To some people, Foghat is simply a classic blues rock band that had a few hits a long time ago. While this is a true statement on its face, it falls short of the whole truth. The members of today’s Foghat have spent the better part of the past four decades building up a loyal fanbase, touring, recording music and constantly reinventing themselves to keep up with the times. The band has endured adversity, lineup changes and even death, yet nothing can keep them off the stage for long.

Most people don’t realize that Foghat is really only one part of a much bigger operation. The band's four talented musicians (singer/rhythm guitarist Charlie Huhn, lead guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Craig MacGregor and drummer Roger Earl) are part of an business empire that includes private label wine production, music licensing, video game endeavors and other technology interests. Even with such a varied range of ventures, they’ve managed to keep things in perspective and have avoided falling prey to inflated egos and the other evils of stardom. They’ve also never strayed far from the music, which always seemed to take the front seat during the conversation I had with all four when they played Clearwater last weekend. Here's the highlights:

What do you guys have going on right now?

Charlie Huhn: "We have a new blues album coming out. We’re doing some new original blues songs and some covers that we’ve loved over the years. We had some special guests on the CD including Eddie Kirkland, who is an 88-year-old blues guitar player, singer-songwriter who used to play with John Lee Hooker. We also had Todd Lefkowiz on harmonica, a friend of ours from Long Island."

Is this more of an old-school Foghat blues album?

Bryan Bassett: "The originals on there are fairly Foghat blues-rock oriented, but then the covers are from some traditional artists. "

This article appears in May 5-11, 2010.