Classic rock band Foghat to play at Belly Up in Solana Beach

After celebrating 50 years together in 2021, rock band Foghat returns to the Belly Up in Solana Beach on Feb. 7.

In 2017, the band released a “Live at the Belly Up” album.

“It’s a really great sounding room, people have a good time,” said drummer Roger Earl, one of Foghat’s founding members.

Over the years, Foghat has won eight gold records, a platinum record and a double-platinum record. The band has maintained a rigorous touring schedule over the years.

But before that, Earl’s love for music started as a child, when his dad played piano and both parents sang a bit. The radio was always on.

“It was really always about the music with me,” Earl said. “Before I had a drum kit, I would bang on mom’s best china and lampshades with knives and forks and spoons.”

Earl visited America for the first time in 1968 with a different band before eventually moving to Long Island, New York, in the early 1970s.

“When I was growing up in London, all the music we listened to was American blues bands, rock ‘n’ roll,” he said. “When I was 12 years old, my father took me to see Jerry Lee Lewis. That was the beginning of my trip down rock ‘n’ roll lane.”

Foghat plays several of its classics, such as “Slow Ride” (known to older fans as a well-known installment of rock ‘n’ roll canon and to younger audiences through the “Guitar Hero” video game series) and “Stone Blue.”

“Every year, we put four or five new songs into the set, or new old songs,” Earl said. “Usually we play at least one or two new songs from any upcoming projects we’re working on. We get a new album out every two or three years.”

The Belly Up show is Foghat’s first show on a tour that will move on to Las Vegas, Miami, New Jersey, the Midwest and New York from February through September.

“I’m one of those fortunate few in this world who gets to earn a living doing something I really enjoy,” Earl said. “The guys in the band are great. We’re good friends, we hang out, go see shows together. Probably imbibe too much after the shows, but that’s another story.”

Doors open at 7 p.m. and the performance begins at 8 p.m. on Feb. 7. For more information and tickets, visit bellyup.com/shows or foghat.com/tour. The Belly Up is located at 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach.