Warren Haynes, considered by many the hardest working man in rock and roll, got that title because of all the bands he has played with. While the Allman Brothers Band wasn’t his first band, it was the one that put Warren on the map.
Warren chats with Steve Newton from Ear of Newt and shares how he was introduced to the Allman Brothers Band, how he was a fan from the age of nine and ultimately joined the band when they reunited in 1989.
Steve Newton: How did you meet the Allmans?
Warren Haynes: I guess in 1980 I was 20 years old. I joined David Allen Coe’s Band and played with him for about three years and it was through that experience that I met the guys in the Allman Brothers. David was friends with some of the guys in the band and in ’81 we ended up doing a few shows together and kind of became friends and Dickie and I more than anybody else.
I guess the two of us became friends and started playing together more and more and then kind of as that relationship grew and as I got to be 26 or 27, we started kind of writing a lot of songs together and in ’87 or so we started technically playing together and he put a new band together with me in the band. We were writing and I was singing and playing guitar and slide guitar. We worked together for two or three years and then when the brothers got back together in ’89, they just kind of asked me to come along. I’d been writing songs for Dickie’s solo band and for Greg’s solo band as well. So I’d kind of written for both camps, so to speak, during their absence. So when the band reformed, they just kind of asked me to join as a guitar player, slide guitar player, songwriter and singer. It’s been a really nice experience.
Steve Newton: Were you a pretty big fan of the band before?.
Warren Haynes: Oh, all my life. Growing up, I was exposed to that music when I was a young kid. When the first record came out, I guess I was nine years old. Consequently when Duane died I was 11. So I really had not even started playing guitar then, but I was fortunate enough to have two older brothers that were very into music and they turned me on to a lot of great music growing up.
You can listen to the interview over on Ear of Newt.
