Foghat is still doing what it has done since 1971: getting onstage, turning it up, and letting the boogie do the talking. The band has released the official video for “My Babe,” the first single from Live & Loud Across the U.S.A., a triple-vinyl live set arriving October 30 on Foghat Records (distributed by Select-O-Hits, part of the Sun Records family).
The clip captures the current lineup — founding drummer Roger Earl, slide and lead guitarist Bryan Bassett, singer-guitarist Scott Holt, and bassist Rodney O’Quinn — tearing through a song that has lived in the Foghat catalog for half a century. The live take was recorded in Ferndale, Washington, and the video was assembled by longtime collaborator Nick Nguyen. Ultimate Classic Rock premiered the film as the first official look at an album the band never planned to make.
“My Babe” is Foghat’s reading of the 1963 Righteous Brothers tune written by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield. The group first cut it for 1975’s Fool for the City. Earl has said the idea dates back even further, to a stretch on the road with Humble Pie, when Steve Marriott suggested the song to original frontman Lonesome Dave Peverett.
“‘My Babe’ is a classic Foghat tune,” Earl said. “We’ve been playing on and off and for some reason everybody sings in tune and the harmonies are beautiful. … It’s a particularly good version and I like it. It’s all about somebody that looks good in a sweater.”
That last line is the joke and the hook. Onstage, the song is something else: tight four-part harmony, Bassett’s slide cutting through the mix, Holt out front, and Earl driving the whole thing with the same unhurried authority he has brought to the kit for more than five decades.
Live & Loud Across the U.S.A. is the first live album to feature this lineup. The performances were taped across the United States during the 2024 and 2025 tours. There was no grand concept, just shows recorded along the way. Many of the tracks have never appeared on an official Foghat live release.
“People often ask me if we’re ever going to slow down. The answer is… not yet!” Earl writes in the album notes. “We didn’t set out to make a live record — we simply wanted to capture Foghat doing what we’ve always loved to do: playing live. Most of these songs have never been released as official live recordings before, and I think they show where the band is today.”
The triple-vinyl package pairs two gold LPs of the new live set with a bonus red LP: the vinyl debut of Shaken & Stirred, the 2018 Earl & the Agitators record. Earl has been clear that Earl & the Agitators is not a side project. It is Foghat under another name, born out of sessions that started when Holt joined the circle and snowballed into a full album produced, mixed, and mastered by Bassett.
The live sides pull from rooms in Ferndale, Miami (Oklahoma), Atlantic City, Indianapolis, Great Falls, Tracy, and Bethlehem. The set list leans into deep cuts and warhorses alike: “Drivin’ On,” “Road Fever,” “She’s a Little Bit of Everything,” “Let Me Love You Baby,” “Black Days & Blue Nights,” “Home in My Hand,” “It Hurts Me Too,” “A Hole to Hide In,” “Third Time Lucky,” “Sweet Home Chicago,” and “I Just Want to Make Love to You.” Percussionist Eddie LeFebvre appears on the live recordings.
This arrives on the heels of Sonic Mojo (2023), which spent 34 weeks on Billboard’s Blues Albums chart and two weeks at No. 1 — the first time Foghat had topped any Billboard album chart. The band has spent the last two years on the Slow Ride 50th Anniversary Tour and the current Twang & Bang Tour, including a return to the U.K. after 52 years.
“My Babe” is streaming now. The album is available for pre-order at foghat.biz. A limited run of numbered, band-signed copies is being sold through TalkShop.Live.
Foghat tour dates
The band released the following itinerary with the album announcement. Additional dates are typically added as the Twang & Bang Tour rolls on; check foghat.com/tour for the latest.
- Friday, Aug. 28 — Lincoln Park, MI — Lincoln Park Days Festival
- Saturday, Aug. 29 — Louisville, KY — Kentucky State Fair
- Friday, Oct. 2 — Murphys, CA — Ironstone Amphitheatre
- Saturday, Oct. 3 — Madera, CA — ApCal Rock N’ Ranch
- Saturday, Oct. 10 — Dodge City, KS — United Wireless Arena
- Thursday, Oct. 15 — Huntington, NY — The Paramount
- Friday, Oct. 16 — New Haven, CT — Toad’s Place
- Thursday, Oct. 22 — Mesa, AZ — Mesa Amphitheatre
- Friday, Oct. 30 — Hopewell, VA — The Beacon Theatre
- Saturday, Nov. 14 — St. Charles, IL — Arcada Theatre
- Friday, Nov. 20 — St. Louis, MO — The Pageant
- Saturday, April 3, 2027 — Portsmouth, OH — Vern Riffe Performing Arts Center
After more than 55 years, the message is the same one Earl put on the sleeve: see you down the road.
