One of many nice underdog bands of the classic-rock period, Little Feat might’ve been a carried out deal in 1979 after the sudden demise of Lowell George, its lead singer, guitarist and most celebrated songwriter. However dismissing the post-Down On The Farm variations of the group diminishes the skills of its different founding members. Major amongst them is keyboardist Invoice Payne, the unique lineup’s sole survivor, who’s singlehandedly held Little Feat collectively (with a couple of breaks right here and there) over the previous 4 many years.
Whereas nothing Little Feat has carried out for the reason that 1987 reboot has equaled the formative lineup’s early-’70s output, the various good-to-great moments embrace final 12 months’s Sam’s Place (a Grammy nominee for Greatest Conventional Blues Album) and the brand new Strike Up The Band (Scorching Tomato). Recorded in Nashville with producer Vance Powell (Chris Stapleton, Jack White), Little Feat’s seventeenth album options materials from Payne’s collaboration with late Grateful Lifeless lyricist Robert Hunter, together with contributions from Larkin Poe, Molly Tuttle, Larry Campbell, Theresa Williams and Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr. Extra vital than all the large names, the band sounds reinvigorated—versus a bunch of outdated dudes going by way of the motions.
MAGNET’s Hobart Rowland caught up with Payne earlier than he hit the highway for Little Feat’s first correct U.S. tour in three years.
Strike Up The Band comes pretty shortly on the heels of Sam’s Place. Previous to that, you hadn’t launched something since 2012. What’s behind the most recent spike in productiveness?
We’re, as soon as once more, a brand new band. We’ve added Scott Sharrard on guitars and vocals and Tony Leone on drums and vocals. I had some songs for the mission that had been written some years again, as did (multi-instrumentalist) Fred Tackett. Scott got here to the desk with some nice songs. Scott, Tony and I wrote with one another on a visit I made to New York. Scott and Fred had been writing songs. Tony has a tune on the album, “Operating Out Of Time With The Blues.” I used to be additionally writing with Charlie Starr from Blackberry Smoke, Vince Herman from Leftover Salmon, and (producer) John Leventhal. Vince’s and my tune, “New Orleans Cries When She Sings,” had been written fairly a couple of years earlier than. I used to be additionally proud to incorporate “Bluegrass Pines,” which I wrote with Robert Hunter.
We’re additionally with Vector Administration in Nashville. Brian Penix handles the reins, together with Ken Levitan. The vitality everybody has put into this enterprise in the previous few years has paid off. We’ve assembled a tremendous crew.
What was it like working with producer Vance Powell on the brand new album?
I preferred the very fact he was typically two steps forward of me. I had somebody I might belief. He and I co-produced the album; Scott Sharrard was additionally concerned in manufacturing on some songs. Little Feat’s music isn’t simple to play, so the extent of focus when within the studio was aided significantly by our confidence in ourselves and our confidence in Vance. He made certain we might hear one another. He wasn’t there to offer us false reward—one other vital level. If he wasn’t feeling it, he tell us, and vice versa.
We got here in ready. We had extra songs than we wanted—a primary for Little Feat. I used to be glad Vance was there to assist decide the songs. Those that didn’t make the reduce this time shall be on the subsequent one. Vance, along with every thing else he does as an engineer and producer, is a good dangle—only a fantastic individual.
It’s fascinating that your newest press data describes Little Feat as “underrated.” Critics and fellow musicians love you guys—it was audiences and document consumers that didn’t fairly get you. What are your ideas on that?Fascinating query. My perspective differs a bit, although. I consider audiences—those that heard us—did get us, at the least for many exhibits. In a career-spanning a number of many years, I don’t doubt there are a couple of exhibits after we weren’t at our greatest and may need misplaced some people. Typically, we’ve carried out nicely.
File consumers are one other factor. I feel that has so much to do with consciousness. Do individuals know you’re there? Once you point out Little Feat to somebody, the response is both, “Who?” or “Wow! They’re one in every of my favourite bands.” We’ve all the time been the key browsing spot. As such, these within the know are both apt to wish to share us with others or maintain us below wraps. Followers could be fairly protecting. I’d say that being below the radar has helped give us an extended profession. It’s additionally supplied us with extra freedom as artists in what we write. What we play onstage is one other story. We play songs we expect individuals wish to hear: “Dixie Hen,” “Willin’,” “Oh Atlanta,” “Spanish Moon” and plenty of others. We’re not any totally different than different artists in that regard. Phish, the Lifeless and others, although, go to extraordinary lengths to play every thing. I like that strategy, too, Nevertheless it entails a large quantity of labor and rehearsals to make it occur.
Little Feat weathered the form of adversity that’s snuffed out numerous different bands. What’s the first gas that’s stored Little Feat—kind of—going for greater than a half-century?
A robust sense of legacy helps. Selfishly, I’ve needed the band to proceed so long as it might as a result of there isn’t one other band I might presumably play with that may enable me to write down or play the songs I’ve within the Little Feat catalog. You need to have a agency grasp of actuality to have a profession like ours. Are your expectations reasonable? How is the enterprise facet setup? Do you have got good managers that may open doorways? Who’s your viewers? All these questions demand solutions. It takes teamwork on nearly each stage to make a profitable run. When the robust instances take over, I’ve made it a degree to maintain a decrease profile, to mirror, and to make plans for the subsequent go round. It’s not simple, nor ought to or not it’s. I’m writing a memoir, Carnival Ghosts, that addresses your query in additional element.
I just lately completed Willin’, the 2013 Little Feat biography by Ben Fong-Torres. And whereas there have been elements I actually preferred, it left me feeling a bit unhappy. I do know you’re engaged on that memoir as we communicate. What would it not take to write down the definitive Little Feat biography—one which does justice to all of the distinct eras of the group? Can or not it’s carried out?One other nice query. My memoir isn’t going to cowl each side of Little Feat’s profession—my voice is one in every of many. Sam Clayton’s perspective, in lots of circumstances, can be totally different than mine. I gained’t say that the definitive biography can’t be written, however it will be very tough. Each individual within the band—previous and current—would make an ideal story. I’d learn Fred Tackett’s ebook, if he had been to write down one.
See Little Feat reside.
