The pioneering southern rock group will release their new album on May 9th
Little Feat is back with a dynamic new album, Strike Up The Band, set for release May 9th via Hot Tomato. The southern rockers release their new single, “Too High To Cut My Hair,” and a hilarious music video which stars Lilly Winwood as an inebriated hairdresser who tries and fails to cut the hair of each band member.
The single is a trademark Feat funk-fueled jam, written by Fred Tacket and featuring Sam Clayton’s classic low C growl, is the perfect reintroduction to a band who are back to their very best. Band leader Bill Payne says of the song, “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 where 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. It’s also got the classic Sam Clayton doing his, three octaves below middle C voice in there – Too High To Cut My Hair! Everyone that has heard it has said, “That’s a Little Feat song”, and I know what they mean!”
From the very first note of Strike Up The Band, you will hear 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” featuring Molly Tuttle, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams are as dexterous, considered, and creative as any song in the Little Feat canon to date. 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 in many ways are just getting started in their 56th year.
Little Feat built a cult following in the late 60s and 70s for their pioneering gumbo of New Orleans rhythm-and-blues, country, hard-rock, funk and jazz. Celebrated as a key influence 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 legends in the rock and roll songbook. They have released a total of 16 studio albums and ten live albums to date. Through the ups and downs, love and loss, the line up shifts, and endless touring they have remained together and the closest of friends.
Their wilderness years, when the band were on periods of hiatus, are worth noting. A band who as individual musicians have collaborated with a laundry list of legends including Bob Dylan, Boz Scaggs, JJ Cale, Buddy Guy, Jimmy Buffett, Doobie Brothers, Emmylou Harris, Bryan Adams, Pink Floyd, Bob Seger, Toto, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, Carly Simon, James Taylor, Stevie Nicks, Robert Palmer, Bob Weir, Mick Fleetwood, Phil Lesh, and others.
Their elastic line up has included the late great Lowell George, founding drummer, Richie Hayward, and guitarist Paul Barrere, and to this day features founding member Bill Payne on keys, alongside the classic line up of Fred Tackett on guitars/vocals, Kenny Gradney on bass, and Sam Clayton on percussion/vocals. They recently enlisted younger members Scott Sharrard on lead/vocal and Tony Leone on drums/vox which reinvigorated their creative spirits and live show.
Together with producer Vance Powell (Phish, Chris Stapleton, Jack White), and collaborators including Blackberry Smoke’s Charlie Starr and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, they created their new album, Strike Up The Band destined to be considered their later year magnum opus.
With a Grammy nomination for their recent album Sam’s Place, a newly announced national tour and much more in the works, Little Feat are not weathered statues in the hall of rock fame. They remain the collective and creative force they have always been. As they sang in 77’, “Time Loves A Hero,” and believe with Strike Up The Band, the mainstream recognition that has eluded Little Feat all these years, is now firmly in their grasp.
- 4 Days of Heaven 3 Days of Work
- Bayou Mama
- Shipwrecks
- Midnight Flight
- Too High To Cut My Hair
- When Hearts Fall
- Strike Up The Band featuring Larkin Poe
- Bluegrass Pines featuring Molly Tuttle, Larry Campbell & Teresa Williams
- Disappearing Ink
- Love and Life (Never Fear)
- Dance a Little
- Running Out of Time with the Blues
- New Orleans Cries When She Sings
