Mushroom Magic in Macon starring Tedeschi Trucks and Gov't Mule
Finally fully conscious, I report on three days of brother and sisterhood and music, of course. Back where it all began: Macon, GA.
A slightly delayed report from another fantastic family reunion/gathering of the tribe/musical nirvana weekend in Macon.
The pull to Macon was two-fold: celebrating Kirk West’s 75th birthday and seeing Tedeschi Trucks Band and Gov’t Mule perform together. I probably wouldn’t have journeyed down for the show if not for the party, but I sure am glad I did. I wrote last week about my relationship with Kirk and why he was such a special person to me, and why I would never miss this party.
As I’ve written before, these gatherings are extremely fun, heartwarming and fulfilling. They also make me think I should double down on statin drugs for a few days, because I seem to eat fried chicken, biscuits, gravy and collard greens with tremendous frequency, with occasional forays into pulled pork and BBQ brisket.
I swung by The Big House and said hi to my old friends living and deceased and to all the spirits. That included Butch and his drums, with the prescient motto on the bass head: Wake the Fuck Up. Friday night, we had an intimate gathering of 25 or so of Kirk’s best friends, all hosted by Kirk’s incredible wife, Kirsten.
I visited Rose Hill and paid my respects to the Brothers and to also to my ancestors in the Hebrew Burial Ground.
Friday night, about 150 people gathered on the back lawn of the Big House to celebrate. I was far from the only person who would never miss this gathering. Guests included Derek Truck and Susan Tedeschi, their manager Andy Mendelsohn and his wife Julie, longtime ABB manager Bert Holman, ticket guru Stacey Maranz and old friend Lee Roy Parnell and his new-ish girlfriend Stacey Fountain. It was great to see her after many years. So many other old friends I loved seeing that I hesitate to start naming names, but Cliff Greenberg, Gary Giller, John Lynskey, Jon Sawyer, and on it goes. It was a wonderful evening celebrating a person we all hold in great esteem, whose friendship we value and who has done more than I can possibly express to foster community.
The picture below, captured by photographer Bill Brookins on his phone, caught a moment. I was talking to The Big House’s Richard Brent, after finishing a convo with Susan, as I turned forward to say hi to Kirk and Derek, only to find them deep in an intense conversation. I stopped and literally backed away.
I spent most of Friday and Saturday hanging out at Kirk’s wonderful Gallery West, selling and signing books, talking smack, seeing old friends and meeting so many of you readers and supporters. It is really gratifying, not because of the ego boost but because it really justifies my whole career and reminds me of the readers who were out there as I threw article after article into the ether in those pre-social media 90s days. How about Daniella from Croatia, who told me she fell in love with the Allman Brothers and spent up to $50 per issue of Guitar World - but only after perusing to make sure I had a story in there. Amazing. She ended up making her way to Macon and working for Kid Glove/Hittin the Note. I never knew I had helped inspire her. Can’t describe what this means to me.
Saturday night, I pulled together my energy and headed out to the new Atrium Health Ampitheatre for the Tedeschi Trucks Band/Gov’t Mule/Duane Betts show. A perfect capper to a family reunion weekend if ever there was one. With no new The Brothers shows announced, these TTB/Mule double bills are all the more special and I hope we get a lot more to come. It’s a very nice venue. Easy access, free parking, friendly staff and great sound. Living in metro NYC, I am used to a lot more hassle.
Duane and Palmetto Motel played a very strong 30-minute opening set, all original material until a set-closing “Jessica.” Tedeschi Trucks Band closed the show with a fantastic set, capped with a two-song Warren sit-in. But I am going to focus here on the Gov’t Mule set, because it was so emotionally intense for me. I knew Warren and Woody well when the band was formed, I was on the bus (sometimes literally) from day one, and this show brought it all back home, which I believe was exactly Warren’s intention.
The band, with Terence Higgins on drums for a recuperating Matt Abts, came out and launched right into a classic old school Mule opener of “Grinning In Your Face” and “Mule.” It was a tribute to Allen Woody, in the city where the band formed - in the rehearsal room of The Big House, which was then Kirk and Kirsten’s house. And I was standing with Kirk, who hosted the birth of the band, who loves Warren, Woody and Matt like brothers. It was emotional to a degree that I struggle to find words for, but Kirk and I were practically holding hands. It was also Kirk’s first time seeing the band with Kevin Scott on bass, who has without a doubt brought some of the old Woody intensity and volume back to the band.
The third song of the set was “Banks Of The Deep End” and then I really almost lost it. It’s always been one of my favorite Mule songs. I am partial to it because I was in the studio when the band recorded the original version with Mike Gordon on bass as part of the two-album The Deep End tribute to Woody, and the lyrics are powerful to anyone who’s lost someone they care about to substance abuse, and can be gutting to Woody’s friends.
The first verse:
“On the banks of the deep end
Where your soul is your best friend
Searching for a reason
To go astray
Wild dreams turn to nightmares
Silver clouds turn to golden stairs
And everything that you used to know
Is slipping away”
And in case you missed it, there’s this:
”Sit away from the window
And lock the door
Can’t you learn from the last time
And the time before”
Heavy stuff, that removed any doubt we were in the middle of a tribute to Woody, and I was very much there for it. Meters bass legend George Porter Jr. joined for “Beautifully Broken,” another nod to Woody and to The Deep End albums. George stayed out for the Meters “I Just Kissed My Baby,” with Kevin on guitar. I was sitting next to 70s ABB crew member “Trash” Cole for much of the show as well, and he keep leaning over to me and raving about keyboardist Danny Louis, and indeed he deserves praise. Aside from his excellent solos, he often holds the songs together on organ and an assortment of keys and with Matt currently sidelined, he represents stability, along with Warren, as a full-time member of Mule since 2002.
At the end of the set, Derek joined for the Allman Brothers’ “Desdemona” and “Rockin’ Horse” off Hittin the Note, the only album Derek and Warren recorded together with the band.
Then Susan made a dramatic walk on for “Soulshine.”
I am running out of room here, but TTB also played an excellent set, which included a three-song guest appearance by Duane Allman’s 1957 goldtop. One highlight was “It Ain’t Fair,” the Aretha Franklin song that Duane Allman lit up and has always slayed me. I could listen to it 1,000 times, with Derek playing Duane, even teasing “Dreams” -on the goldtop! - Kebbi Williams sounding like King Curtis and Alecia Chakour conjuring Aretha. Also, kudos to Susan for giving another singer this much room to shine next to her, and mightily contributing both background and harmony vocals.
And how can you top the show-closing “With A Little Help From My Friends”?
Best of all I watched the whole show with Kirk and Kirsten. Very. very meaningful weekend. I am almost over it. On Wednesday…and not posting til Thursday. Whew.
SETLISTS Via TTB Base
1.Grinning In Your Face 2. Mule 3.Banks of the Deep End 4.Game Face >Mountain Jam >Game Face 5. Thorazine Shuffle 6.When Doves Cry >Beautifully Broken[>When Doves Cry (GEORGE PORTER JR, BASS) . 7. Just Kissed My Baby (GP, BASS, KEVIN SCOTT, GUITAR) 9. Time To Confess 10. Desdemona[W/ DEREK] 10. Rocking Horse[DT] 11. Soulshine [W/ DEREK AND SUSAN]
Tedeschi Trucks Band
Crazy Cryin’, Anyhow, Do I Look Worried, Done Somebody Wrong, Who Am I, I Walk on Guilded Splinters, Until You Remember, Keep On Smilin’[1], It Ain’t Fair[1], Devil Be Gone[1], Angel From Montgomery > Sugaree, Made Up Mind, Pasaquan[2], With a Little Help From My Friends[2] [1] Derek playing Duane’s ‘57 Les Paul Goldtop [2] w/ Warren Haynes
The paperback edition of my fourth book, Brothers and Sisters: the Allman Brothers Band and The Album That Defined The 70s, was recently released by St. Martin’s Press. It was the third consecutive one to debut in the New York Times Non-Fiction Hardcover Bestsellers List, following Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan and One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band. My first book, Big in China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising a Family, Playing the Blues and Becoming a Star in Beijing, about my experiences raising a family in Beijing and touring China with a popular original blues band, was optioned for a movie by Ivan Reitman’s Montecito Productions. I am also a guitarist and singer with two bands, Big in China and Friends of the Brothers, the premier celebration of the Allman Brothers Band.
Big fun! Macon is always such a wonderful time. 🍄
For those of us there through Nugs, I could feel the intensity of the many moments. The Little Martha - Pasaquan Mt Jam Pasaquan - was my emotional high. I've heard it said that Pasaquan is our generations Mt Jam, so hearing them together was epic.