Presenting “Brewing up Lite Roast”: Step One – Grind

Presenting "Brewing Up Lite Roast" – a three-part series of videos showing behind the scenes of "Lite Roast". This is "Step One – Grind", enjoy!

Starting with the trip to his neighborhood coffee shop that inspired the record’s title. “There’s a big coffee roaster here in Marin County called Equator,” explains Hagar at the start of the clip, which you can watch above. “They’re dear friends, and I always go get fresh coffee there. I stopped on the way to rehearsal one day and I got some to bring over there, so me and [guitarist Vic Johnson] were drinking coffee — we don’t drink rum when we’re working, except onstage.”

Looking at the inventory, Sammy made a sudden connection: “I saw these big bags of beans and I thought, ‘Wow, call this thing ‘Lite Roast.” It just came — it was just one of them crazy things. I think ‘Lite Roast’ really says it, because it’s the same beans, we just roast ‘em lighter this time.”

The rest of the video delves in to Sammy’s thought process behind the ‘Lite Roast’ project, including his memories of the all-star acoustic show that inspired him to take an unplugged trip back through his catalog. It also finds him offering fans a listening tip: “I really recommend drinking coffee with this,” he says. “I don’t own a coffee company, believe me, folks. But I think, you know, you take a big cappuccino, a double, and start sipping it and put on ‘Red Voodoo,’ the opening track, and man, you’ll be jacked up. You’ll be up dancing, and you probably won’t finish the record at that stage. You’ll go out and do something.” 

This video premiered exclusively on Ultimate Classic Rock, click here for the full story. 

Stay tuned for the next two videos coming soon!!