Warren Haynes is always on the move. He’s on tour now and is promoting Dreams & Songs: A Symphonic Journey.
Beyond that, he’s got “vault recordings” by Gov’t Mule to sift through dating back to before bassist Allen Woody died. After that, he’ll pivot to solo work – but not his usual fare.
“My next adventure will probably be an instrumental, jazz-influenced record,” Haynes tells Guitar World. “I’m not sure if there will be a Mule recording or just a solo recording. We’ll see!”
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1. What was your first guitar, and how did you get it?
It was a Norma, and I had a Norma amp. My dad bought them for me at a local hardware store. He didn’t know anything about them, just that I wanted a guitar. I think I was 12, but I didn’t have it that long. I eventually traded it for a Lyle copy of an SG.
2. What was your teenage guitar rig like?
My second amp, which was my first decent amp, was a Silvertone that you’d get out of a Sears catalog. It was actually a bass amp with no reverb because they had a small guitar amp and a bass amp that was bigger, and I told my dad I wanted the bass amp. I made up a story that B.B. King played through a bass amp, and that’s why I wanted it. [Laughs] It wasn’t true!
3. Which of your current guitars do you have the closest relationship with?
My ’59 Les Paul would be the one I love the most. I got that through a friend who always said he wanted me to wind up with it. We eventually were able to make that happen, and I’m forever grateful because it’s a wonderful instrument.
It’s original, and those guitars have their own unique sound. That one is no exception. It’s beautiful.
4. What’s your Number 1 tone tip?
Always be searching. Even if you love your tone today, you might not tomorrow. Recently, people have asked me a lot about my sound, and why I opted specifically for Les Pauls. It finally dawned on me that I always wanted my tone to be similar to my voice, and that guitar is similar to that for me. They come from the same place.
5. What’s a quirk or habit within your playing that – like it or not – has become integral to your style?
Playing slide in standard tuning. Sometimes, combining regular guitar and slide playing together… people did it before me, but it’s something I’ve gravitated toward naturally without thinking about it. I can pick up a slide at any moment and switch without feeling it.
6. Music history is filled with sliding-door moments. Was there ever a time in your career where you faced a decision that had real implications on your life as a musician?
When I was living in Nashville at 23 and thinking of pursuing a session career, the more progress I made, the more I realized it wasn’t what I wanted to do.
When I was 26, I knew I wanted to be a solo artist or be in a band, and then I got an offer from Dickey Betts to join his band. And when I was 28, they reformed the Allman Brothers Band and asked me to join. That changed everything.
7. What was it like being in a room with Dickey Betts?
Dickey was one of those rare players that always sounded like himself. No matter what guitar he was playing or amp he was playing through – or if he was playing an acoustic – he was instantly recognizable.
When I started playing next to him on stage, it occurred to me that I needed to go to school to figure out how to make every note sound like myself, especially if I was gonna be next to someone like him! That was a big wakeup call to me to get rid of the superfluous stuff in my arsenal and concentrate on what represented me as a player.
8. What’s been your most memorable encounter with a guitarist or guitar hero over the years?
The two nights we played with Eric Clapton at the Beacon [Theatre, New York City], where we did six or seven songs one night and seven or eight the other night.
Not just for me – and it was huge for me – but for everyone involved. The Allman Brothers Band and Eric Clapton had never performed together, even though there was history with Eric and Duane [Allman], so it was historic.
9. What’s been the toughest time you’ve ever had as a musician, and how did you get through it?
Losing Allen Woody. When he died in 2000, it didn’t make me wanna stop being a musician, but it did make me wanna stop doing Gov’t Mule. We started that band together, and most people know that with an improvisational trio, it depends on chemistry. Woody had a lot to do with that.
My natural instinct was to dissolve Gov’t Mule and move on, but friends and associates that I loved and respected encouraged me to keep it together. I’m really glad we did, but it was a tough time. The two records after he died were cathartic and bittersweet, but it challenged us, and we rose to the occasion.
10. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received as a guitarist, and who gave it to you?
My friend Andy Hunter, who was my first and only guitar teacher in Asheville, where I grew up, told me when I was really young: “If you only listen to the Three Kings – Freddie, B.B., and Albert – you’ll still have a lifetime of work ahead of you.” He wasn’t saying to only listen to them, but that if you do listen to them forever, you could never learn it all.
11. What’s the biggest misconception about you as a player?
Because of my association with the Allman Brothers and Gov’t Mule, people automatically assume I’m 100 percent coming from a blues and rock background. That is definitely a big part of my influence, but I’ve listened to so much more, and I incorporate that whenever I can.
I’m extremely proud of what I did with both bands, but nobody likes to be pigeonholed or have people assume that’s all there is to you. I was a huge Allman Brothers fan growing up, and that’s one of the main reasons I was the right person for the job.
But at the same time, if I hadn’t joined the Allman Brothers, my career trajectory would have been completely different. It would have been a different turn or direction. There’s no way of imagining what that direction would have been, but I was given this opportunity. I was thrust into this amazing environment and a challenge that changed my life. And what an amazing journey it’s been.
