Singer Brett Scallions runs out of gas and continues alone in his show in Brodheadsville

BETHLEHEM, Pennsylvania – At the end of 2020, singer Brett Scallions of the successful post-grunge band Fuel was once again relieved of his duties in the band.

Scallions had also left Fuel in 2006, but rejoined and revived the band in 2010, continuing as the sole founding member under a licensing agreement with guitarist and songwriter Carl Bell, who owned the rights to Fuel.

But after the coronavirus pandemic, “Bell terminated our agreement and that was that,” Scallions said in a phone call from his home in Los Angeles.

(In a separate interview, Bell said the original 10-year lease had expired and they had not been able to agree on a new contract.)

“Basically, the agreement was torn up by Carl – he terminated our agreement” and formed his own version of Fuel with drummer Kevin Miller, Scallions said. That version continues to exist today.

“I sit there and think, ‘OK, what do I do now?'” Scallions said.

The answer is that Scallions now plays as an acoustic duo with Jason Womack, the guitarist and backing vocalist in Scallions’ 2015-20 version of Fuel.

The couple will stop at the Signature Event Center, 137 Erin Lane, Brodheadsville, on Saturday, July 13, at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets for the $30 general seating rate remain available at www.TicketWeb.com.

Scallions will play many of Fuel’s hits including “Shimmer,” “Hemorrhage (In My Hands),” “Bad Day,” and “Falls on Me.”

But he will also play “a lot of fun songs by other artists that we grew up with and loved – the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash and people like that.”

“We tell stories and it’s kind of campfire-like,” Scallions said of the show.

“I’ve always said that I get most nervous in smaller, more intimate groups because it’s much more personal.

“When you play in front of 15,000 people, it’s just a sea of ​​bodies. But when you play in front of 200 or 50 people, you know, I get a little more nervous.”

“Acoustically, it’s just quiet when you’re up there playing the songs and it’s just storytelling and stuff like that.

“But it’s cool, you know? It’s campfire and you’re just hanging out, telling stories and people yelling at me, ‘Play Shimmer!'” he said, laughing.

Other Projects

In addition to solo performances, after his second exit from Fuel, Scallions formed a new band called Radiobot with Billy Harvey and Eddie Wohl, whose music is released on Virgin Records, he said.

The group released a psychedelic cover of Bob Dylan’s 1965 proto-rap hit “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” which Scallions describes as “kind of a modernized, trippy version of it.”

Dylan’s video was also recreated – “one of the first music videos ever,” as Scallions notes of the song.

“You know how Bob Dylan did the video where he has the (cue) cards (with the lyrics) and he throws them?” Scallions said. “So we did that too, but we did it in front of the (circus) liquor store here in LA with the clown.”

On December 8, the group released their first original single, “This World’s on Fire!”, a country-rock song that addresses the world’s problems – from technology-hypnotized youth to world hunger.

“We just served them gently,” Scallions said of the singles.

The band also made a video for “This World’s on Fire!” which, Scallions delightedly notes, features an animated version of him.

“It turned out great,” he said. “Now I’m a cartoon character for the first time in my life, which is pretty cool.”

Scallions has also been working on a re-release of Spreading My Wings, the 2012 album he released with World Fire Brigade, the group he formed with Sean Danielsen of Smile Empty Soul.

“When we made it, it never really got a fair chance,” Scallions said. “It’s a much heavier album, so if you’re into that, you have to listen to it.”

When reminded that there are rumors that Scallions are also making a solo album, he replies: “I’ve been talking about it for years and never went through with it because I got distracted by other fun things.

“I have a whole collection of songs that I’ve been working on for ages, but I usually get more excited when I’m collaborating and writing with other people. It’s just more fun and exciting for me.

“I write songs myself and love them. And then I throw them in a corner and look back at them years later and see what I think about them.

“Maybe one day I’ll release a solo album. Right now I’m having a great time with Radiobot and World Fire Brigade.”

Burned by Fuel, memory of the music festival

These projects and the solo shows left him little time to think about Fuel, Scallions said.

“I did Fuel for a good decade, you know, alone – or as the only founding member,” he said.

He said when he first formed the band, they were paid about $7,000 a night, “on the street on a Friday night,” he said, laughing.

“So I had to polish it up a little bit and go out and work on it,” he said. “And I raised the guarantee back up to 25, 30, even 40 (thousand) per show. That’s how I really rebuilt the brand.”

Now, says Scallions, “I don’t even look there anymore. I just focus on what I’m doing and have a lot of fun – whatever.”

However, he said he would continue to play Fuel’s hits at concerts.

“This is as much my legacy as it is Carl’s and (bassist) Jeff (Abercrombie) and Kevin’s,” Scallions said. “So I’m going to continue to go out and play the songs and celebrate the catalog that we made together. And that’s great.”

And he enjoys the acoustic shows, Scallions said.

“It’s always fun, man,” he said. “I love playing acoustic. That’s where I come from, that’s my roots. Before I even thought about Fuel, I was playing acoustic in bars and stuff. So it’s always been a love of mine.”

But Scallions still remembers the impact Fuel had on his home state of Pennsylvania.

When the band’s 2001 performance at the Bethlehem Music Festival was mentioned, Scallions asked, “Do we still hold the attendance record?”

In fact, that’s the case with Fuel. When singer Sheryl Crow canceled at the last minute in 2001, Fuel – which had already headlined one night and sold out – was brought in to replace Crow and nearly sold out the second night.

Fuel sold about 13,000 tickets for the main concerts this year.

“It’s great,” Scallions said. “The Bethlehem-Allentown area, the entire state and the surrounding area have just been so supportive.”

“I was amazed that not only was I able to play the night we were supposed to play, but that Sheryl then unfortunately had to cancel.

“So I’m glad we were able to add this show and keep the party going for everyone.”