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(Click on a band member below)
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Bryan Bassett |
Charlie Huhn |
Craig Macgregor |
Roger Earl |
THE BAND. . . PAST, PRESENT, AND INTO THE FUTURE
In the late
1960’s Roger Earl & Lonesome Dave Peverett
first toured America as members of the seminal
British band "Savoy Brown". Together with
guitarist Kim Simmonds, "Savoy Brown"
was on the cutting edge of the emerging
British blues-rock scene, and they influenced
countless musicians on both sides of the "pond".
In 1971, wanting to give a more Rock ‘n Roll
flavor to the blues-boogie music they were
playing with "Savoy", Dave & Roger enlisted
lead/slide guitarist Rod Price & bassist
Tony Stevens, formed a new band, "Foghat",
and the rest is part of Rock and Roll history.
Signed by
Albert Grossman to Bearsville Records
in 1971, the band recorded their first
self-titled LP "Foghat" and began touring
relentlessly for the next 14 years. Their hard
work has thus far been rewarded with seven Gold
records, one Platinum record "Fool For The
City" (1975), and one Double-Platinum record
"Foghat Live" (1977). The "Fool For The
City" album contained Foghat’s trademark Top 40
hit song "Slow Ride" and cemented their place as
one of the world’s top rock acts. They continued
to hit the charts in the 1970’s with singles
such as "Fool For The City", "Drivin’ Wheel",
"I Just Wanna Make Love To You", "I’ll Be
Standing By", "Stone Blue", "Third Time Lucky"
and "Somebody’s Been Sleeping In My Bed"…
many of which are still classic rock radio
staples.
Foghat
toured and recorded non-stop into the
mid-eighties. Tony Stevens had left the band in
1974 to pursue other interests, and was replaced
by bassist Craig MacGregor (with a short
stint with Nick Jameson in between). Rod
Price departed the band in 1980. In 1985
Lonesome Dave returned to England for a
well-deserved break from touring, while Roger
remained in the US and continued to carry the
Foghat flag with non-stop touring with various
new musicians and Foghat alumni. In 1989
Lonesome Dave resumed touring in the states with
future member Bryan Bassett. But it is
1994 that marks the return of Foghat to the
world stage, when the original members reunite
for the recording of "Return of the Boogie
Men". Being back on the road, non-stop, once
again yielded a new live CD for the band titled
"Road Cases", released in 1997.
In 1998,
Lonesome Dave is diagnosed with cancer. He
battles it with amazing strength and courage. He
decides he would like to tour again in 1999.
With Rod Price’s decision not to resume touring,
Dave calls his old friend Bryan Bassett,
who is touring with "Molly Hatchet" and
asks him to join the band. Lonesome Dave, one of
the all time great rock ‘n rollers, and a
consummate professional, performs flawlessly
night after night, doing what he loved doing
best…while still undergoing chemotherapy. The
tour was cut short in the fall of 1999, when
Dave returns home. He sadly passes away on
February 7, 2000. Family and friends are
devastated. One of rock ‘n roll’s legendary
performers is mourned by thousands of fans.
As all who
knew and loved Dave tried to adjust to this
devastating loss, the band had to decide what to
do.
To continue after this great loss was the
question.
Even Dave’s encouragement to keep the band
together and to ‘Keep on Rockin’ was not enough
to convince the band that they should go on.
After much soul searching and support from the
fans, Roger began to hesitantly review some
tapes of singers. None of them seemed to have
that blend of blues and rock so important to the
band’s sound. Becoming quite discouraged about
the prospect of finding a new singer, Roger
happened to recall seeing a "Humble Pie"
show with Dave…they wanted to see who was
singing their mate Stevie Marriott’s
songs. They were both pleasantly surprised and
impressed! The singer was former "Ted Nugent"
and "Victory" vocalist Charlie Huhn.
Roger contacted Charlie and a rehearsal was set
up at SIR in New York. After just a few
hours of jamming, the chemistry was undeniable
and all agreed that this was the person to join
the band and take it into the future. Charlie’s
vocal ability and guitar playing fit the music
perfectly and his high-energy stage presence
provides what is an essential ingredient to a
"Foghat" show.
The new line-up toured extensively
doing what they love to do and do best…taking
their music to the fans. The camaraderie and fun
was apparent in their live performances and
after two solid years of touring the band
entered the studio to write and record a new
studio album called “Family Joules”,
released in 2003 which again received great
reviews. If anyone ever dared to ask if Foghat
were still relevant, surely the track “Mumbo
Jumbo” gave a resounding YES!
In 2004 they
released a live DVD called
“The Official
Bootleg DVD, Volume 1” and at the
end of that year, veteran Foghat bassist
extraordinaire Craig Macgregor rejoined
the lineup launching Foghat's hard rocking
tradition into the future.
“FOGHAT
LIVE II” , a double live CD was released
in 2007. It was recorded in 2005 & 2007 to
celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the
original ‘Foghat LIVE’, and the reviews
were exceptional! This opened up a new
chapter for Foghat. The band was as good as
ever and carrying on their tradition of touring
and having a great time.
While
promoting “LIVE II”, the band was invited
to record a live session for DJ Mark Klein’s
weekly ‘Long Island Blues Warehouse Radio Show’
which was recorded to 2 track. Surprisingly it
ended up sounding so good that they ended up
releasing it as “Live at the Blues Warehouse”
in 2009 and again this CD got rave reviews!
The last few
years has Foghat reaching
a whole new generation of fans largely as a
result of their incessant touring and also due
to its songs appearing on such popular home
video games as Guitar Hero III, numerous
movies such as ‘Dazed & Confused’, ‘Wild
Hogs’, ‘Bottle Shock’ and ‘Halloween II’,
numerous TV shows and ads such as Honda
among others.
In
2008 Foghat launched their own brand of wine
called “FOGHAT CELLARS” in conjunction
with well known winemaker Steve Rasmussen.
Their first offering was a 2005 Cabernet
Sauvignon from Paso Robles which again got
rave reviews! June 2010 announces the release of
their second offering, a delicious Chardonnay
from Santa Maria Valley. Wine & music, what a
combination.
So the live dates continue to pile up and the
boogie continues. And
to keep the band relevant to both old and new
fans alike, 2010 brings the inclusion of a newer
Foghat song “Mumbo Jumbo” in the new
I-Phone application by Universal called ‘Six
String’
Their latest project, a blues CD called “LAST
TRAIN HOME”
(release date June 15, 2010) is the culmination
of a dream shared by Roger Earl and Lonesome
Dave. So with LAST TRAIN HOME Foghat
comes full circle, with an offering that mixes
some Foghat Blues stamped originals with many
blues gems. This album is guaranteed to become a
classic.
Foghat has
never stopped touring and recording. The 2010
version of Foghat comprised of Roger Earl,
Craig MacGregor, Charlie Huhn, and Bryan Bassett
has been together for 10 years since the
passing of Lonesome Dave. They continue to tour
relentlessly because they just love to play and
after every show they go out to meet their fans.
They still epitomize that classic blues-rock
slide guitar sound and that is what Foghat is
all about.
IT’S ABOUT THE MUSIC!
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