Foghat’s Bryan Bassett talks the art of the boogie ahead of Saturday’s Ameristar gig
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Long-running classic rockers Foghat have had an ever-evolving lineup over the years, with the sole original member these days drummer Roger Earl. However, guitarist Bryan Bassett can lay claim to no longer being the new guys after having played with the group since the early ’90s, along with having done time in Lonesome Dave’s Foghat prior to that
Despite being best known for their ’70s hits, with 1975’s Fool for the City birthing their biggest, “Slow Ride,” nearly 50 years ago, Foghat’s 17th studio album, Sonic Mojo, saw the band getting their first-ever Grammy nomination. It also spent six months on the Billboard Blues chart, going all the way to the number one spot for much of that time.
Foghat hits Ameristar on Saturday, March 15, and we hopped on the phone with guitarist Bryan Bassett from his home in central Florida to discuss his time with the band, his prior work with funk-rockers Wild Cherry, and what might be Foghat’s best deep cut.
The Pitch: Foghat plays Florida a lot. Is that somewhat your doing?
Bryan Bassett: Not really. I think it’s just the way things go. You know, I think we did have more than usual Florida dates so far this year. But you know, there’s a couple Hard Rock hotel casinos here and we do a lot of outdoor festivals and that kind of thing. It’s just one of the things that happen, but two of us do live down here, myself and our bassist, Rodney O’Quinn, live in Florida. But Roger [Earl]’s up in New York and Scott [Holt], our singer, is in Nashville so we just hop around the country as our agency dictates.
That’s where the cruises take off from, as well, and I know you play a fair share of those.
Yeah, we just finished the four day Legends of Rock cruise, so that was a lot of fun, with Styx and Alice Cooper headlining. That particular cruise has 15-20 bands on it, so it’s pretty crazy.
How is it for a band to be on one of those, where it’s like a festival, but everybody sees everybody all the time? Folks are gonna see you at dinner and stuff like that.
It’s actually very comfortable. I mean, I’ve done six or seven of them so far. Everyone’s polite and they say hello. Some of them want to take a picture or get you to sign something but by and large, it’s pretty cool, you know. What I like about it is I get to see a lot of other musicians play. That’s the bonus for the acts on there, and we get to hang out together and socialize. So, all in all, it works out pretty good.
I mean, as far as the the people on the cruise, it’s really the best bang for your music dollar. The cruise itself is a couple thousand dollars, but you’re seeing 15 bands. Plus the one we do is for the NAHA, which is the Native American Heritage Association. They do a lot of charity work out in the Midwest. It’s a pretty cool cruise.
Given this point in your career and the folks with whom you’ve recorded, I assume you know a good number of people out on the road these days.
Yeah, that’s definitely true. I mean, over the years, I’ve played with dozens of bands and it was great for me. I’m meeting people that I’ve admired growing up and. To be friends with ’em–now, that’s one of the real perks of being a longtime musician, getting to know some people that are great musicians and that I admire.
In addition to your work with Foghat, you’re known very iconically the guitarist for Wild Cherry and your work on “Play That Funky Music” is a guitar lick that everyone knows. Going from that to recording with like all of these legendary like blues and funk acts like Rufus Thomas or the JBs to playing in Foghat, what is that career arc like for you?
Well, you know, it’s been fantastic. Really. I’ve been so lucky to be able to play music my whole career. There was a time in between Wild Cherry–which was very exciting for me as a 20-something. I was like 22 years old and, and getting to tour with all the great R&B acts of that era. We really did open up for the Jackson 5, Earth Wind and Fire, the Commodores, and Average White Band and get to know them.
And there was a stretch of years where ,when I moved to Florida, I became involved in recording, engineering, and producing, working for a blues independent label, which was Kingsnake Records, where I did those records with the JBs and Rufus Thomas and Kenny Neal, Lucky Peterson, all these great blues artists. That was very exciting, because that was my other passion, actually–recording, being an engineer.
I was always the guy, when I was in high school, that brought the cassette deck or the four-track recorder to practice. I was the one making tapes for everybody, so that was a great fun and it really helped when I met Lonesome Dave and joined Foghat. My engineering skills allowed us to produce our own records at our own pace. I have a studio set up. We have a band house in central Florida where my studio is set up.
Ever since I joined the band, which is some 20 years ago now, I’ve been handling all the recording duties, so that allows us to write and relax. We’re not having to fly around and rent commercial studios. I’m able to handle all the engineering duties. That was a lot of fun for me and it really make what we do in Foghat a lot easier. But yeah, I’ve been lucky to stay busy all these years.
“Play That Funky Music” is funny because it’s one of those songs that just hung around. We actually recorded that on our own dime just to get a 45 in the local jukeboxes and get up our our gig price a couple hundred bucks, you know? But it got picked up by Epic Records and zoomed up the charts. That was a real stroke of luck for us.
But it was a song that–even before we recorded it–it was a song of guys that didn’t like to dance go, “All right. I’ll try this one,” and to this day, I always say that we made the wedding circuit, ’cause it gets played, along with a couple other songs, like “We Are Family” and “Brick House,” at weddings. So that keeps it alive, you know.
I get a kick out of it. It was a lot of fun. that song and the fact that it’s still around and that people still hear it and play it–it was a song that a lot of bands liked to play ’cause it was a good dance song in the clubs, so that’s kept it alive, as well.
At this point, you’ve been with Foghat for almost half of its lifespan. It seems like when you’ve been with a band that long, you’re no longer the new guitarist, right?
Well, you know, in some people’s mind, I still am. But you know, that’s just a funny thing, the way people perceive their favorite bands from the ’70s. That’s happened with a lot of groups that have replacement players, but that’s why there’s records. There’s a lot of people say, “Ever since Dave and Rod died, you’re not Foghat anymore.”
I go, “Well, that’s Roger’s legacy. He’s been here since 1971, and he owns the name, and has the right to carry on his career, and I’m glad to have joined him with that,” and for me, it’s 28 years altogether, because I played with Lonesome Dave for four years in the late ’80s, early ’90s. I played with all the principal members, so I guess I’m the next, but I’m still not the very original guy.
There’s people that accept it, and there’s people that don’t, so that’s just always going to be the case but the fact that we had a number one Billboard record in the blues charts with Sonic Mojo, I think our fans accept the new band for what it is, just carrying on the tradition of blues rock that Foghat was known for. We haven’t changed our style or anything, really.
I always compare it to sports, where players gotta play. I mean, we like to record and it’s nice to write songs and everything, but a musician likes to play live for people, and that’s what we do. We really take pride in our interpretation of the old catalog, and we really enjoy bringing new songs to our fan base and the fact that it lasted on the charts so long, which was like 30-plus weeks in the top ten, means that people are accepting it. That’s the main thing: people are listening to the new music, and that really makes us very happy.
All that said, why is “Chateau Lafitte ’59 Boogie” the song that I feel like should’ve been a hit? Why is it one of the great unsung rock and roll songs?
Well, you know, it’s funny. It’s in our set this year, too. Every year we put new songs into the set to keep our fans that come every year entertained with new material that we haven’t played in a while. That song–you know, Fogart was known as a boogie band. That boogie sound is really Dave’s take on John Lee Hooker’s boogie. They weren’t really considered a blues rock band as much as most of the old articles called them a boogie band and boogie is that swing beat that “Chateau” has. That sort of defined the Foghat sound.
I don’t know why it wasn’t a hit. I guess it wasn’t promoted as a single at the time, but it is one of the classic Foghat songs and we still play it to this day.
How much fun is it playing that guitar part?
It’s great. It’s a lot of fun. I really get to stretch out on the slide on that one. I have a lot of fun with it and that’s the one of the songs people get on their feet. That’s what the boogie was all about. “Get up and boogie our sneakers away,” as Roger would say.
Foghat plays Ameristar Casino Hotel on Saturday, March 15. Details on that show here.
