Fred Tackett & Scott Sharrard Offer A Taste Of ‘Honest Men’ With Intimate ‘Roll Um Easy’ Performance

Fred Tackett and Scott Sharrard have spent years developing a deep musical connection as Little Feat bandmates. That chemistry is at the heart of Honest Men, a new duo album that finds the guitarists revisiting songs from their musical past while also showcasing their own songwriting.

Ahead of the album’s September 18 release and a subsequent duo tour, JamBase is pleased to premiere the pair’s backstage performance of “Roll Um Easy.” The Lowell George-penned Little Feat classic will serve as the first single from Honest Men and arrives tomorrow, August 27.

“Really, we just want to jam,” Sharrard said when asked why he and Tackett decided to make an album and perform together as a duo.

That simple philosophy runs through Honest Men. Tackett, who toured for many years as a duo with the late Paul Barrere, found a similar musical connection with Sharrard, describing their playing as involving “total trust in each other” and music “that we don’t have to think about.”

The album was recorded live in the studio without headphones and with almost no overdubs, allowing the musicians’ natural chemistry to shape the performances. Honest Men also serves as a tribute to several important figures in their musical lives, including George, Barrere and Gregg Allman.

The 10-song collection combines songs from the Little Feat catalog with compositions by Tackett and Sharrard. Tackett contributes “Dance To The Radio,” “Fool Yourself” and “Church Falling Down,” while Sharrard wrote “Anne Marie,” “Love Like Kerosene” and “Midnight Flight.” The album also features “My Only True Friend,” which Sharrard co-wrote with Allman for the latter’s Grammy-nominated Southern Blood.

“Honest Man” and “Fool Yourself,” meanwhile, were written by Tackett and George, while “Roll Um Easy” also connects the project directly to Little Feat’s storied catalog. George wrote “Roll Um Easy” for Little Feat’s 1973 album Dixie Chicken. Tackett has a particularly strong connection to the song and its original recording. Although he would not officially join Little Feat until 1988, he contributed guitar, mandolin and trumpet to Dixie Chicken. More than five decades after the album’s release, he now gets to revisit “Roll Um Easy” alongside Sharrard.

Sharrard joined Little Feat in 2019 after the death of Barrere. Before becoming a member of the band, he served as musical director for Gregg Allman, giving the guitarist a direct connection to two of the artists whose legacies are woven into Honest Men.

Tackett and Sharrard debuted their duo at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City on July 30. They will take the project on the road this winter, beginning with an East Coast run in December before heading west for dates in January and February. Tickets for the December shows go on sale this Friday, August 28.

Honest Men arrives September 18, with “Roll Um Easy” due out as the album’s first single on August 27. The album is available for preorder now.

Little Feat resumes The Last Farewell Tour on September 10 at Nashville’s iconic Ryman Auditorium. The legendary band will be on the road through November 21.

Honest Men Tracklist

1. Dance To The Radio
2. Fool Yourself
3. Anne Marie
4. My Only True Friend
5. Church Falling Down
6. Love Like Kerosene
7. Midnight Flight
8. Honest Man
9. Roll Um Easy