Latest / WEHM All Access / WEHM All Access - Great South Bay Music Festival - Kenny Gradney of Little Feat

Transcript

WEHM All Access - Great South Bay Music Festival - Kenny Gradney of Little Feat · WEHM All Access

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do this.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's okay.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_01: Go biggie.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Recording in progress.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Alright, cool.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Here we go.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do this.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_01: On one.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: Three, two, and one.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: It is EHM All Access as we uh chat with different performers this time.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: This year's 2026 Great South Bay Music Festival.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: And uh joining me right now is a member of the band Little Feet, uh, Kenny Gradney.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Kenny, how are you?
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Just fine.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: How are you?
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: Very good.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for doing this.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Looking forward to Sunday as you're part of the lineup for this year's Great South Bay Music Festival at Shorefront Park in Patchog.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: And excited to see you guys live.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's uh Little Feet uh a couple years back on Long Island.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: You've been, of course, touring quite a bit uh in the past decade or so, but uh it's good to get you back here.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I kind of wanted to start a little bit um at the beginning, because I was I was reading, I was I was learning, I was studying, and um I'm curious to go back because you're originally from Baton Rouge, right?
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: No, well don't read Wikipedia.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you grew up okay.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: I I'm I was born in New Orleans, uh okay.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Charity Hospital in February, and in December, my mother had us on a train and we came to Los Angeles.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: Ah, okay.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I I grew up in Los Angeles.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: So that that's that's very interesting, actually.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: What did you listen to?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: And what were kind of your influences growing up as a young musician?
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um, it's funny because my dad was in the music business, and um my dad came to California um with Johnny Otis and uh a gentleman named um Lonnie Roshan, who was a disc jockey in LA on one of the stations for a while.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And um they I came out with them, and that's basically what I listened to, blues, you know, and my brothers would do wop in the bedroom at night.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: And um I I grew up playing all the, you know, all the Motown and all that stuff.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um I was in a band called The Turbans, my cousin's Al McCay.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And um people who don't know Al McKay is, he was in the Watch 100 Third Street Rhythm Band.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: He was in a lot of bands, and he finished in the uh Earth, Wind and Fire.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And we grew up together.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: He gave me my first bass, my first bass lesson.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: And as a kid, I grew up listening to all of that.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: I played Nicantina when I was 16 for a little while.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: And when I was 16, I got a Jimi Hendrix album, and that changed the whole course of my life.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: I I started playing rock and roll, and um I always knew I could add a little something to rock and roll.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I uh got in Delaney and Bonnie, which was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot from Delaney, and Dwayne Allman was the uh the Allman brothers were the opening act, and Dwayne played with us, so I I got kind of quick blast and growing up in what uh touring was like before I joined Little Feed.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, you had a lot of experiences uh with uh it sounds like with a lot of different musicians as you as you were touring, and uh I think with Delaney and Bonnie.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, what were some of the musicians you you got to meet for the first time when you were touring with them?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: With Delaney, I met um uh of course the Alman Brothers.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um geez, I could go on uh No, I feel like I feel like you met everyone I've read Janice Joplin, I think you you came across.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I did the train tour and I met the dead.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: Bobby and I became good friends right up until his passing, which broke my heart.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um I met uh Levon Helm, who we were good friends.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: He was around Littlefeet a lot.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: And uh God, uh just so many people that I met.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: The Stones.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: I met Mick Jagger uh the first week I was in Littlefeet.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: We were rehearsing at SIR, and we walk out of the rehearsal room, and he was sitting against the wall uh right by the door listening.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: And when we walk out and Bonnie goes, Hey, can you meet Mick, like that, I guess he was part of the they were all part of the English thing because Delaney had taught Eric Clapton how to sing and worked on his first album with him and later wrote, co-wrote George Harrison's first album, which was pretty awesome.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I was I was hanging around for all that stuff.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: You were Sly Stone I met, Bobby Womack, Wilson Pickett, they're all sitting at his house.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: It was pretty amazing.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Now, this is all before, and this is part of I imagine a lot of this part of the Festival Express Tour uh of Canada that you were a part of.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: And you and we mentioned Janice Joplin.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: You met her, I think just a few months before she she passed away.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I met her on the train.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: And we hung out on the train, and right before she she had signed a contract with Delaney, and Delaney was going to produce her and Bonnie do some kind of duet with them, and she died two weeks later.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Unbelievable.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was just like quick.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: What was it like to be in there?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_01: Was it obvious that she was, um, I'd imagine, just someone extraordinary, such a talent?
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: No, to me, it uh you know, I was a kid, man.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: I I I didn't see anything.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's interesting.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I guess from that perspective, you're right.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: How old?
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: How old were you?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: I was 19 when I joined Delaney and Bonnie.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: I was 20 when I was on the train, and I was 22 when I left them.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I left them, and two weeks later, I got a phone call from Dolph Remp.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Dolph and Ken Barry opened uh SIR.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: They originally started SIR.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And I met them because they only had one roadie, and that was my brother.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: My brother was the roadie.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: My brother was production manager for Delaney and Bonnie.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's how I got the auditioning.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_00: So uh Dolph called me and said there's this band here that's been auditioning bass players for about two weeks, and they have a record deal, and uh he said they're pretty good.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: You should come and check them out.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's how I first heard a little feet.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they were a couple albums in by that point.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Was that yeah, they had two albums.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they had two albums, kind of country, I thought, when I first heard them.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: I really liked Lowell when I met him.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul and Richie and Billy, you know, they were they're good guys.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: There there was a formal audition that you had to go through.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, not really.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_00: I I uh, you know, Billy and I remember it differently.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: It was a long time ago, but I remember not spending more than five minutes at his house because he was eating.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I went to Warner Brothers Studios and walked in, and I was just jammed, I was gonna see whether I wanted to play with them or not, you know, what the kind of band they were, you know.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I met Lowell, I liked Lowell, and Richie was a beast.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: We first when we started playing, I went, oh, this is good, I could do this, you know.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: And Lowell, we rehearsed, we played, we didn't rehearse, we just played for about four or five hours.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: Then he says, Well, we're gonna rehearse around noon tomorrow.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: I said, I'll be I'll be here like that.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: And that was it.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: I played with for about two weeks, and uh Lowell kept yelling at Richie to stay in time because Richie just was having fun.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I told, I said, I got somebody that'll keep Lola in time, to keep Richie in time.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, really?
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Yeah, I'll bring him tomorrow.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I brought Sam.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: And um Sam was looking at joining Chicago or putting a band together for Bonnie, Bramlett.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, dude, we're let's just try this.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: So we he played.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, This is cool, but uh, I think I'm gonna go do.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Well, we're going to Hawaii and do a show in Crater Festival.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: Come to Hawaii with us.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, ooh, that sounds like fun.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: So we went to Dick Crater Festival, and there was 40,000 people at Crater Festival.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it was rocking.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: And halfway through the show, yell start, Sam started screaming at me, Stop.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: I'm in, I'm in.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: So he got in the band.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: What was it like coming to the band and they had done things already?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, a couple of different records, and then as you mentioned, maybe a little bit of a different sound, more country.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: What was it like kind of finding your way um with the band because you were stepping into something that had been there for a little bit?
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: And and also some new members too, though, with Sam and what was that like for you?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Well, um I I I didn't look at it like that.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: I I you know, I was try I was auditioning them like they were auditioning me, you know, because I was 20 years old, 22.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: I had a lot of prospects ahead of me that I could things I could do, start my own band.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I had a bunch of stuff on my mind.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: But um when he said we're gonna do an album, I said, cool.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then they start pulling out all these great songs, and I was like, this is amazing.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Dixie Chicken.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: I was just like, and I played with a pick back then.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: I haven't told I've never said this on live, but I actually I did Dixie Chicken with a pick.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: My goodness, wow with a felt pick.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: I used to play with one, and that's how I got the chicken go do sound.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: It was with a felt pick.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's so cool.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: This was the end, and you really added your own elements to this.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: Because that record was just a different sound, and it almost it was a very good thing.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: It was totally different band.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Totally different band because Paul Barrer had never played live with them.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, uh on a record with them.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_00: And Sam and I, we were three new people with them, and we all brought a different element.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Paul Paul was an amazing rhythm player.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's why Lil brought him to play rhythm.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul had his own way of playing rhythm.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: He was unbelievable.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I really enjoyed playing with all of them.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: And it was a lot of fun.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: And the first album, we just went in there and kind of partied, played the stuff and Louis.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Rock and Roll Doctor Lowe would say, okay, play this.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And he would record it and he'd go home.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: And he had these tapes that he could unscrew and open.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: And then he would clip out sections and go, bring it back.
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it and it was da-da-da.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, and he played it, and Richie's going, that's a bar of one.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: So one bar of two, and then we go back to, and he would just play it.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: We were like, wow.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And we just followed him.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I just followed Richie most of the time and just played off his kick drum and what he did, and really made made it sound like it should, I thought.
• 11:35
  unknown: Yeah.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Lowell was really happy, never said anything to me about what I played.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: Loved everything I played.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that was the best part.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_01: What was uh I'm curious what Lowell was like, because there was the myth of Lowell George, the musician, but what was he like as a person?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: What did he talk about?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: What did you guys because obviously he spent a lot of time?
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: He was into everything.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: He he was into everything.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: He he was quite a character, man.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: He was very articulate, very bright young man, and knew his music.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Knew all his music.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: He was amazing.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: He played all kinds of instruments.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, is there just thinking about his his memory or his his legacy?
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: Is there something you remember that always stands out that was kind of the moments where you knew and not that you were accepted, because it sounds like Lowell accepted you right away.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: You guys had such a when when he said, Are you coming to rehearsal tomorrow?
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: I knew I was in.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, We're rehearsing tomorrow at noon.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you coming?
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: I go, Yeah, I like it.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, Good.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then I knew I was in.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: How did he lead the band?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: Uh as being uh you know, exactly what was that like?
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: Was he was it?
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: He never left the band.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: Well, was he leading the band when he lead when he led you guys or collaborated with you guys?
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_01: Was it how did it work um with him?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: Was it kind of a team or did it kind of flow through him?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: We played, and he just he was like, Don't make you know, he didn't want to work at it, you know.
• 13:01
  unknown: Yeah.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: He made it, he didn't, you know, everybody knew what they were doing.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's the best part about this band.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody knew what they were doing.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Billy was Billy was and is a genius keyboard player.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: And we all just we would play the music, and he would take it home, cut up the tape, bring it back, and go, okay, play it like this.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he knew how he wanted his songs done.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Gotcha, yeah.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: I already have serious.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: The rest of the time, we were getting high.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Smoking a lot of pot and just partying.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, he he ran the band as one of the guys.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: You know?
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: And we he was the kind of guy you just wanted to follow.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: So we just followed him whenever he did.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And Warner's made him uh when we signed the second deal, he had to do a solo record.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: So he he said, look, he called called me.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: I know Sam said he called him too, and said, I gotta do this record, and I have to do this tour because it's in the contract.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And when I come back, we're gonna be back together and everything will be fine.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: That was the last thing I hurt the moment.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_01: That was uh in 1979, I I believe.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: And what was that what was that like because you had been together as as a family, uh working together?
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: I I can't I can't imagine how difficult that was.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: I had just gotten married July uh July 78.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: He was my best man.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we were all very close.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: And when he died, I I just went into a deep depression.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: I thought my career was over, you know.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: I just bought a house and everything.
• 14:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it was pretty tough to lose a friend like that.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: I I can imagine, and and you guys, of course, um disbanded for a bit.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it had happened to me before.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: I when I was with Delaney and Bonnie, we came off the road, Dwayne was the Allman Brothers were opening, and Dwayne was playing with us, and I was on stage with him, and he used like a big brother to me, you know.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: And we go home and he dies, you know.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, that's uh that's something that you don't and I'd imagine those experiences I don't know if it helped you with with this with Lowell, but wow, uh quite a bit to go through.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: King Curtis was playing in the band.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: And a few weeks later I get a you know, I find out he gets killed on his front porch.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, and then when I went to Little Feet and Lowell passed, it was it was later in my life, and I I I understood, you know, I understood it better.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: I it was disappointing and heartbreaking, but I understood it a little better.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: What did you do during the years well before the band reformed?
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: What kind of kept you busy?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: I uh well right uh '79, Paul and I toured with Nicolette Larson.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of love tour.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: We toured with her, we went to Japan with her.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I came home and I hung out, and I got a call from Mick Fleetwood around 82.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: And I played in the zoo.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I toured Europe uh Australia with them a couple of times a few years.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: And uh then I get a call from uh from someone for the Bob Weir band, Bobby in the midnights.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: And uh it you know one thing led to another, and Billy Cobbham was the drummer.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I went, wow, you know, I went from Richie to Mick Fleetwood to Billy Cobb.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, not bad, yeah.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's pretty awesome.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I toured with Weir, which was a hoot.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: It was like we live in the past, learning all those dead songs, and you know, we live in the trainer.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: We just we had a great time.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I get a call after right to the end of the 80s.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm finishing up that, I get a call to come from Billy to come and do sit in at the um what the alley rehearsal hall.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: They had built the room for Lowell and they wanted us to christen it.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: And we had I hadn't seen Billy or spoken to him since Lowell passed, since we did the benefit for his wife and kids.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so I said, sure, I'll go.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I went over.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I had a phone call that I had to answer.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: So I went over and we played.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: It was fun.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: We laughed, we couldn't get through a song.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, but it rocked.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I made this phone call while I was there, and it was for Warren Zevon.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: And he wanted me to come and audition, and I laughed.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_00: I said, I don't audition.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Who have you got in a band so far?
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, Well, uh, I'm calling you first.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: So I turned, I said, Hey Richie, you want to go and tour with Warren Zevon?
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: Richie goes, yeah.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Okay, you got a bass trip player and a drummer.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: They went, okay, like that.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: And we were in, you know.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: And we started rehearsing and we did the Warren Zevon tour.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: And then we started, after that, we started working on uh Little Feet, and in '87 we did the album and came out in '88, and we were back on the road again.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_01: Was that uh a tough decision to come back?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because it sounds like the the the um when you got to get back with Little Feet?
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I mean the reunion kind of led to that, it sounds like.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: But what what was the because you you know it a lot of people, the the fans, um uh a lot of people thought maybe the band couldn't exist without Lowell.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_01: I was curious, where were you with that?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Like, where was your mind with that aspect?
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I I never thought like that.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, Lowell used to walk off the stage all the time.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the band was a beast back then, and Lowell knew it.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: And he just would just cruise around because he knew it was rocking.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_00: And everybody who who ever heard us play live knew the band was was strong.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_00: That was not the problem.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: That's very interesting.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: You've got you've faced a lot of loss.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned um a lot of different things you've gone through.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um and going back to I think it was 2010 when when Richie passed.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: Um what was you you just keep going as a band.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it sounds like that's kind of the mantra of this, that the the band is bigger um than everything.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_01: Uh the sound and kind of not the band.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: The music is that then you that's uh yeah, you're right.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: The music is bigger.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: The music has to continue.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's the thing.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Not the band, the music has to continue.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great thing.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: So um everybody in the band knew.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: You know, low Richie knew it.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_00: Paul knew it.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh really hurt when Paul went.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Paul and I, we we did a lot of stuff on the road together.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: We played a lot of golf.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_00: You know.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of golf.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: We played all over the freaking country world playing golf, laughing.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Start losing friends.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's not easy.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's part of life.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: As you get older, you start losing more.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: I just lost a sister.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_01: My condolences.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's not easy, you know.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: Life is fragile.
• 20:47
  SPEAKER_00: Just continue living and enjoy what you have while you have it.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Because your turn's coming soon.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: Sooner rather than later, I guess.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: That's interesting.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's always too soon.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: No, that's and that's that I think that what you said there is it is the music that keeps you keeps you going.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely the music that keeps us going, always.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: And we're very fortunate to to have found um Scott Scott Sherard and Tony Leone.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Tony had been around the band because Tony Tony played in uh Amy Helm's band.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: He played with Levon, Amy Helm, he played in the um the uh Chris Robertson in the Brotherhood.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: He's and the guy is an amazing drummer.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_00: Just unbelievable jazz drummer, rock and roll drummer.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: It sounds like that's almost reinvigorated you a little bit with the new new new blood.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, without a doubt.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Without a doubt.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: What was it like in uh I know the record Sam's Plays came out a couple years back.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh front and center lead voice.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: What was what was it like to see him in the spotlight for that?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we've been trying to put him out there forever, and finally, you know, we get a we get an opportunity, and it was just it was fun.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_00: The whole thing was fun.
• 22:12
  SPEAKER_00: It was just laughing, and we have always played blues on the on the show.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he always sang uh in the middle of uh a political blues.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: Billy's been talking about it, Sam has been talking about it.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: So we finally did it, and it came out great.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: It was a lot of fun.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: Playing music with this band is fun.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: Just great musicians.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: Fred Tackett, Billy Payne, Sam Clayton, all of them.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: Just great musicians.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it adds so much.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: Look at looking forward to seeing you guys Sunday at the Great South Bay Music Festival, Little Feet, Kenny Gradney.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for your time.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: I really appreciate it.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_01: My pleasure.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: Great perspective on the music, and and really it kind of explains uh how you guys have kept going all these years.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the music that keeps us going.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_01: It certainly is.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Kenny.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Certainly not the money.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_01: No, and you've worked with so many amazing people.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and I've read about Timmy Page talking about you know, it it all these aren't artists that you've met.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_01: So what's it do you have any plans to retire ever?
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Or is this kind of the you just keep going?
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: Uh uh you know, it's it's uh music is is part of you.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you you don't retire from your body.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: You you continue I'll continue playing.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: You know, in some way, shape, or form, I won't stop playing.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: I can't stop playing.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_01: What do you uh because you've met so many different interesting people along the way, but I'm curious your thoughts on today's uh musicians and and certain ones that have impressed you on the road.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: There are some incredible musicians out there today.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: And they're learned, you know, they've studied music.
• 24:08
  SPEAKER_00: I unfortunately never got the opportunity to study music like I wanted to.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_00: And these kids today, they're they're so knowledgeable.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's just it's just amazing.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: And they just and it's so e so much easier with computers and and websites to learn an instrument.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's so much easier than it was.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I had I taught myself how to play.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: I would play a I would play a record and and pick notes off of it, you know, and learn learn the record.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's the way I learned.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_01: Well, now it's certainly it's certainly changed, but uh kind of opened up a whole world of opportunity for a new generation for sure.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Kenny, thank you very much.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we'll see you Sunday.
• 24:54
  SPEAKER_01: Little feet Sunday 26th, Great South Bay Music Festival.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: Looking forward to seeing you.
• 24:58
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Kenny.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_01: Great to talk to you.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_00: You too.