The Who once infamously sang, “I hope I die before I get old.” Rock music was long defined by a live-fast-die-young mythology. But the artists who survived that era discovered something far more interesting: you can keep the swagger without the self-destruction, and in doing so create some of the most adventurous music of your life. In fact, rock may be one of the few professions where ageism is rare and experience counts for everything.
Few bands embody that truth more than Little Feat. They’ve spent more than five decades dodging obstacles that would’ve grounded almost any other act. When their iconic frontman Lowell George died in 1980, the band was already on hiatus while he explored solo work. His passing seemed to close the book – at least for a while. For nearly a decade, members like keyboardist Bill Payne became some of the most in-demand session players in the world, appearing on records by Bob Seger, Stevie Nicks, James Taylor, and countless others.
Then, in the late ’80s, Payne and guitarist Paul Barrere revived Little Feat with Pure Prairie League’s Craig Fuller stepping into the main vocal role. Their comeback album Let It Roll became one of the biggest records of their career. In the years since, lineups have shifted, members have departed or passed on, and the band has continued to stretch creatively – always anchored by the unmistakable Feat sound. Their 2024 double album Strike Up the Band may be the most fully-realized example yet, presenting their signature blend of rock, jazz, Cajun soul, and country with newly-honed focus, fresh voices, and a renewed sense of purpose.
That’s why the announcement of their upcoming “Last Farewell Tour” caught so many off guard – myself included, especially after interviewing Bill Payne for Copper just last year (in Issue 206). The tour begins April 2026 with stops in Austin, Orlando, New Orleans, Kansas City, and more. It isn’t a farewell in the traditional sense; there’s no definitive end date. It’s more of a heads-up to fans: if Little Feat comes through your town, this is the time to grab a ticket, because they might not be back.
To mark the news, the band also released a new single, “Feathers and a Smile,” an unearthed Lowell George composition from the unreleased “Crazy Captain Gunboat Willie Suite.” The track features Bill Payne on piano and vocals, Scott Sharrard on Dobro, Fred Tackett on mandolin, and harmonies from George’s daughter, Inara – an emotional bridge between eras.
I recently had the chance to catch up with Bill Payne to clear the air about what this “farewell” really means, and to once again talk with a musician who many in the rock world consider the baddest cat ever to sit behind the keys.
Little Feat: Fred Tackett, Sam Clayton, Kenny Gradney (bottom row); Scott Sharrard, Tony Leone, Bill Payne (top row). Courtesy of Fletcher Moore.
Ray Chelstowski: When you started this band did you have any idea that it would last this long?
Bill Payne: (laughs) No. We thought about it. But when you’re 20 years old, which I was in 1969, 35 seems old. So 76 now is an entirely different ionosphere.
RC: Over the last 15 years have you made a conscious effort to arrange tours that were less taxing on you and the band?
BP: Management has definitely done that for us. Al Ritchie (of Al Ritchie and the Invaders) used to say, “we play the gigs for free. We’re paid to travel!” Traveling is tough for all of us. It doesn’t matter what administration is in office or where you live, it’s just difficult to get around. For us there’s a payoff, which is what anyone would want.
RC: You have had many moments where the band could have ended things for good. There obviously was Lowell’s passing. There was Craig Fuller’s decision to leave in the early nineties. Then there was Ritchie Haywood and Paul Barrere’s passings. But you found a way each time to carry on.
BP: The moments have presented themselves. Paul’s death was one of them, but speaking for myself, I didn’t want [the band] to come to an end, because of things like the studio record (Strike Up the Band) that we had just put out. It was a good one.
RC: Was this idea of winding things down brewing for a while, or did something trigger the decision to announce it now versus later?
BP: This idea of playing for a few more years was something our management came up with. At first I disagreed with it in principle. I thought that we ought to be able to decide when we lay it all down. But as I thought about it I realized that I’ll be 77 years old in March. Three years from then I’ll be 80. I know that Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan are in their 80s and still touring. But when we really talked about it, it became trying to find a way to not get on a bus every night. It doesn’t mean that if we still want to make records we can’t. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that it wasn’t a bad way to approach this.
RC: The newest members of the band seem to have been born with Little Feat DNA. Can you see them carrying on with your music after you’ve decided to hang up the cleats?
BP: Anyone can do anything they want. When I was in high school I played Drifters songs, and when they came to town I don’t even know how many original members were still in the band! This is nothing new. Look at all of the Grateful Dead prototypes that are out there. For many years, Little Feat has had cover bands. There’s a famous one from Europe. I sat and spoke with them once and understood like every fourth word they said. But they could play our music!
This might sound egotistical, but if you remove me from the quotient, I’m a tough act to follow on keyboards. I am putting a book out called Carnival Ghost, and throughout I’m not only addressing the subject of who I am, but talking about in concrete terms [about] where my aptitude and attitude about how to line up a project began, which was way before Little Feat.
In terms of this band, musically they could carry on. But whether they possess those other ingredients is unclear. The nth degree or the real arbiter of all of this is the audience. If they want to hear [it], guess what? You’re going to hear Little Feat. We’d hear it for years: “Without Lowell George it’s not Little Feat!” Those people had shut themselves into a room somewhere, and they are entitled to do that. But they aren’t inquisitive enough to check out that new Strike Up The Band album. For those that have [been], a big smile hits their face because they know it sounds like Little Feat! Not a lot of bands can pull that off.
When Mick Jagger decides to call it quits I don’t see the Stones continuing. Not any more than if Bob Seger quits. It ain’t gonna happen.
RC: You’ve made so many changes to the vocalist lineup. The most ambitious, on paper at least, was moving Shaun Murphy up front and having a woman sing the songs that men made famous, and it worked.
BP: I thought that it worked, or we wouldn’t have done it. We were oblivious to, so was she, comments like, “Who’s the girl?” I went up to one guy who said that as we were leaving the concert and said, “Hey listen, do yourself a favor and don’t show up next time.” You don’t get it? That’s OK. Do you think I’m stupid enough to pull her into this if I didn’t think she was going to add something?
RC: Would you ever consider taking residency at a specific venue and, say, do a single album start to finish each night?
BP: I think that’s exactly what we should do. Even if you are in a venue for only a few days it gives you the opportunity to try things that when you’re in the middle of a tour you just can’t do. So being able to lounge out in a place for a few days as opposed to steady touring is a luxury. And when you consider the people you can bring in to guest [with the band], it’s even more compelling, and we could bring in guys from bands like Phish and even play some of their songs too.
RC: You have a biography coming out next year.
BP: My book is called Carnival Ghost, because I describe this carnival in Ventura, California where at the end of describing the scene from a three-and-a-half year old’s perspective, I talk about the smell of diesel fuel. I didn’t realize how big a part diesel fuel would play in my life with tour buses and all. So, the book is in part about these things that happen to us that have no rhyme or reason. They’re just mysteries.
RC: You’ve just released the song “Feathers and a Smile.”
BP: I played that song on a solo tour many years ago. It came from [the Little Feat song] “Crazy Captain Gunboat Willie.” Lowell was trying to write an opera, which obviously didn’t happen, and had several tunes. I rediscovered the song and tried to sing it, and later decided it would be a great one for the band to play, and, it would be wonderful if Inara George would join me on it, and she did, which was great. All of the ingredients were there.
RC: Will this whole thing end with one big celebration, kind of like The Last Waltz?
BP: The Last Waltz is The Last Waltz. It’s an interesting idea but I think we should just play, and when we’ve had enough we say “adios” to the bus. I always say that when I’m out in center field dropping fly balls like Willie Mays, well then maybe it’s time to quit.
The Last Farewell Tour Dates 2026
Jan 11 – 18, Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Sandy Beaches Cruise 2026
Jan 18 – 25, Fort Lauderdale, FL – The Big Easy Cruise 2026
Apr 10, Orlando, FL – The Plaza Live
Apr 11, Miramar Beach, FL – Joe Bonamassa’s Sound Wave Beach Weekend 2026
Apr 13, Knoxville, Tennessee – Tennessee Theatre
Apr 14, Roanoke, Virginia – Jefferson Center
Apr 16, Chattanooga, TN – Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium
Apr 17, Montgomery, Alabama – Montgomery Performing Arts Center
Apr 19,Dallas, Texas – Majestic Theatre
Apr 20, Austin, TX – Paramount Theatre
May 3, Houston, TX – 713 Music Hall
May 5, Eureka Springs, Arkansas – City Auditorium
May 6, Kansas City, Missouri – Uptown Theater
May 8, Iowa City, Iowa – Englert Theatre
May 9, St. Charles, Illinois – Arcada Theatre
May 24 Sun, Thornville, Ohio – Dark Star Jubilee
Header image courtesy of Fletcher Moore.
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