1ST OF 2 DOSES OF WARREN HAYNES IS UNPLUGGED
Guitarist used past year to explore new musical directions
The second half of 2021 is shaping up to be quite busy for Warren Haynes. In September, he’ll be at SPAC with his band Gov’t Mule as part of Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Fest tour. Before that, Haynes is out on the road on his own with a July solo tour.
This tour brings him to Charles R. Wood Park in Lake George tonight, for an acoustic set. Haynes is eager to resume in-person performances and finds this format the ideal way to resume the touring life.
“I’m really happy it’s starting out this way, we’ve been trying to pace ourselves and work our way back into it, but everyone is chomping at the bit,” Haynes said. “It feels great to be gradually headed toward doing what we love to do.
“I think it’s a gradual process, though,” he continued. “I don’t think any of us, around the industry, are ready to leap in business-as-usual.”
Whether it’s with Gov’t Mule, his solo projects or stints with the Allman Brothers and the Dead, Haynes’ reputation has been built on going out on stage and ripping it up on his guitar. But with the pandemic severely curtailing live action, Haynes figured out different ways to meaningfully occupy his time.
“I have a 9-year-old son, so it was good in a way, because I could spend more time with him back-to-back than I ever had,” he noted. “I also did more songwriting than I’ve done in decades.”
In terms of writing new material, Haynes used this moment to push himself in new directions as an artist and tap into different emotions and sonic influences he’s never really explored before.
Some of the material is intended for a new Gov’t Mule release and the band laid down a bunch of tracks in the studio. Other songs are slated for another solo record, one that falls somewhere between the Memphis soul style of his 2011 release “Man in Motion” and the rootsy Americana of the 2015 album “Ashes and Dust.”
“I think the songwriting process changes all the time because you don’t want to fall in the same trap,” Haynes explained. “My approach was different in that I didn’t want to just continue writing business-as-usual about the same subjects and I had a mindset not to write a bunch of COVID songs.
“For the most part, I wrote about things that have been buried inside me for a long time and needed to be said,” he added. “I was opening my eyes to parts of the world we tend to turn away from, and it gave me a reason to go in as many different directions as possible. Any time you can approach different and new ideas, it’s always a welcome change.”
That sentiment, the desire to not be caught in the same old routines and the same old structures, is a hallmark of Haynes’ career and his creative instincts. At the macro level, Gov’t Mule, the Allman Brothers, the Dead and eponymous projects exist in the realm of bluesrock and jam bands, but each one is different for Haynes. Each requires a different skill set and approach, a different entry point to fit in to the sound of whichever project he’s engaged in.
Haynes describes it as an “adjustment that happens automatically with the situation I’m in” and a “welcome opportunity” to test his chops and his ability to go with the flow. With that being said, Haynes is eager to embark on his solo jaunt and its unique challenges. “Each situation is a little different in the way I prepare; what’s in common is that I do a different setlist each night (solo and with Mule),” he said. “The repertoire is completely different, there’s some overlap, but in general it’s different wells to draw from.
“With Mule, I have to be prepared for a three-hour show with a lot of guitar solos,” Haynes elucidated. “A solo tour a chance to explore myself in a different way, especially since I don’t do many solo shows. I can showcase the singer-songwriter part, as opposed to the guitar player.”
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For the most part, I wrote about things that have been buried inside me for a long time and needed to be said.”
— Warren Haynes