Rock torchbearers
Gov’t Mule are celebrating their 20th anniversary with a series of
dynamic live archival releases that highlight the group’s versatility and epic,
fearless live performances. No two Gov’t Mule shows are alike, as the band draws
on the more than 300 songs in their repertoire (and often a host of special
guests) to create a unique experience each and every time. Their steadily
expanding fan base knows that the Mule always has something special waiting for
them. Expect the unexpected.
The deep
chemistry and steely confidence shared by the quartet allow them to tackle any
form of music and stamp it their own while remaining true to the spirit and
intent of the original. This can of course be heard any time guitarist-singer
Warren Haynes, drummer Matt Abts, bassist Jorgen Carlsson and
multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis take the stage, but a series of new live
archival releases really drives the point home.
The first of the
archival releases, Dark Side of the Mule, will be released on January 12,
2015, and features 90 minutes of Pink Floyd covers recorded during the band’s
Halloween 2008 show at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, MA. There will be three
configurations including a standard version (1-CD), a deluxe version (3-CD/1-DVD
package featuring the entire 3-hour performance) and as a double vinyl version.
All configurations feature audio newly-mixed and mastered.
On January 26, 2015,
fans will finally be able to get their hands and ears on a very special release
- the long-awaited SCO-MULE album. In late September of
1999, John Scofield teamed with Gov’t Mule, then featuring original bass player
the late Allen Woody, along with keyboardist Dr. Dan Matrazzo, in Georgia for
two legendary shows of mind-bending live prowess. Both shows were recorded and
included the Mule’s first-ever all-instrumental sets. The band had begun
preparing the music for eventual release while working on their third studio
album Life Before Insanity. However, less than a year later, their
beloved bassist Allen Woody passed away, setting the Mule on a different path.
The idea of releasing SCO-MULE came up over the years, but the timing was
never as right as it is now – helping to mark Gov’t Mule’s 20th
Anniversary. While Scofield and the Mule did reunite briefly for a set at Warren
Haynes’ 25th Annual Christmas Jam in December 2013, fans have been
clamoring for the return of the project ever since those lauded 1999 shows, and
for more than a decade the Mule have been eager to share the music from these
shows through an LP. Now for the first time, fans can experience the
SCO-MULE magic first-hand in album form, newly mixed and mastered. The
3-hour all-instrumental album is a jazz romp laced with rock riffs and will be
available as a 2-CD set as well as a double vinyl.
The third release,
Dub Side of the Mule, will be released on March 23, 2015, and
shines a light on the band’s New Year’s Eve 2006 Beacon Theatre show.
Newly-mixed and mastered, it includes a 45-minute set of reggae songs with
special guest, reggae legend Toots Hibbert (founder of Toots & The Maytals).
This will also be available in three configurations including a standard version
(1-CD), a deluxe version (3-CD set of the entire 3-hour performance and one DVD
of the Toots set) and a double vinyl version. The release also features special
guests Gregg Allman & Friends and John Popper.
The last of the archival
releases, Stoned Side of the Mule: Volume 1 & 2, captures the
Mule on Halloween 2009 ripping through impassioned Rolling Stone covers. This
special release (out April 20, 2015), will be available as a limited edition
vinyl-only pressing, newly-edited and mastered. This 2-LP also features special
guests Jackie Greene and Steve Elson.
Warren Haynes’
unparalleled ability to bring together different musicians into a cohesive whole
or to pull off epic musical happenings is one of the many reasons why Haynes
stands apart from the many great front men and guitarists who have graced the
musical landscape. Combined with his guitar and vocal mastery, these skills have
made him an in-demand presence and indispensable musical ally for many. This was
shown most recently on Mule’s most collaborative album to date, Shout!, their
most recent (and 15th) studio album. The one-of-a-kind project is a double CD
featuring two versions of every song – one with Haynes singing and the other
featuring a host of guest vocalists, including Dave Matthews, Ben Harper and
Elvis Costello.
“Making Shout! a
double CD with guests was a cool way to mark our 20th anniversary,” says Haynes.
“Each song has it’s own personality; it sounds like Gov’t Mule but doesn’t sound
like anything we had ever done. The songs cover a lot of the influences that
have made Gov’t Mule what we are from the beginning. I think it’s the most
diverse record we’ve made. These new archival live releases just further that
concept and allow us to highlight some of our influences as well as how far
we’ve come since the first album.”
Indeed, it would
have been hard for those listening to Gov’t Mule’s self-titled debut, filled
with thunderous power trio rumblings of Haynes, bassist Allen Woody and drummer
Matt Abts, to envision them remaining true to this original vision, while also
expanding to include reggae and horn-driven, backup singer-sweetened, classic
rock covers by Pink Floyd and the Rolling Stones, but that’s the tricky feat the
band has pulled off, as illustrated by their upcoming live
albums.
Gov’t Mule was
formed in 1994 when Haynes and bassist Allen Woody were playing in the Allman
Brothers Band and talking about their shared passion for old school power
trios.
“We were
listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin, Cream and Free, caught up in the musical
freedom they displayed,” says Haynes.
Haynes called up
drummer Matt Abts, with whom he had played in the Dickey Betts Band. The band
recorded three increasingly ambitious studio albums and performed countless
shows before Woody died in August, 2000. After briefly pausing to ponder their
next move, Haynes and Abts began recording The Deep End, two CDs featuring guest
bassists, ranging from the Who’s John Entwistle to the Grateful Dead’s Phil
Lesh.
“Everything we’ve
done collectively has led up to where we are now,” says Haynes. “But those Deep
End sessions, and the experience of playing with so many bassists and adapting
to different sounds and approaches had a profound effect on Gov’t Mule and what
we’ve done since.”
Louis, a long
time collaborator, became a full-time member of Gov’t Mule in 2001, and the
group has been a four-piece ever since. Bassist Carlsson has been with the group
since 2008, solidifying the line-up.
“I think a lot of
the music we’re doing now is very similar to the music we were making in the
earliest years with the obvious exception that we are no longer a trio,” says
Haynes. “In some ways we’ve come full circle and in other ways it only makes
sense if you step back and connect the dots. And that seems right to me. You
want to keep growing and you never want to be static, or done changing.”
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