 2021. Then on to our recording field trip to Memphis that resulted in the Grammy-nominated blues album of classic blues covers Sam’s Place. That one gave us all the chance to tighten up as a band and revisit the Rosetta Stone of rock ’n’ roll, the blues. We have paid a lot of dues to get here, and all roads have led us to this new album.”
Little Feat built a cult following in the late ’60s and ’70s for their pioneering gumbo of New Orleans R&B, country, rock, funk and jazz. The were celebrated by icons from Bonnie Raitt to The Rolling Stones, yet commercial success remained at arms length. Songs like Dixie Chicken, Spanish Moon, Fat Man in The Bathtub and Rock and Roll Doctor are landmarks in the rock ’n’ roll songbook. The band have released 16 studio albums and 10 live albums. Through ups and downs, love and loss, lineup shifts and endless touring, they have remained together and the closest of friends.
Their elastic lineup has included the late great Lowell George, founding drummer Richie Hayward, and guitarist Barrere, and to this day features founding member Payne on keys, alongside Tackett on guitars/vocals, Kenny Gradney on bass, and Clayton on percussion/vocals. They recently enlisted younger members Sharrard and Tony Leone on drums, reinvigorating their creative spirits and live show.
With a newly announced national tour and much more in the works, Little Feat are not weathered statues in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. They remain the collective and creative force they have always been. “In the end, Little Feat is a sound and a feeling; you know it when you hear it,” said Sharrard. “We humbly offer you Strike Up The Band… Turn it up and let it roll.”
