 a conversation with Warren Haynes |
|
The mood was electric at the West Coast offices of philzone.com as we sent the Rolling Rider on to Denver. Finding ourselves with no San Francisco Phil shows in the near future, we took to the local listings to find adventure. Luckily for us, Phil wasn't the only game in town this fall. With P&F deciding to pack it up and take it on the road to points east, the gang at philzone.com thought it would be the perfect time to catch up with some of our new "phriends". On
the weekend of October 22, Government Mule made its swing through
the Northern California countryside. We were able to catch up
with them in Humboldt County at Some
Friendly Words The
Phriend Call Mountain
Aire 1999
Patchwork
Quilt Are you a dead-head? We
have read and heard Phil's take on his concept of musical development
and his criteria of exceptional musicians. Warren echoes these
sentiments in such a way that at times was moving. His respect
and admiration for the songs of the Grateful Dead is traceable
to the inspiration he too received from original blues, jazz
and rock artists. The Brent connection Next
it was onto the Summer Sessions tour, which featured Warren
in both Gov't Mule, and as a rotating member of P&F. During
these shows, we were treated to even more tantalizingly eerie
renditions of Grateful Dead songs we thought we might never
hear again performed live, such as Working
with Phil On Phil and Mike Gordon's bass duet All
that talk of musical conversation really had us going. We had
recently seen him sit-in with Phish at Shoreline Amphitheatre
in September 1999, where they illustrated a perfect example
of what became another resounding theme from this interview,
"chemistry". Those shows, truly great in their own right, became
electrified the moment Warren or Phil took the stage to crank
it up a notch. The crowd went wild and once again the lines
were buzzing about Warren Haynes. Clearly, Warren was glowing
with pride and admiration for those shows. It was evident that
not only did he love playing with those guys but was in awe
of their considerable musical talent. Warren's favorite Phil and Friends songs Feeling
all this admiration and respect for other artists really got
us curious about cover songs. Gov't Mule and P&F both perform
their fair share of covers, many of them crowd favorites. This
brought to the forefront another theme in the interview, reinterpretation
of great music. From an audience perspective, much of the Phil
experience is about hearing whatever new spin Phil and his pick
of Friends puts on our favorite songs. It's music that many
of us have listened to everyday for the last 30 years. Icing on the cake At
philzone.com we can appreciate the theme of "friendship" and
we immediately saw it manifest in the way Warren approaches
his music. From seeking out the experience of playing with the
most talented musicians, to exploring some of the greatest songs
of Rock's roots, Warren Haynes embodies the ideals of "good
friendship"; in fact he seems to have found a career as
a professional friend. He can sit-in anywhere, in any setting
and be the " icing on the cake." His love of working both
in the context of Gov't Mule and in the framework of an unfamiliar
situation pours out of him. It was exhilarating sitting there
listening to all the heart he puts into each sit-in or project. Warren Haynes and friends On
the following nights, at the Fillmore in San Francisco (10/23/99)
and the House of Blues in L.A. (10/24/99),
fans were treated to a slew of friends including John Popper,
Greg Allman, Audley Freed, Rob Clores and Chris Robinson at
the Fillmore and also Jerry Cantrell and Marc Ford at the HOB.
The show at the Fillmore reached far into the wee hours of the
morning, only to stop at the insistence of the Fillmore. We
had one last question to ask, and we wanted it to be a tough
one, one to really nail him down. We asked who the band would
be if the bill was "Warren Haynes and Friends" and what did
he do? Give props back to his "friends". Warren
Haynes will be touring with Phil
and Friends Gov't
Mule will be playing the Roxy Theatre in Atlanta on New Years
Eve and has a new record Life Before Insanity,
coming out on February 22nd. Look
for Gov't Mule this spring, they will be out on the road supporting
the new C.D. Hear
some samples from the Acoustic Gov't Mule show Schnee,
Rob and all the staff at Philzone.com would like to thank Gov't
Mule and their crew, especially Jeff
Davis and Dana Canone for
making this interview possible. And a heart felt thanks goes
to Warren Haynes for all
his time and attention.
A
conversation with Warren Haynes This interview may not be republished anywhere in any form -- online or offline -- without the express written consent of Philzone.com. However, we certainly encourage you to link to this Interview from your page. |
