derground were not at all impressed by the Allman Brothers and the crowd was actively hostile to what they heard. At the end of the night, Bill Graham – the owner of the Fill- more East – approached them and asked who their favorite bands were – and the next time they played the Fillmore East they were on the same bill with B.B. King and the night was phenomenal. That kind of investment on the part of the club owners - that is not some- thing that happens anymore. If you play a club and don’t do well, the club owners, by and large, don’t care about excuses. There are exceptions of course, but that spirit of want- ing to be a part of the collective music scene and contributing it by arranging for nights of music which would appeal to everyone – that seems to be missing these days. That is not to say that I am pessimistic about the future, though. In fact, I feel just the opposite. There has never been a time when it has been easier for someone to make, record, and distribute their own music, and despite the fact that pop music has been homogenized to an almost uniform mediocrity, there is still tons of room for innovation and collaboration. I am very excited about the fact that I get to play music at this time and in this environment.
Do you remember anything funny from the Allman Brothers community and Butch Trucks I’ll tell you a story about fishing with Butch. He and I were spending a weekend with some friends on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in North Florida. Every day we would take a boat out to deep waters to try and catch grouper. We had what is called a “live well” on the side of the boat – a small cage that we would use to keep smaller bait fish. At one point, I caught a small pin fish and had just tossed it into the live well after pulling it off the hook. As soon as I did, there was a big commotion from the live well as the fish in it
all splashed and thrashed around. I looked at my dad and he got this big grin on his face, looked at me and said “rival schools.”
What are the lines that connect the legacy of Blues with Psychedelic and continue into Jazz and Rock music? There’s so much I could say about this; so many artists through the last 150 years that have gone unsung or unremembered. I don’t know where to start. People smarter than I will ever be have done a better job at answer- ing this question than I could.
What has made you laugh lately and what has emotionally touched you from the music you have heard? The last piece of music that made me laugh out loud was the song “What About Me?” by Snarky Puppy – just because of how amazing it is. I really like the community and collabo- rative ethos of that group – not to mention that they’re all absolute monsters. A little over a year ago, my wife and I went
to Spain and France for our honeymoon, and while we were there we saw Leonard Cohen perform live with his amazing band in Barcelona. It was an absolutely gorgeous night of music. The version of “Susanne” he played that night was the highlight for me – what an incredible songwriter that guy is.
Which is the most interesting period in your life? Which was the best and high- light moment of your career? I kind of like where I am right now. I have an amazing family and I get to play music I love with people I sincerely admire – and so I like to think that my highlight moment is yet to come. •
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