Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett
Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center
Old Saybrook, CT
August 4

A typical summer evening in the sedate seaside village of Old Saybrook finds affluent yachtsmen and their companions ambling down Main Street, couples dining al fresco at the local pub, teens tossing Frisbee in the park, and a rock show at the Kate. Such was just another Sunday in this coastal Connecticut town as Paul Barrere and Fred Tackett of Little Feat performed their acoustic duo show once again at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center. For the uninitiated, this spectacular venue/museum routinely features a program of entertainment throughout the season and has become a favorite of the traveling troubadours.

Any concerned that Barrere’s recent public admission of an ongoing battle with Hepatitis C that has limited his appearances and kept Little Feat on hiatus would affect his abilities would’ve been belied by the effort turned in by Tackett and himself. The beautifully intimate confines rang with conviction throughout a two-hour set, opening with Feat’s “Ain’t Had Enough Fun,” the first of several clues to the tea-leaf readers wondering about Barrere’s current status. Lyrics ‘I’ll tell you when I’m done/Until that time I ain’t had enough fun,’ carried a defiant, reassuring heft or maybe just the sly songwriter’s way of truly having fun with his audience.

In strong voices and with equally deft guitar work, both Barrere and Tackett held closely to a repertoire familiar to fans of the Feat. Only Tackett’s take on Tennessee Williams’ “Gold Tooth Blues” and the penultimate “And We Bid You Goodnight” from the Grateful Dead fell outside of what would otherwise be a typical night with the band. Dressed in mostly easy-breeze summer wear, not unlike Paul and Fred themselves, the largely graying boomer crowd mostly remained seated yet boisterous, occasionally stomping feet in time or rising in ovation.

A few chestnuts found a way into the songlist including shining renditions of “Two Trains” and “Long Distance Love.” Perhaps there was no more poignant a moment than on Lowell George’s classic “Willin’” when Barrere altered the lyric, singing ‘I’m still livin’’ rather than ‘still willin.’’ Pausing before delivery, it could not have gone unnoticed.

Whether on slide or flatpicking, Barrere played his acoustic with full-bodied vigor against Tackett’s glistening mandolin and single-note stories. These two have honed this material together for over a decade, allowing band staples that would ostensibly lack in authority without full instrumentation to sparkle with intriguing nuance and old-fashioned musicianship. Even “Dixie Chicken,” a piece usually stretched to improvisational limits by the keyboard and drums of Little Feat swung mightily.

In the post meet-and-greet fans queued with ticket stubs and CDs to be signed, nearly each one asking Barrere about his condition. While he offered a response that seemed guardedly optimistic, the real proof was in the prior performance. Personal health may be restricting the quantity, but as for the quality, it remains of the highest standard these two musicians possess.