Little Feat 2021: Sam Clayton, Scott Sharrard, Bill Payne, Tony Leone, Fred Tackett and Kenny Gradney (lr): photo by Hank Randall
Columbus, OH was a fitting location for Little Feat to open a spring tour that will celebrate the 45th anniversary of the band’s acclaimed live album. Waiting for Columbus. During these shows, the band will perform the album in its entirety every night. On March 16 and 17 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Little Feat will invite a number of guest musicians to the stage and film the shows for future release.
Waiting for Columbus was originally recorded for seven nights live in 1977 when the band brought a recording crew to four shows in London and three in Washington D.C.
The current Little Feat roster includes Bill Payne (keyboard, vocals), Kenny Gradney (bass), Sam Clayton (percussion, vocals), Fred Tackett (guitar, vocals), Scott Sharrard (guitar, vocals) and Tony Leone (drums) .
To celebrate the tour, Little Feat shared a version of “Dixie Chicken/Tripe Face Boogie” recorded November 16, 2021 at The Egg in Albany, NY.
Bill Payne addressed all of these events in a statement he shares with Relix:
Songs collide, stars align, windows and doors open to let in the sun. In 1972, such an event took place at the Fox Theater in Long Beach, California. Little Feat had just completed the first Diamond Head Crater Festival in Oahu. The Fox was our first concert on the continent. I was upstairs, lying on a hardwood bench, going over the whole thing in my head. “Dixie Chicken” and “Tripe Face Boogie” were played together, but I wanted a longer jam section. In my sleep-deprived exhaustion, I heard the changes, got up, and relayed them to our drummer Richie Hayward, who was down the hall.
When we get to the instrumental, everyone will give up except us. I asked him to turn the volume down and we worked our way through the jam to another break. It was a keyboard hit that would bring everyone back into Lowell’s slide solo.
There it is !
50 years later, in 2022, we are still playing a version of this arrangement. Feat will bring “Waiting For Columbus” to your town this year. The energy is there in abundance thanks to the timeless music and the inclusion of our newest members, Scott Sharrard on guitars and vocals, and Tony Leone on drums and vocals, as well as Kenny Gradney on bass, Sam Clayton on percussion and vocals, Fred Tackett on guitar, mandolin and trumpet. I will maintain keyboards and vocals.
We will be filming this concert with an array of guests at the Ryman Auditorium on March 16th and 17th.
The winds are favorable and the navigation is fluid. See you on the proud highway.
Bring your sailing shoes!
Waiting for Columbus – Spring Tour
3/4 – Columbus, OH – South Theater
3/5 – Kalamazoo, MI – Kalamazoo State Theater
3/7 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater
3/8 – Des Moines, IA – Hoyt Sherman Place
3/10 – Chicago, Illinois – Chicago Theater
3/11 – Chesterfield, MO – District Plant
3/13 – Nashville, IN – Brown County Music Center
3/14 – Cincinnati, OH – Taft Theater
3/16 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
3/17 – Nashville, TN – Ryman Auditorium
3/19 – Knoxville, TN – Tennessee Theater
3/20 – Birmingham, AL – Alabama Theater
3/22 – Atlanta, Georgia – Atlanta Symphony Concert Hall
3/23 – Mobile, AL – Saenger Theater Mobile
3/25 – New Orleans, LA – Saenger Theater
3/26 – Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall
3/27 – Dallas, TX – Majestic Theater
4/9 – Akron, OH – Akron Civic Theater
4/10 – Rochester, NY – Kodak Center
4/12 – New York, NY – Beacon Theater
4/13 – Collingswood, NJ – Scottish Rite Auditorium
4/15 – Wilkes-Barre, PA – FM Kirby Center for the Performing Arts
4/16 – Washington, DC – DAR Constitution Hall
4/19 – Richmond, Virginia – Dominion Energy Center
4/20 – Virginia Beach, VA – Sandler Center for the Performing Arts
4/21 – Durham, NC – The Carolina Theater
4/23 – Savannah, GA – Johnny Mercer Theater
4/25 – Jacksonville, FL – Florida Theater
04/26 – Augusta, Georgia – Miller Theater
5/26 – Asheville, NC – Thomas Wolfe Auditorium at Harrah’s Cherokee Center
5/27 – Martinsville, VA – Rooster Walking Festival
5/29 – Chillicothe, IL – Summer Camp Music Festival
Waiting for Columbus – Summer Tour
7/26 – Springfield, MO – The Historic Gillioz Theater
7/27 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
7/29 – Denver, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheater
8/1 – Salt Lake City, UT – Sandy Amphitheater
8/3 – Bozeman, MT – The Elm
8/4 – Missoula, MT – KettleHouse Amphitheater
8/6 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theater
8/7 – Portland, OR – Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
8/9 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theater
8/10 – Sacramento, CA – Crest Theater
8/12 – Los Angeles, CA – Theater at the Ace Hotel
8/14 – San Diego, CA – Humphrey Concerts by the Bay
8/15 – Phoenix, AZ – Celebrity Theater
8/26 Las Vegas, NV – Big Blues Bender
9/16 – Charlotte, NC – Knight Theater
