Foghat comes full circle with their new album Under The Influence, released Friday, June 24th. Drawing from their collective musical influences, the band not only brought in some special guests from their past who helped launch and inspire the Foghat story, but also invited some new friends into the mix to continue the journey of this never idle band. BraveWords is premiering the brand new song, "Upside Of Lonely".

About the track the band comment: "The idea of the song is all about being single and not moaning about it. It’s a pretty cool song and so many people that have heard it, relate to it LOL. Roger first heard Tom Hambridge (our Grammy winning producer) sing it in the round acoustically at the BlueBird Café in Nashville. It was played as a slow blues. Roger really liked the song and the lyrics and the band pre-recorded it as a more Memphis Blues up-tempo type of tune. When Tom heard it, he liked it and there ya go. Scott Holt, our special guest who played with Buddy Guy for ten years, sang lead vocals on the track along with playing guitar (along with Kim Simmonds and Bryan Bassett). It is just a cool song and is appealing to all types of fans.”

BraveWords' Martin Popoff spoke to leader Roger Earl for an upcoming feature and he explains more background about the track in this audio clip here.

 
They started recording at their Florida studio, Boogie Motel South in 2013. In addition to Foghat members Roger Earl, Craig MacGregor, Charlie Huhn and Bryan Bassett,  two additional figures helped shape the sessions - Buddy Guy alumni, Scott Holt, who lent a hand in the writing, and added fantastic guitar and vocals to several tracks, and Grammy winning producer/songwriter, Tom Hambridge.  
 
With their resident genius, guitarist Bryan Bassett at the helm, the project was going slow since Bryan was doing triple duty, playing, writing and recording the tracks, while in the midst of a Foghat tour. So Tom Hambridge came aboard. According to Roger Earl "I met Tom when presenting three awards to Buddy Guy and Tom (his producer) at the Memphis Blues Awards.  Tom said that he was a fan, and would love to produce a Foghat record. Putting that in the back of my mind, this was the perfect opportunity. Tom came down to Boogie Motel South to meet the band and we clicked and started writing together immediately. Working with him was inspirational!
 
During this time, an opportunity arose for some "other" recording at Dark Horse Institute in Nashville for a friend's graduation project. Scott, Bryan and Roger recorded six tracks and a new "band", Earl And The Agitators, with Scott Holt as lead guitar/vocals was born.  They are now playing some dates opening for Foghat with Roger and Bryan doing double-duty.  This great experience prompted Foghat to move the recording of Under The Influence to Dark Horse Studios where they brought in two of their major influences.
 
Foghat was spawned from the British Blues band Savoy Brown in 1971, so it was fitting to ask Savoy founder and guitarist Kim Simmonds to join in. As Roger Earl puts it “Kim gave me my shot!” As soon as Kim started playing, everyone was mesmerized!
 
Included on this release is a new recording of "Slow Ride” to celebrate the 40th anniversary. They invited Nick Jameson, (original bass player and producer of “Slow Ride” on the 1975’ Fool For The City album) to play along with Foghat bassist Craig MacGregor who played bass on Foghat LIVE (1977). They had a blast, and Foghat lead singer, Charlie Huhn, was as usual at the top of his game with his incredible vocals and guitar work.
 
And to round out the project the amazing Dana Fuchs added some of her bluesy/sultry vocals to a couple of tracks.
 
Three years in the making, Foghat had fun with this record and the result is an eclectic blend of rock and blues with a little funk and R&B on the side for good measure. It showcases the combined talent of all of the members both in the writing and the playing. This band never stops.



Under The Influence tracklisting:
“Under The Influence”
“Knock It Off”
“Ghost”
“She’s Got A Ring In His Nose”
“Upside Of Lonely”
“Heard It Through The Grapevine”
“Made Up My Mind”
“Hot Mama”
“Heart Gone Cold”
“Honey Do List”
“All Because Of You”
“Slow Ride”

Teaser: