It’s been a tough year for the Allman Brothers Band family and fans, with the too-soon passings of founding members Butch Trucks and Gregg Allman. The band started in 1969 and closed its final chapter in 2014, though former members have taken on leading roles with their own bands, such as with Derek Trucks and Tedeschi Trucks Band, Warren Haynes and Gov’t Mule, and Jimmy Herring and Widespread Panic. There have been twenty total members in the Allman Brothers Band. With a history so large, inevitably, there are hundreds of artifacts that go along with it.

The Allman Brothers Band Museum at the Big House opened in Macon, Georgia in 2009 as an interactive museum dedicated to identifying and preserving the history of the Allman Brothers Band. It is currently the host to the world’s largest collection of ABB memorabilia. From 1970 to 1973, the Big House served as the home of the original band members and their families and friends. Many of the Allman Brothers Band’s most precious moments, songs, and even children came out of it. Today, it is the home to a number of instruments that various well-loved songs were written on — including Duane Allman‘s 1957 Gibson Les Paul Goldtop (the guitar that he recorded Derek & The Dominoes’ “Layla” on) — and the very rooms that held the magic of the Allman Brothers and the few things recorded during the band’s formative years.

Recently, The Big House hosted a block party for fans in Macon on the day of Gregg Allman’s funeral. Members of the ABB, the Gregg Allman Band, and their extended families and friends gathered for a family-oriented jam after the procession. The entire town of Macon is a walk-through of the Allman Brothers Band’s history, with Capricorn Records, Rosehill Cemetery, H&H Restaurant, and more located in the city, though The Big House will always be the geographic center point of the band’s entire career.

Live For Live Music caught up with The Big House’s Director of Merchandise and Collections, Richard Brent, to discuss the state of the museum — it’s growing!

Kendall Deflin: When did you step into The Big House family?

Richard Brent: I started here as a volunteer, actually. I came here not too long after it opened to the public. I started volunteering in late 2010, I believe. Then, somewhere about the end of 2011 — that’s when you know you have a good job, when you don’t remember that kind of stuff — I was hired on officially. It’s such a great place. In the beginning, the museum needed to figure out how to sustain itself without having to go to big people for money all the time, and the gift shop became that. We spent a lot of time on it, and the admission sales have increased significantly. It’s just been a wonderful thing to see grow. Even on a day that it’s closed — we want to advertise this for people who are brave enough to ring the doorbell on the days that we’re closed — we’re all here working. We always let people in. We never want anybody to miss it. So, even though we’re closed today, we’ve had twelve or fifteen people visit.

Obviously, over the last couple of weeks with not-so-great circumstances of losing Brother Gregg Allman, it’s been insane. But the outpour of love and respect has just been tremendous. I mean, we’ve literally had thousands of people come through the area or order something from the online store — whatever it may be. Everyone steps up and does their part.

KD: I understand there were thousands of people that showed up a couple weeks ago for the block party after Gregg’s ceremony. What was that like?

RB: That was the party we all needed. That’s what it was, what it turned into. You know, it was a sad day. We’ve been through so much this year, with Butch Trucks and then Col. Bruce. And now with G.A., it was just like, “Wow, man. What else?” So, the day of the funeral, the fans lined the streets. I don’t know what the exact number was, but it was thousands lining the streets for the funeral procession. I was invited to the funeral, and I was honored to be there. Then, immediately afterward, I had to get back here to The Big House and get ready for the family and all their guests to arrive. Luckily enough, I’d coordinated with the local sheriff’s department and explained to them that it’d be our best bet to close the streets in front of the museum. So, we basically closed from Rogers to Corbin in front of the museum. There were 5,000 people out there. It was a beautiful thing to see.

Then, there were the guests that were inside the fence. Obviously, Cher was here, but also just all the family. At one point on the stage, I remember seeing it was Melody Trucks, Duane Betts, Devon Allman, Barry Oakley Jr., Vaylor Trucks, I mean, just incredible. I think they were jamming on “Love Light,” I believe. It was just incredible. Then, The G.A. Band got up and played, and that was amazing. Jaimoe showed up, and of course, he was doing his thing as always. It was just an amazing night of music.

When Chank [Middleton, Gregg’s best friend forever] called me, he was like, “Richard, Richard, brother man. I need a band. I need a band.” You know how Chank talks. It’s so funny. So, I went after this younger, not even a real band. They just call themselves The Young Brothers. Every year, when we do the annual “Sky Dog” event [in memory of Duane Allman], these young local kids get together, and they really know how to play that music. It’s just in their blood. So, for me, it was a no-brainer. So, I called Adam Gorman, who headed the thing up — he actually plays in Ben Sparaco Band currently and they were on tour. They literally canceled a date or two of their tour up in New York and got back here as quickly as they could, because they knew what a big deal this was. To ask those kids to play for six hours in 95 degree heat and humidity 150% and to do it for free is not an easy ask, but in this situation, it most certainly was. And it was just absolutely amazing. They drove all through the night to get here, and they really did an amazing job. So, it was just an easy transition for all the other band members that showed up later on, in the G.A. band and all that. They just stepped right up on stage with them, and it was just an amazing night. Everybody in the street was feeling it and getting down. We had no problems whatsoever. I think we had just a couple people pass out from the heat. That was it. For that, in the situation with that crowd, it really was amazing.

The best part was how respectful everybody was. There’s a church right across the street. And one thing I love about The Big House is that when the Allman Brothers lived here, in the beginning, they had a special relationship with that church across the street. The church let them park the Winnebago, the band truck, and all that stuff over there. That relationship still continues today. They let us use their parking lot when we have events and all that. So, they were great on Saturday night, and then they had a service the next morning. For us to walk out over there and literally have nothing to pick up was amazing.

KD: That’s the church from the lyrics in “Blue Sky,” that Dickey Betts wrote, correct?

RB: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

KD: As tragic as these last couple of months have been, there’s seems to be a resurgence in popular culture appreciating the Allman Brothers legacy. Especially for fans, who have had a few years without the band, there seems to be a silver lining in bringing all these people together. It sounds like it was a celebration for family, friends, and fans to all level together and grieve through music. Obviously, what the Allmans would’ve wanted. 

RB: Yeah. I’m sure you’ve seen on the sales charts — there’s been a boost in sales, obviously, with the Allman Brothers stuff and Gregg Allman’s old stuff. There’s a desire for this music, and it’s not going to go away. It’s going to be bands like the Tedeschi Trucks Band and Gov’t Mule. At some point, I feel there has to be some sort of reunion show — maybe just a one-time-a-year deal, maybe it’s at the Beacon, maybe it’s at the Fox in Atlanta. I don’t know, but I feel like something has to happen. It’s not just going to be the end. This music and this band will always be celebrated.

KD: So, as Butch and G.A. have passed on, what does that mean for The Big House? Have you been receiving more items to preserve the history?

RB: Some people thought that when things like this happen, it wouldn’t be good for The Big House. It’s really quite the opposite because the fans need a place to go, and we’re that destination for them. It’s only gotten busier. You know we’re like any other museum. I call it living history. This was an amazing place. It’s a step back in time, yet it’s in the forefront and it’s real. It’s right here. You can come here, and you can feel it. The greatest compliment we get is people saying that they literally feel like we’re just house-sitting for the band while they’re out on tour. That’s amazing, and that’s what we want. I mean The Big House is going nowhere. We’re better than ever, and we’re only getting bigger.

We’re always finding new stuff. It’s out there. We know where some of it is. We work out loan agreements with folks all the time. We just recently discovered a new Fillmore East road case that was here in Macon this whole time. Some guy just bought a building downtown that the city was getting ready to tear down, and lo and behold, under a pile of garbage was one of Jaimoe’s road cases — the one that’s laying down behind Gregg’s head in the photo. Certainly, stuff from the G.A. estate and Butch’s estate will get shared with us, other than what we already have. It helps tell the story. People come here to be close to the ones they love, the band they love, and the music that they love.

KD: Is The Big House expanding to open the third floor?

RB: We’re working on it. We were able to purchase the house next to the museum. As I speak right now, they’re putting a new roof on it. So, we’re in the middle of a fundraising campaign to raise the funds necessary to renovate the house. The goal once that’s done is to move our offices and archives, which are currently on the third floor. Then, we can open the third floor, recreate that, move the pool table up there, redo Red Dog‘s room, where he stayed at up there. It would give us more options for displays. I’ve always wanted to be able to showcase certain eras, or just something completely about Eat A Peach, or something completely about At Fillmore East. The way it is now, we kind of have a timeline, but that timeline is very important.

There’s a lot of plug and play, but not a lot of room for just drastic changes per say. Then, of course the Gov’t Mule formed this house, so it’s important that we have Gov’t Mule displays in here. I want to be able to have two for the bands like TTB, Frog Wings, you know, other bands, and families that came out of ABB. I’d love to be able to have a room dedicated to doing certain displays for a month or whatever. Then, just keep revolving around like that. So, yeah. It’s exciting times.

Of course, The Big House is much more than a museum. We have shows here. We actually had Marcus King play here last weekend, and we have a big festival celebrating one of our volunteers. We call it Jodie Jam in honor of Jodie who passed away about five years ago, and it hit us all really hard. It was really sudden, too. So, we do Jodie Jam every year. This year, we have three really great bands: The Lucky Dutch out of Chicago, The Pinx from Atlanta, and  SIMO, which is an amazing band out of Nashville. They recorded an album here in the house a couple years back now. So, it’d be really great to have those guys around here. We also do a lot of weddings, receptions, and rehearsal dinners here.

So, at the house next door, we’d be able to do more of that stuff on the first floor of the house along with indoor concerts. Believe it or not, for about one month out of the year, we might require a jacket here in Georgia. So, when it is a little chilly, we try to have a little music indoors. It’s nice and cozy in The Big House, but we can only put about twenty or thirty people in there max. So, next door will be a little bit larger to accommodate more people, and have some nice indoor fun over there.

KD: Sounds like The Big House is always doing something. Macon in general is such a destination point for fans of the Allman Brothers. There’s memorabilia all over the place.

RB: You can go to the H&H [the famous southern restaurant that fed the ABB in their early days]. From the H&H, you can go to the Rosehill Cemetery. If you want to see the Capricon Buildings, you can. Or if you just want to hang out downtown on the streets, and just walk arounds — it’s great. Macon is really thriving right now, and it’s really getting back to be a wonderful musical destination. Of course, let’s not forget about Otis Redding in here, too. So, Macon’s a great place. It’s a little warm, but other than that, it’s got good food, and it’s got good music.

KD: And for a band with such a tragic history, there’s really such a sense of warmth that comes from the people that work to support it — the family, and the friends, and the road crew, and anybody else involved.

RB: Exactly. We’re blessed and honored at the same time to have so many of the people involved from the beginning right here. We have Kirk West is here. Willie Perkins is here. We got Big Linda and Brittany Oakley to come up and help recreate the rooms with us when we opened the Oakley Suite. So, we’re extremely lucky and blessed to still have people to pull from and talk to. Kim Payne is still around to reach out, to call and just talk. That goes back to why I call it living history.

This place is a must-see. It’s a place that’s only getting bigger. We get business from all over the world. We’re the second-most visited destination in middle Georgia. We’re only behind the Ocmulgee Mounds, which are Indian mounds here in Macon. It’s a great place to go, but it’s a national government-funded monument, to where we’re just a bunch of fans that threw together a museum and are figuring it out as we go, which is part of why this so great. Why it works so well is because people can come and feel like they’re a part of something, versus coming and feeling like that they shouldn’t touch this or they shouldn’t go in this room. We have instruments sitting out in the middle of the room because we encourage you to sit on the sofa and play some music if you know how to play. Even if you don’t know how to play, that’s fine, too. The place is so great that you don’t even have to know anything about the Allman Brothers Band. By the time you leave, after talking to volunteers, and staff, and just other fans and getting the walk-through guides, you leave knowing about the Allman Brothers Band.

KD: Obviously The Big House is home to some great pieces, like Duane Allman’s 1957 Goldtop guitar (the one he used to record Derek & The Dominoes’ “Layla). What is your favorite piece in the house, besides the guitar?

RB: Well, you know everything’s my favorite. Clearly, you have to go with the obvious choice, but again, it’s advertising really. When people see that guitar, they see Derek playing the guitar, it’s not a question. They know whose guitar it is. They know where it’s at. That’s what that’s all about. It’s also a way to help us keep the doors open. I love everything in the house, everything is special to me.

One thing that I’m really fond of is just a simple vest. There’s a black vest that Butch Trucks wore on the cover of their debut self-titled album, Allman Brothers Band. Why I love it? It just reminds me how simple they were when they first got started. Simple, not in silly, but simple, as in they didn’t need much. So, they shared that vest.

And they all loved that vest to the point where sometimes they got into arguments about who was wearing it that day. So, I often look at that thing and just laugh, because I can just imagine Gregg and Barry Oakley rolling around on the floor in a fist-fight over who was going to wear the vest that day before that show. So, there are several examples throughout that house of every band member wearing it at some point or another. So, that’s one of my other favorite pieces. And plus, At Fillmore East is the greatest live album ever. To be able to look at some of the road cases we have here — especially the main one just on the top left corner of the album cover — to look at those every day is just pretty awesome.

Next time you’re in Georgia, eat a peach for peace and head on over to The Big House.