Legendary rocker Gregg Allman shared some interesting thoughts in a new interview with Radio.com, telling fans about his new band, his old band, and a whole lot more. The interview hits the ground running, as Allman wastes no time sharing his praise for the newest group of musicians he’s assembled.
“Boy, you’re in for a treat! My new band is the most incredible musical experience I’ve ever had the honor and pleasure to be a part of.” He continues, “It took me about 7 1/2 years to find everybody. Somehow, through some stroke of luck, I got my hands on two of Bobby “Blue” Bland’s horn players.” Bland was a renowned blues musician who wrote songs like “Turn On Your Lovelight” and “Farther Up The Road”.
Allman then spoke about the Allman Brothers, and being on the same lineup with some of the band’s members at the upcoming Peach Music Festival. Haynes, Jaimoe, and Butch Trucks are all performing at the festival. When asked if he’d jam if Warren Haynes wanted to, he simply responded, “Sure, man, there’s no hard feelings.”
He continued, “We parted on good terms. Forty-five years! And even the newest cats in the band had been there for a long time. It was a good lineup, it was fun, and now it’s over. It was fun playing with them boys.”
He also mentioned that he might sit in with some of the artists on the Laid Back Festival lineup, which he curated himself. That festival, held at the Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre on August 29th, features Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band, The Doobie Brothers, Bruce Hornsby and more. “Well, Jamioe [sic], we’ve been touring together all summer, we play together. The Doobies are old friends of mine, especially Mr. Tom Johnston. I really enjoy them as people, always have. They’ve written some of the greatest songs, man. Bruce Hornsby, he’s my good buddy man, I’m crazy about Bruce. So I’m really looking forward to this, so is my band. And Jones Beach, which I’m so familiar with. And we’ve got all this different food, it should be quite a party.”
Gregg Allman Is Curating A Music Festival
Allman also weighed in on the Confederate flag issue, echoing similar sentiments as fellow Southern rocker Warren Haynes. “Well, I was taught how to play music by these very, very kind older black men. My best friend in the world is a black man. If people are gonna look at that flag and think of it as representing slavery, then I say burn every one of them.”
We hope to see a lot of Gregg Allman on the road in 2015!