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Relix Premiere: Little Feat "Rooster Rag"

On June 26, Little Feat will release their fifteenth studio album, Rooster Rag. Featuring the group’s first original material since 2003’s Kickin’ It at the Barn, the album is comprised of 10 brand new songs including four collaborations with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter plus two blues classics, one from Mississippi John Hurt and one from Willie Dixon. This is also Little Feat’s first album with new drummer Gabe Ford, who replaced the late Richie Hayward following his passing in August of 2010.

We’re now offering an exclusive download of the album’s Hunter-penned title track, “Rooster Rag,” which you can receive in exchange for your e-mail address below. Little Feat’s Bill Payne recently spoke to us about his collaborations with Hunter on the new album:

In order for me to get any material to Hunter, I had to actually sing it with those new-fangled mics and it was absurd! So I’m sort of learning the ABCs of recording, which I don’t really have down yet but it was enough to convey what the song was to him. We’d sign off on them and continue on and that’s really the way that part of it worked. It forced me to look at things and as I would sit here singing these songs at the house; my vocals were getting better and better. I was actually practicing that more than I was the piano or the keyboards.

Also be sure to read our recent interview with Little Feat guitarist Paul Barrere for more details on the new album.