The Steel Wheels

The members of Little Feat emerged from the pandemic with their sense of humor, chops, and collective joy in playing intact. Over the past three years, they’ve focused tours on their epic live album Waiting for Columbus and re-issues of their second through fourth albums (Sailin’ Shoes, Dixie Chicken, and Feats Don’t Fail Me Now. Audience response has been rapturous. The band builds on a deep, over 50-year history. Little Feat used a combination of elite musicianship and brilliant, idiosyncratic songwriting to create a repertoire that transcends all boundaries. California rock, funk, folk, jazz, country and rockabilly mixed with New Orleans swamp boogie led to a powerful sound that has kept the audience dancing for decades. Their groove – in songs like “Dixie Chicken,” “Spanish Moon,” “Fat Man in the Bathtub,” and “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now” – was so infectious it allowed them to endure and press on even when losing their founder, Lowell George, and founding drummer, Richie Hayward. They’re in top form now with Scott Sharrard on lead/vox and Tony Leone on drums/vox, and with founder Bill Payne on keys/vox, Fred Tackett on guitars/vox, Kenny Gradney on bass, and Sam Clayton on percussion/vox. Now it’s time for something new. Their creativity has been renewed, and 2024 will see the release of the brand-new Sam’s Place, in which Feat backs their linchpin conga player, Sam Clayton, on vocals. The album features a new song, “Milk Man,” by Sam, Scott, and Fred. There’s a live version of “Got My Mojo Working.” Sam and Bonnie Raitt duet on Muddy’s “Long Distance Call.” Sam’s Place scratches a deep itch. Sam added, “I’m very happy because I was never expecting anything like that. I mean, I have wanted to, but I just wasn’t expecting it to come to the fruition. It was a long wait, but it’s satisfying.”