New Castle PA are you ready for the Slow Ride?

Foghat, Atlanta Rhythm Section And FireFall will embark onto the grounds of the Scottish Rite Cathedral on June 21st 2018, for what will be an epic night of good ole 70s rock and roll.

Empire Extreme got to talk on the phone with the legendary drummer of Foghat, Roger Earl to talk about the event and life with Foghat for over 40 years.

The phone rings, “ Hey this is Ron from Empire Extreme”, then I get replied “ Well hey, this is Roger Earl from Foghat, how you doing”?

Empire: How you doing today?

Roger: I’m doing good, I’m at home now, I’m excited We’re playing Scottish cathedral on June 21st with ARS and FireFall.

Empire: Yeah excited about that show?

Roger: Yeah, we did several shows last year this ARS, this is our first show this year with them.

Empire: So you guys have been doing about 40+ plus years with Foghat, hows they been?

Roger: It feels more like 105(Laughs) well Yeah Foghat formed in 1971, and this year is the 40th anniversary of the Stone Blue album, so we will be playing some of that, we had a new album released last year called Under the Influence and we had a live album come out, recorded in San Diego Live at Belly Up, and we have another project coming up so we’re “not resting on our Laurel’s.”

Empire: Did you guys think that Slow Ride was going to be as huge as it got?

Roger: It was one of the songs that myself after we recorded it, it was just me and Nick Jameson our producer and bass player at the time, it was one of the few songs that we wanted to do. It had that song and on the B side it was Save your loving and we drove it to NY to Bearsville Label and he said it’s too rock and roll and it’s too long. Then Nick said to him “Fuck You, it’s our next single” They didn’t want to play it because it was an 8 minute song and eventually we succumbed and dropped it down to 4 minutes. I love playing it, the current band has been together for 20 years which is longer than the original band

Empire: I seen that you auditioned for the Jimmy Hendrix Experience, how was that and did you get to meet Jimmy?

Roger: Yeah I got to meet Jimmy, I knew his manager at the time, I was 18 at the time and in a band but never went anywhere, so he called me up and asked for me to audition, we all knew Jimmy from Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck they heard him and I saw him in NY , so I auditioned I think I came in like 5th or 6th. We were standing outside a jazz club called Birdland in London. Jimmy came up to me, talking about songs he did the night before, he was a really cool guy. We played together for about 45 minutes, he was very generous with his time. We did a Chuck Berry song and a Rolling Stones song.

Empire: What’s been your favorite bands to play with?

Roger: J Geils Band was always fun to play with, Humble Pie was an amazing band, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet band they were great to play with. Those 3 were probably my favorite to play with.

Empire: what about a favorite tour moment?

Roger: Uhhh….. you have to buy the book(Laughs) I’m working on a book, I got a few outlines and stuff, going to work on it this year. Why not everybody else is doing it.

Empire: Any newer bands you been excited about?

Roger: Foo Fighters. What a great rock and roll band. I got a chance to meet the drummer Tony and he joined me on stage and drummed with me on Slow Ride.

Empire: One of my questions I always ask is, if you can bring back one dead musician, who would it be?

Roger: That’s a tough one, there’s so many, I would say John Lennon because I love the way he would stir shit up, and make people think. Jimmy Hendrix of course he was taken way to soon and would have been incredible to see him move on. Maybe Buddy Rich.

So make sure you make it out to New Castle on June 21st and check out Foghat and company. Buy your tickets here and support these amazing bands from the 70s.

About Author

Ron

Ron has keen eye for new talent, a love for the underground, and a tremendous passion for music of any genera. You’ll probably bump into him at a horror convention or some seedy club checking out the next need-to-know band.

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