Peters Township guitarist recalls Foghat experience
Foghat onstage, from left: Matt Barranti, Roger Earl, Rodney O’Quinn and Charlie Huhn
Matt Barranti and Roger Earl (Karin McIltrot, Wing and a Prayer Photography)
The music never stops for Matt Barranti.
Sure, he has to catch a few winks every once in a while. And eat.
But for any given day, the Peters Township guitarist’s schedule probably is marked “gig,” either as the leader of his own band or performing with other musicians from Western Pennsylvania and beyond.
Matt Barranti
For example, he’s a longtime member of the Bill Ali Band, specializing in what has come to be known as classic rock. A couple of years ago, Michael LaManna of Jergel’s Rhythm Grille contacted Ali about his group, Barranti included, opening for a headliner with a definite classic-rock pedigree: Foghat, best known for the top-20 hit “Slow Ride” and million-plus-selling album “Fool for the City.”
And so Barranti had the opportunity to showcase his playing before the members of Foghat took the stage.
“They were watching me from the balcony, and their manager was out front listening,” Barranti said. “And at the end of our show, they said, ‘Hey, can you come up to the dressing room?'”
It turned out that they were looking for a backup for lead guitarist Bryan Bassett – he’s a Pittsburgh native who cut his teeth his Wild Cherry and “Play That Funky Music” – in case of emergency. Barranti got the job, which was purely precautionary.
• Matt Barranti Band: Oct. 27, Slovak Club, New Castle
• Cosmic Attack: Johnstown Blues Festival, Sept. 28
• Bill Ali Band: Oct 13, R Bar, Dormont
• Billy the Kid’s Steeltown Allstars: every Sunday at the R Bar
• Sonny Pugar Memorial Rhythms of Life Concert (Matt is in the house band), Oct 25 at Headliners in the Meadows Racetrack and Casino, North Strabane Township
And then it wasn’t. Bassett developed some health problems, and in early 2017, Barranti went on the road with Foghat.
“I flew to Florida and rehearsed. Then we got on a plane and flew to El Paso, Texas,” he said. And after that gig: “We got into a microvan and drove two hours into Mescalero, New Mexico, and played on an Apache reservation.”
That was the start of a couple of months traveling the country and wowing crowds with his guitar playing, especially bottleneck slide, the method for which he’s known throughout the Pittsburgh music scene.
“The hardest show I did with them, in terms of walking out onto the stage, was in North Dakota. It was Pure Prairie League, Pat Travers and Atlanta Rhythm Section, with Foghat being the headliner. Walking past Pat Travers to go up onstage and play was very hard,” Barranti said about the Canadian guitarist best known for his band’s 1980 hit “Snortin’ Whiskey.”
“All the musicians were standing over off to the side of the stage, and I turned and looked over and saw them all. And it was the last time I turned and looked that way.”
Karin McIltrot, Wing and a Prayer Photography
The Matt Barranti Band, from left: Fred Delu, Greg McIltrot, Barranti and Willy Franklin
Eventually, Bassett recovered and continues to tour with Foghat. And Barranti continues to play guitar as much as possible. If somebody wants to learn from someone who played with Foghat, he’s at Slideguitarist@aol.com.
His early learning experiences came from watching the guitar playing of his brother and cousins.
“I would watch them and try to figure out what they were doing,” he recalled. “I figured some things out on my own, but back around the time I turned 18, I thought I’d better take some lessons.”
His teachers included Tony Janflone Sr. of Washington, along with Bill Loughman and Eric Sousoff of Peters Township. Not so long ago, Barranti contacted Sousoff about some further instruction:
From left are Matt Barranti and Bryan Bassett.
“He says, ‘What do you want to do?’ And I pulled out all the books I had back in the ’70s and laid them down and said, ‘This is where we left off.'”
As far as playing in bands, the group he leads features drummer-vocalist Greg McIltrot, keyboardist Fred Delu and bassist Willy Franklin. In 2017, the Matt Barranti Band won the Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania’s Blues Challenge, earning a trip to perform in January at this year’s International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tenn.
Barranti also plays in Billy the Kid’s Steel Town Allstars, which has a regular gig Sunday nights at the R Bar in Dormont, and Cosmic Attack. In the latter, he trades licks with Jason Caliguri, who also has earned Blues Society of Western Pennsylvania recognition as best guitarist for 2017.
Plus Barranti has membership in the Earl and the Agitators All Star Band, led by Foghat co-founder Roger Earl and also featuring Bassett, Foghat bass player Rodney O’Quinn, Black Oak Arkansas alumnus Tony Bullard and Tennessee guitarist Scott Holt.
“And I’m Earl No. 6. I don’t get to play as much as the other Earls, but I’m part of that project,” Barranti explained. “If it’s in the area, I’m a member of the band.”
Roger Earl and Matt Barranti perform during a Foghat show.
Speaking of Roger, it turns out that the British-born drummer is married to Barranti’s cousin Linda Arcello-Earl, who is Foghat’s manager.
“I knew I had a relative connected to the band, but never gave it any thought until that show. I found her on Facebook and sent her a message introducing myself and letting her know that I was in the band opening for Foghat at Jergel’s,” he recalled.
“Around my third show with Foghat, I was worried about my performance. I wanted it to be better. I would stay up all night working on my parts. I am my own worst critic at times.
“I said something about it to Linda. She looked at me and said something like, ‘We are family, and we love you. But if you weren’t cutting this gig, you would not be sitting here.
“Pretty cool, huh?”
From left are Matt Barranti, Rodney O’Quinn, Roger Earl, Linda Arcello-Earl and Charlie Huhn.