OFF: Re: BOC: Atlanta, Georgia are you ready to rock and roll?

[Paul Mather]

On Mon, 30 Apr 2001, Rob Vincent wrote:

=> Dumb question, but does anybody know who all is in Gov't Mule these days?

It's not a dumb question at all.  There are many besides yourself
wondering exactly the same thing since it was announced that Warren had
rejoined the Allman Brothers Band. :-(

=> Nice to see they haven't completely dissolved after Allen Woody's passing
=> and Warren Haynes rejoining the Allmans. The appearance of Govt Mule and
=> Derek Trucks indicates to me that the Allmans are off the road for the
=> time being.

I saw a "New School of Gov't Mule" show in March.  (Great show, BTW.)
Besides Warren and Matt, there was Dave Schools on bass, and Mr. Chuck
Leavell on keyboards.  Obviously, the latter two are only temporary
members.  There are a bunch of "New School Mule" dates in May (mostly in
the North East), and then after that... who knows?  Last I heard was the
possibility of a small (possibly world) tour in late 2001 featuring a
ton of famous bassists who are currently guesting on the latest Mule
album being recorded.

The Allman Brothers are most definitely on the road.  From the new dates
announced on their WWW site, it seems they are co-headlining with Phil &
Friends, which is handy for Warren, as he's also still playing with
them this year.  (When does he ever manage to catch his breath??:)  I
hope to catch three shows in early August.  I noticed the Derek Trucks
Band is slated to open on at least some of these dates.

So, it seems to this observer that there's a serious danger of Gov't
Mule being relegated once more as a side project. :-(  Probably a lot of
this has to do with finding a permanent bassist, but who knows.  But who
knows?  Even though Warren is the hardest-working guitarist in the
world, there's no way he can maintain an old-style Mule touring schedule
(i.e., gazillions of shows/year) and still honour his committments to
both Phil & Friends and the Allman Brothers Band.

IMHO, the *real* question is where does this leave Matt Abts?

Cheers,

Paul.

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production
 deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
        --- Frank Vincent Zappa