In a new interview with Atlanta Business Chronicle, drummer Butch Trucks was asked about the potential for an Allman Brothers reunion. Fans have heard from Gregg Allman himself about the issue, as well as from Derek Trucks and Oteil Burbridge over the last year or so. While Gregg and Oteil have remained optimistic, Derek recently said that he was too satisfied with the direction of Tedeschi Trucks Band to rekindle those old flames.
With fans still wanting more Allman Brothers Band shows, naturally the first question asked of founding drummer Butch Trucks was about the reunion. He said, “It’s possible but unlikely. To be quite honest, it gets down to whether or not Gregg is healthy enough to do it. There are some other complications but we can get the other things ironed out if Gregg is healthy enough to do it. If he’s not healthy enough to do it, we just can’t do it.”
He continued, “He’s been going in and out lately. He’ll get sick then healthy. I know he just rescheduled his tour so that gives me an optimistic feeling but we’ll see what happens.”
Later on in the interview, Trucks was asked about his own band, The Freight Train, and their upcoming performance in the region. Trucks talks about wanting to continue the legacy of the Allman Brothers by playing their music, in contrast to all of the other ABB musicians on the road these days.
“One of the reasons I put this band together is because The Allman Brothers split up in 2014 and it wasn’t because of a lack of attendance. People were still packing the Beacon (Theatre) every time we played. The one thing I noticed was so much of the audience was in high school or college. They were just catching on to what The Allman Brothers were doing, then we split up.
Derek (Trucks) and Susan (Tedeschi, Derek’s wife) are doing what they’re doing (Tedeschi Trucks Band) and Gregg is doing what he’s always wanted to do, and I’m glad he’s getting a chance to do that. Warren (Haynes) is out doing what he’s always done, which is pretty much everything. (Laughs) But, nobody is continuing what The Allman Brothers did and that’s the music I love to play.”
Let’s hope these musicians can come together for one more run at the Allman Brothers, because that’s something we’d love to see. You can read Trucks’ full interview here.