It’s interesting what can happen when a group of creative folks sit around a table together, swapping stories, throwing out ideas, and generally enjoying an atmosphere of sincere bonhomie whilst enjoying glass after glass of top notch wine.
One such result has been the fabulously entertaining and critically lauded new side project by members of veteran rock band Foghat – the ballsy, bluesy and rip roaring group called Earl & The Agitators. Formed three years ago by Foghat founder and drummer Roger Earl, long-time guitarist Bryan Bassett and their mutual friend Scott Holt, a veteran blues/rock artist best know for a decade long tenure as a sideman for the legendary Buddy Guy, the band has toured off and on over the last few years, acting as Foghat’s opening act in many instances, as well as playing their own shows.
On the heels of Foghat’s most recent studio album Under the Influence released in 2016, Earl & the Agitators released a critically acclaimed EP of original music and covers. The response was so great that the fellas decided to keep the momentum – and the fun – going by heading back into the studio as soon as possible. The result is the powerhouse new album, Shaken & Stirred, released on Oct. 26 on Foghat Records.
Proof of the album’s potency as a creative tour de force came when it broached the top 10 on the Billboard Blues Charts, a welcome, but wholly unexpected turn of events for what was essentially a fun spin-off project, created to simply satiate the band members’ desire to create music that was a little more rootsy and blues infused than the usual Foghat fare. And it all started, as these things often do, with a seemingly innocuous introduction.
“A good friend of ours, a photographer out here on Long Island where I live, introduced me to Scott Holt, who used to play with Buddy Guy. So, I invited him to our studio down in Florida and he came down for a couple of weeks and, as is a musician’s want, we started playing. And it was just myself, Scott, and Bryan Bassett, and we just started writing songs. It was a lot of fun, and Scott Holt is a really cool guy, and he is beautiful to work with. We ended up with about 18 songs that we had written together, with three of them even making the last Foghat record,” said Earl, who also mentioned that other current Foghat member Rodney O’Quinn plays bass on a number of the songs on the album, as well as live, alongside other live Agitators guitarist Tony Bullard and percussionist Mark Petrocelli. Former veteran Foghat bassist Craig MacGregor also performs on some songs, in what turned out to be his last every recorded appearances before his death in 2018.
“We realized we had something, but the truth is we have a brilliant manager [Earl’s wife Linda] and she took the bull by the horns with this project and she worked tirelessly to get this done, and it’s been so exciting and unexpected. She knows where it’s coming from and knows that we have a real passion for this music and that as much fun as it is, we’re taking it seriously. The name of the band actually came from Bryan Bassett. We had finished playing for the day and were sitting around the table drinking wine and having some food. It was at that moment in between the first bottle of Cabernet and the second bottle where there’s a moment of brilliance. At that moment of brilliance, Bryan stood up from the table and proclaimed that we were to be called Earl & The Agitators. Scott is Earl #1, Bryan is Earl #2, Rodney O’Quinn is Earl #3 and I am Earl #4 because I usually count to four when counting the band in.”
Bullard is considered to be Earl #5 while Petrocelli is Earl 0.5. The album features primarily original compositions, including the badass concert favourite Where’s the Rock and Roll, as well as wonderfully evocative ‘hurtin’ songs’ like Love Isn’t Kind and the lovely All Because of You. As well there are superb covers of the aforementioned early Johnny Cash hit, Guess Things Happen That Way (which was written by Jack Clement) and a cover of another Cash hit, that was also recorded by its composer, Kris Kristofferson, the moody and melancholic Sunday Morning Coming Down. Also featured on Shaken & Stirred are five live tracks, taken from an Agitators show at Club Arcadia last year, featuring covers of classic rockers like Wild Horses, Knock on Wood and the Peter Gunn Theme.
Earl said the partnership with Holt has been nothing but a blessing and a truly invigorating experience for all concerned.
“When I started playing with Scott and listening to him, I just knew this guy had something special. I know the word magic sounds like it’s about something you pull out of a hat, but that’s what it felt like at times when I was working with him. He’s just a great singer, and great guitar player, and I just think he deserves a greater degree of success, and I am there to help him achieve that. Occasionally he gets up and jams with Foghat any time we’re anywhere near each other on the road. He is a great entertainer, really special. I hope we get to play with him more and more and make ever more magic together in the studio and on stage,” said Earl, who said that he and Foghat management have been thinking of getting even more serious about treating Earl & The Agitators as its own burgeoning entity.
“Now that we have had some degree of commercial success, and I was just talking about this with our manager, she said maybe we will get a different agency from what Foghat has and see how that works, playing blues festivals and things like that. Obviously Foghat is the priority, but if the Agitators go out and earn enough to cover all our expenses, that would be fine. That’s really what we all want to do.”
The songs on Shaken & Stirred are like love letters to the music that inspired band members as young musicians, and continue to be the benchmark for powerful, rootsy, earthy, and truth-filled compositions.
As Holt stated emphatically in the promo material for the album’s release, ”So, you’re in a band and you have some friends that are another band.
“You get together and hang out, writing and recording music. You share a love of old rock ‘n roll, blues and country, so you jam on a Tommy Tucker tune, and even take a swing at a Johnny Cash cut from the Sun Records days. You’re having so much fun that you give it a name and even take it onstage! The recipe is simple: take your Chess and Sun 45s, throw them in a blender with a dollop of thundering drums, thumping bass and searing electric guitars … I’m pretty sure that’s the recipe for rock ‘n roll,” he said.
As for Foghat, Earl said there has also been significant and welcomed momentum there as well, with the band as busy as its ever been, and itching to get back into the studio to record a follow up to Under the Influence.
“This has probably been Foghat’s best year in like 30 or 40 years. The band has been doing fantastic business. We just finished playing four days in Park City, Utah at a beautiful little theatre called the Egyptian Theater, and it’s actually the first time we have ever done a four date stint in one room. It was a smaller place, but beautiful, and the sound was fantastic. And we are doing wonderful things like that all the time, way more than we used to,” he said.
“So, this year has been a great year, as was last year. And I am looking forward to next year, and the years to come. I am going to roll till I am old and rock till I drop. We have already started writing for the next Foghat record too. In fact, I was talking to Bryan and Scott the other day, and I just got off the phone with Rodney and we were talking about some new music that we want to work on. So, yeah, we are never going to stop doing that. You never really make any serious money from making records these days, but it’s fun and because we have our own studio and our own record company, it’s easier.
“And I think it’s important to stay creative and that you make new music. There are enough people out there that seem to enjoy it and I think it keeps us fresh and it keeps us current. It’s not like we’re just relying on what we did in the 1970s and early 1980s. We can still make great music. And it’s the reason why we did it in the first place, because we have a love of music and being creative. The Agitators is just another way for us to do what we love to do and share it with people who love this kind of music.”
For more information on Earl & The Agitators, visit http://www.earlandtheagitators.com.
For more information about Foghat, visit https://foghat.com.
- Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com.
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Wow, what a great article! Very in-depth. I”ve been a long time Foghat fan, just saw them a few weeks ago on Long Island in Riverhead, even got to meet and greet the band before the show. Also won a very nice package of souvenirs from the band-t-shirts, hat, bottles of wine. Lots of autographs. Have seen lots of the different Foghat line-ups over 40 times, going back to the early days. Also, I saw Earl & the Agitators open for Foghat a few years ago on Long Island at Revolution Music Hall. Great show by both bands of course. I have the Earl and the Agitators EP as well as the recently released Shaken and Stirred. Fantastic.