Warren Haynes
Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule.[1] Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey Betts Band.[2] Haynes also is known for his associations with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, including touring with Phil Lesh and Friends and the Dead.[3] In addition, Haynes founded and manages Evil Teen Records.[4]
Warren Haynes
April 6, 1960
Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.
Musician, songwriter, record producer
Guitar, vocals
1982–present
Personal background and style[edit]
Haynes spent his formative years in Asheville, North Carolina, where he was born, and lived with his two older brothers and his father, Edward Haynes. He began playing guitar at age 11. His primary guitar is a Gibson Les Paul '58 Reissue electric guitar. His choice of a '58 is most likely because of Duane Allman's famed '58 Les Paul and the tone he achieved with that, rather than the more commonly used '59 Les Paul model, popularized by guitarists such as Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.
Haynes has referred to himself as a "Gibson man", often playing Gibson Firebird and Gibson ES-335 models as well as the Les Paul models. This was acknowledged by the American guitar maker Gibson which has included a limited edition Warren Haynes signature Les Paul in its product line; built according to Haynes' specifications and modeled on his '58 Les Paul.[5]
Haynes is married to Stefani Scamardo, a DJ for Sirius Radio and the long-time manager of Gov't Mule. In 2011, they adopted a son, Hudson.
Influences[edit]
In a 2006 interview with Gibson.com's Backstage Pass Haynes explains his early influences:[6] "When I first started – chronologically speaking – Hendrix and Clapton and Johnny Winter were the first three people I got turned on to. That was the Cream era of Clapton. Then eventually, I heard the Allman Brothers and everybody else from that era that I stole something from (laughs). Of course, I would read interviews with all these people and find out who they listened to. And they all listened to B.B. King and Freddie King and Albert King and Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters and Elmore James, so I would go back and discover that stuff."
Professional career[edit]
Early years[edit]
Warren Haynes joined David Allan Coe's touring and recording band in 1980 when he was 20 years old. He remained with Coe's band for four years.
Shortly after, Haynes got a gig with The Nighthawks, while continuing to play with local musicians and doing session guitar and vocal work. One notable achievement of this period is a song he co-wrote[1] with Dennis Robbins and Bobby Boyd that would later be cut by country musician Garth Brooks, titled "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House", which was released on the album No Fences and remained the number 1 single on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for twenty weeks.
Dickey Betts Band and The Allman Brothers Band[edit]
Around 1987, Haynes got a call to perform backup vocals on a studio album by Dickey Betts, along with Dennis Robbins. Betts, who had concentrated on his solo career following the breakup of The Allman Brothers Band, decided to add Haynes to his band as his guitarist after the session. With Matt Abts on drums and Johnny Neel on keyboards, the now formed Dickey Betts Band released the 1988 album Pattern Disruptive. In the same year, Haynes also co-wrote the title track for Gregg Allman's solo album Just Before the Bullets Fly.
In 1989, The Allman Brothers Band decided to reunite, and Betts recruited Haynes to join the band. Also joining were Neel on keyboards and Allen Woody on bass guitar. Haynes has since played on four well-received studio albums, including the gold certified Where It All Begins (1994). It was that same year when Haynes played to his largest audience ever with the Allman Brothers at Woodstock '94. Haynes and Woody left the group in March 1997 to focus solely on their side project Gov't Mule. Shortly after Woody's untimely death on August 26, 2000, Haynes began appearing with The Allman Brothers Band again alongside young guitar prodigy Derek Trucks. He returned to the band as a full-time member shortly thereafter. On January 8, 2014, Haynes and Trucks jointly announced their respective plans to leave the ABB by the end of 2014, following the conclusion of the band's celebration of its 45th anniversary,[7] with the band subsequently announcing that they would disband at the same time.
Instructional videos[edit]
Haynes has recorded two instructional videos for Arlen Roth's Hot Licks Video: Electric Blues & Slide Guitar and Acoustic Slide and the art of Electric Improvisation. He discusses his influences and shows an array of techniques such as "call and response", string bending, vibrato, slide guitar in standard tuning and some acoustic open tuning licks in G and E tunings. For the demonstrations of the electric improvisation section of the second video, he is accompanied by Allen Woody and Matt Abts.
Taping policy[edit]
All of Warren Haynes' projects allow audio taping and trading. He does not approve of video recording or photography of his performances and does not provide access to soundboard patches.[16] The Allman Brothers Band also allows taping and trading, but does not allow distribution of their shows via the internet using such applications as BitTorrent. The reason given for this restriction is that it is more communal to trade person-to-person. In a 2005 USA Today article, Haynes stated that while tape-trading may cut into band profits, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks due to an increased fanbase.[17]