Little Feat: The Last Farewell Tour
Durham Performing Arts Center, 123 Vivian St, 27701 Durham Directions
Thu 17.09.2026 19:30
Little Feat began in 1969 when Frank Zappa told Lowell George he should start his own band. As Lowell happened to have a pretty small shoe size, the name became obvious. He found a partner/keyboard player in Bill Payne and a drummer in Richie Hayward. After a few transitions, they added Kenny Gradney, Sam Clayton, Paul Barrere and eventually Fred Tackett, and began a now 56-year journey that has produced dozens of songs ? ?Dixie Chicken,? ?Oh, Atlanta,? ?Willin?,? ?Fat Man in the Bathtub? ? and a thousand memories. One result was one of the best live albums in the history of rock ?n? roll, Waiting for Columbus. The road is hard, and it cost them ?rst Lowell George in 1979, Richie Hayward in 2010, and Paul Barrere in 2019. The everlasting Little Feat groove demanded playing, and they added Scott Sharrard and Tony Leone (drums), and may well be playing at the very height of their powers, recently releasing a well-received album of original material, Strike Up the Band.
Performers
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Little FeatLittle Feat is very possibly the last-man-standing example of what used to be the norm in American music, a fusion of a broad span of styles and genres into something utterly distinctive. They combined earthy, organic material with first-rate musicianship in a combination that transcends boundaries. Feat took California rock, funk, folk, jazz, country, rockabilly, and New Orleans swamp boogie and more, stirred it into a rich gumbo, and has been leading people in joyful dance ever since.
It all began in 1969 when Frank Zappa was smart enough to fire Lowell George from the Mothers of Invention and tell him to go start a band of his own. The late Paul Barrere, Feat’s long-time guitarist, wrote a few years back of how Lowell “came to the front door of the Laurel Canyon house I was livin’ in, with that beautiful white ‘p’ bass in hand, and asked if I wanted to try out as bass player for his new band. As most who know the story’s end can tell you, as a bassist I make an excellent guitarist…”