Deployed Soldier Writes Lyrics for New Foghat Song. Everybody Get On The 'Boogie Train'!

Foghat has been a classic rock radio staple since the 1970s. From 'Slow Ride' to 'I Just Want To Make Love To You', to 'Fool For The City' and so many more, they've always been a good time, blues rock band.

Last year the band ran a contest to allow their fans to write lyrics for a couple of instrumental tracks the band had done. Last year they released the overall winner of the contest called 'The Word of Rock and Roll'.

But the band also liked the song that came in second in the fan voting and today (March 25) Foghat released 'Boogie Train', a song written by fan and deployed U.S. soldier Tom Mix.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Mix wrote the lyrics while deployed in Afghanistan as a MARSS B300 pilot in B Co Task Force ODIN. (ODIN stands for Observe, Detect, Identify, and Neutralize). He had previously been deployed to Iraq twice – MEDEVAC pilot in 06-07 and Brigade Safety in 10-11.

Tom Mix started writing lyrics while in high school but really never did anything with them. According to Tom “I was redeployed to Iraq for a second tour in 2010 and hooked up with a fellow soldier who is an awesome guitar player, Shawn Keeter, and while in Iraq we just started knocking out songs. We got back home and I found [Nashville producer] Kim Copeland to help us get our songs presentable as demos, and I haven’t stopped writing since. But there is no excitement that can compare to co-writing a song with a super group like Foghat, and having that song released as a single.”

Tom is currently in a ‘Warrior Transition Unit’. According to Tom “When the wars kicked off, they created these (Units) for wounded or injured soldiers to recuperate and return to duty or to be able to transition to civilian life once found to be unfit for duty by a ‘Medical Evaluation Board.’ It is a concept to hopefully keep the Iraqi and Afghanistan Vets off the streets when all this is over. These units are attached to and under the command of a hospital unit. The job of the soldier while in a WTU is to get well, and they are a priority at the attached hospital. They work hand in hand with the Veterans Affairs and Social Security Administration to see that Vets coming off active duty never miss a pay check if found unfit for duty. They also work with volunteer organizations to get the Vets retrained and employable.”

As stated by Roger Earl of Foghat. “We decided to donate the proceeds of this digital single to a Wounded Warrior cause as a thank you to the great men and women who have sacrificed so much for us. But since these releases don’t generate a lot of money we wanted something more personal to be able to give even just a couple of folks a day of escape. So we asked Tom what he thought, and since he is an avid fisherman and so am I, he came up with ‘Fishing for Freedom’.”

FISHING FOR FREEDOM is an organization that brings together warriors with volunteer boaters for a day of tournament bass fishing in a relaxed fun-filled celebration in the great outdoors. It gives our returning warriors some time on the water to escape the hardships of their wounds and numerous combat deployments and to begin the process of readjusting back to everyday life.

Foghat will be in Sioux Falls Saturday May 31 at RibFest on the bill with Lynyrd Skynyrd and Head East.

Deployed Soldier Writes Lyrics for New Foghat Song. Everybody Get On The ‘Boogie Train’!