Hank Randall

Fred Tackett and Paul Barrere: two longtime collaborators, two guitars, a mandolin, and a very comfortable groove.

Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett met at a Little Feat recording session in the mid-70s. Barrere was a full-time member of the band, and Tackett was a hot session musician. After Little Feat broke-up in 1979, Barrere began to work gigs as a session musician and often crossed passed with Tackett at jobs. When Little Feat re-formed in 1987, Tackett was invited to join as a full-time member. Circa 1999, Barrere and Tackett began playing acoustic guitar promos on the radio during tours. Soon enough, the duo was playing the Gibson Guitars 100th Anniversary show, and opening for John Lee Hooker at the annual National Association of Music Merchants trade show.

“We went to the NAMM show and there was a Japanese promoter in the audience,” Barrere explained. “He said, ‘This is great. Would you guys come to Japan and do three weeks worth of gigs? All cash money.’ (Laughs) Yeah! Ever since then, when Little Feat has down time, we try to get out there and make a little extra cash. They were quite funky at first, and now they’re getting to be much better.”

The pair will be headlining the Adams Avenue Unplugged event on April 28 at a rather unique venue — the Normal Heights Methodist Church. The duo have played U.S. churches in both Georgia and New Jersey. The latter even found them delivering their Little Feat acoustic offerings directly from the altar “with the big cross behind us and so forth,” according to Barrere.

“You almost get the feeling that someone is looking over you, going, ‘Don’t screw-up man.’(Laughs) Watch your language.’”

Older locals in the know may remember the link between one-time Mission Bay and Grossmont High School student Frank Zappa and Little Feat co-founder Lowell George. George played in Zappa’s band, the Mothers of Invention, in the late 60s. There are a couple of different stories floating around as to why George left the band, but Barrere said the truth is that George wrote “Willin’,’” played it for Zappa, and Zappa said “That’s a real nice song. Why don’t you start your own group?” and connected George with a manager.

These days, the seas are calmer. “It’s a very comfortable groove being a duet at our age, because it’s kind of like honky-tonkin’. You just have two guitars and a mandolin in your trunk and you drive from gig to gig. You make your own schedule. You don’t have to worry about big production things. It’s so comfortable that it’s like second-nature,” he said.