On Monday night, The Devon Allman Project celebrated New Year’s Eve in the hometown of the Allman Brothers Band at Macon GA’s Grand Opera House. Fittingly, the southern rock show featured a slew of special guests, as former Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts made an appearance, as well as his son Duane Betts, bassist Berry Oakley Jr.,
The family affair seemed like a sneak-peak of the recently announced Allman Betts Band, which the original press release referred to as “the new ABB”, and includes Devon and Duane, along with Berry Oakley Jr., slide guitarist Johnny Stachela, and DAP percussionists R. Scott Bryan (Sheryl Crow) and John Lum.
For the Devon Allman Project’s New Year’s Eve extravaganza, Dickey Betts joined the all-star cast right before the clock struck midnight, and helped the musicians ring in 2019 with a scorching rendition of “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”. The performance was highlighted by the father and son combo of Dickey and Duane firing blazing hot guitar licks back and forth, as Oakley rocked the low end. For the encore, Lamar Williams Jr. joined the stage for a heartwarming performance of “Midnight Rider”. It was a full-circle family affair, indeed.
“Midnight Rider” with Lamar Williams Jr.
[Video: jmphillips21]
Before the launch of The ABB in 2019, you can find Devon and Duane on tour through late February 2019 as The Devon Allman Project with special guest Duane Betts. Ticket links and information for those shows can be found here.