Yet another cool interview with the Great Warren Haynes

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Sorry for the Warren overkill, but I'm trying to turn folks on to this great musician and his band Gov't Mule. Anyway, read on:

I have to crack up with the title on this one.
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The sturdiest noodle
Gov't Mule sticks out among the jam-band wankers
by Caley Cook

http://www.sdcitybeat.com/article.php?id=4875

There are oodles of noodles in the jam scene. Any slackjawed session
player with a goofball grin can nail a 40-minute solo to wildly
animated applause. Eventually, eventually—eventually—the natty-haired
doofus will reach that big climax and pause, eyes closed and head
tilted to the sky for dramatic effect, as the entire band disappears
up their own ass.

There are many of these sorts, tucked away in towns with a high drug
trade and low expectations, and they're all too willing to travel.
But there's only a few that can make such displays of virtuosity
interesting.

This glut is exactly why Gov't Mule is so esteemed. Even in some of
his most heavy-handed moments, Warren Haynes' stories feel like
revelations.

"It doesn't matter if it's about a personal relationship or a
political statement—you've got to have something to say if you want
to be successful at music," Haynes says. "And I've never had a
shortage of things to say."

The dark, psychological weight that marks Haynes' music—low-down
lyrics, sad-eyed blues riffs—sneaks out when he talks. He can be a
cheerful North Carolina boy with a plantation drawl and a laugh, but
he can also relay some heady thoughts beyond guitar structures.

With the rollicking confidence of High & Mighty, released in August,
Haynes is finding that those thoughts have turned to politics.

"When we started to write this album, I really felt like right now is
the time to talk about what is going on in the world," he says. "It
weighs on me. Politics should be weighing on all of us, regardless of
what side you're on. These are trying times."

Haynes has seen some trying times of his own.

Industry pillars like Rolling Stone—which ranked him among the 25
greatest guitarists of all time—have been hailing his first coming
since the '90s. When Haynes joined the Allman Brothers in 1989, he
met bassist Allen Woody. The two hit it off with their affinity for
psychedelic, visceral blues-rock, and with the help of drummer Matt
Abts, Gov't Mule debuted a self-titled album in 1995.

The album's enthusiastic reception prompted Haynes and Woody to leave
the Allman fold. But it wouldn't be long before Woody was found dead
in a New York City hotel room.

"We had this chemistry that you couldn't explain," Haynes sighs. "You
feel like you're never going to get that back, but you do. You work
at it, but you find it eventually."

Gov't Mule found their chemistry again in 2004 with new bassist Andy
Hess and keyboardist Danny Louis, striking back out on the road and
recording tirelessly.

"When Allen died, we knew that we had to open a new chapter," Haynes
says. "Unfortunately, I've known a lot of people in this kind of
predicament, and most people acknowledge that you can't chase the
chemistry that is gone. You just make your own. It deserves its own
natural progression, and Andy and Danny bring that to the table."

For a band that is revered for its live show, that connection is
essential. Mule recorded High & Mighty with a live set-up, trying to
capture the energy that's made them famous on stage. Still, Haynes
says, it's just not the same.

"In a studio, you get a second, third, fourth chance to do it again
and the technology gives you options that you don't have live, in the
moment. An audience gives you that energy that you can't get in the
studio. On a magical night with a great audience, you're capable of
things beyond yourself."

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One more for anyone interested. Trust me....you must see these guys live! Unlike Van Halen, you will never see the same show twice. For the gear heads out there, check out the December issue of Guitar Player with Warren on the cover....

Kickin' it live with Gov't Mule
Friday, November 10, 2006
By LAWRENCE SPECKER
Entertainment Reporter
The Mobile Register


"Gov't Mule is a band that's kind of hard to pigeonhole," said Warren Haynes, guitarist and vocalist for the act that will headline the Mobile Saenger Theatre on Tuesday.

Well, yes and no.

Hayne's immediate point was that the Mule is often referred to generically as a jam band. And with good reason: Haynes and company love to improvise on stage and they're committed to never repeating a set list -- meaning that if you follow the band around, you'll be rewarded by hearing something new every night.

"We're very comfortable being part of that scene," Haynes said. On the other hand, he wants to be clear that his group is "very much a rock and roll band," albeit one whose members draw on many influences.

But if there is an element of unpredictability on any given night, Gov't Mule's pedigree and star attractions are as plain as the cover of the new December issue of Guitar Player magazine. Hayne's image dominates, along with the words "brass-knuckle tones and badass technique."

"It's quite an honor for myself, and good exposure for the band as well," Haynes said of the cover.

Much of the accompanying article is given over to technical details of Haynes's studio gear, but the part that's in plain English gets to a point that can be more widely understood: "With his supple vibrato, molten tone, grinding chords, melodic double-stops, and soaring slide licks, Haynes pays tribute to Paul Kossoff, Steve Marriott, Curtis Mayfield and Duane Allman with a fiery intensity all his own."

Bottom line: If you're looking for guitar-driven good time, Haynes delivers.

The reference to Duane Allman is no accident. Haynes first came to wide recognition as a latter-day guitarist in the Allman Brothers Band. He and Allmans bassist Allen Woody started Gov't Mule as a side project, a trio with drummer Matt Abts, releasing their self-titled debut in 1995.

Woody died in 2000, which would have been a fatal blow for the band as well -- except that Haynes, Abts and a host of friends responded with "The Deep End," a project that ranks alongside AC/DC's "Back in Black" as one of the all-time great tributes to a fallen bandmate. Over the course of two volumes, more than two dozen celebrity guest bassists stepped into Woody's shoes.

Revitalized, the Mule carried on. The current lineup, which released the album "High and Mighty" late this summer, consists of Haynes, Abts, bassist Andy Hess and keyboardist Danny Louis.

The Allmans connection endures to this day. In the Guitar Player article, Haynes mentions that when the Mule opens for the Allmans, he plays one 90-minute set with his own band, followed by two and a half hours with the Allmans.

Tuesday night will be a little different. Donavon Frankenreiter will open the 7:30 p.m. show. (Tickets are $30 and $35 plus service charges. They are available at the Saenger box office, 208-5600, and other Ticketmaster outlets.)

Then comes the headliner, loaded for bear.

"The Gov't Mule experience is three hours long," Haynes said.

It spans two sets and covers considerable territory, from the Southern rock you'd expect to the dub reggae you might not. (Dub, which started as a bass-and-drum-centric reggae remix style, is no passing fancy for the Mule: They'll ring in the new year with "Dub Side of the Mule," a three-night stand in New York City.)

"We're playing a lot of new stuff," he said. Really new stuff: At this point everything from "High and Mighty" is a candidate to be played live, but there's also newer, unrecorded material in the mix.

"The new material seems to be going over well," he said. "Some of the songs (from "High and Mighty") are already starting to grow."

"It's always interesting to see the audience's reaction," he said.

"I think it's important for musicians to expose themselves to all types of music," Haynes said. And the same for audiences. He said there's nothing he likes better than looking out at a crowd and seeing one guy in a Bob Marley T-shirt, the next guy in a John Coltrane shirt and the next in a Led Zeppelin shirt.

Haynes said the band is "very fortunate" in having a fan base that encourages experimentation. But he's not interested in just playing to the faithful, a charge sometimes leveled at jam bands.

"It's gratifying for me to meet someone who says this is his 110th Gov't Mule show, but it's also gratifying to meet a kid who says, 'Tonight's my first show,'" he said.


© 2006 The Mobile Register

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Enjoy one of Mule's great instrumentals. This one's called "Thelonius Beck." Filmed while on tour in Germany, Spring 2005....Indulge yourself for 6 minutes and enjoy: