From Gary Bennett

To All Feat Fans and Fans Of “Feats At Five”

As in life, the Little Feat road has taken many twists and turns over the years, and that includes “Feats At Five”, a feature program that I conceived and first started in 1985 on KSHE in St. Louis. In 2001 my dear friend Bill Payne approached me with the idea of making the show an hour long and airing it on Jimmy Buffett’s Radio Margaritaville. At that time it was only available on the Internet.

In mid 2005 Sirius Satellite Radio--which eventually merged with XM Satellite Radio­­--picked up Radio Margaritaville. So now Feat Fans could listen to their favorite band and not be tied to just the Internet. Suddenly we were overjoyed with being able to hear all of those great tunes in our cars. Is this a great country or what!

Which brings us to yet another twist in the road.

As of October 14^th, 2013, “Feats At Five” will not be part of Radio Margaritaville. But, never fear, the show must go on. And on it will!

We will crank it up a few notches with more music, more interviews, and more specials. “Feats At Five” will continue to be available as a Podcast, and the new format will be just what the Rock & Roll Dr. ordered!

I will always be grateful to the Programming folks at SiriusXM, despite the occasional restraints, for all the years and hours of airtime to get the Feat out to the world. I salute them. I also want to give my heartfelt thanks to Jimmy Buffett and all he has done. He has always been a supporter and, more importantly, a friend of Little Feat.

So keep the Feath and continue to expect the best “Feats At Five” I can deliver.

Yours truly,

Gary Bennett

Featsatfive.com

requests@featsatfive.com

From Bill Payne

For Gary and feat fans

I just wanted to weigh in with everyone about Feats At Five. When Little Feat reformed in 1988 and came roaring back with Let It Roll, we came to find out there was someone in St. Louis at the radio station KSHE that had been keeping our music alive in the years when no one had a inkling that Little Feat would ever come back into public view. That person was Gary Bennett. His show was called Feats At Five.

Speaking for myself, I was blown away that something like that existed, that someone had the commitment to the band, the fans, and the ideal of what it all meant. And it was in the Mid-West, the Heartland.

I met Gary when we played the first of a two-night run at the Westport Playhouse on July 19, 1988. I thanked him profusely for what he had done for us. I pointed at the full house and told him he had played a huge part in what was taking place that evening. That was the beginning of our friendship.

All the years, laughter and tears later, we are still friends. Gary has been there every step of the way for the band, for me, and for my family. Gary was there when I mentioned the idea of putting a grassroots organization in place in June 22, 1996.

We discussed it on the drive out to the Sangamon County Fair Grounds where Little Feat was performing later that night. Many other seminal events over the years Gary was there, as well, and not always as the professional he is. He has been there as a true friend, someone just to talk to when things were going well, when they weren’t.

This week I learned that Feats At Five is no longer going to be on Radio Margaritaville. And while I was sad to hear that news, I can say, after talking to Gary about it, that he is going to take advantage of his newfound freedom. He’ll have more time to develop the show, for one thing. Gary’s commitment to the Feats At Five and the band is still there big time.

Little Feat and Gary Bennett are indebted to Jimmy Buffett for putting the show on Radio Margaritaville many years ago. The same holds true for the folks at SiriusXm. Our thanks to them for keeping the flame going all those years.

I want to thank Gary and all of you for all the years, too. We’ll see where events lead us. The spirit of the band is always going to be there. It has always been about the music and always will be.

Bill