'Rock titans' Gov't Mule return to Artpark; Warren Haynes previews show

By Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

If you think a jukebox holds a lot of songs, wait ‘til you get a load of Warren Haynes.

Of late, the Gov’t Mule frontman and former Allman Brothers Band player issued his fourth studio album, "Million Voices Whisper”; he followed that up with “The Whisper Session”; he’s about to release the expanded, remixed and remastered version of “Tales of Ordinary Madness,” as well as the “Dreams & Songs” symphonic album. … And when he and his band return to Lewiston for an Aug. 6 headline appearance at Artpark, they’ll be playing behind “Peace…Like A River.”

“Most tours that we do, we probably play over 100 songs” across the full run, Haynes said in a recent phone interview. “I don't know how many are in our catalog, as far as if you count songs we played once or twice, but it's well over 1,000, I would think.”

On any given night, fans might hear songs including “Banks of the Deep End,” “Wake Up Dead,” “Soulshine” or “Beautifully Broken.” With 20-plus albums to date, there’s no shortage of material.

Haynes explained, “When we come back to any area, we consult the log of setlists and see what we played the last time and the time before that, and make sure that it's completely different. Also, tonight will be different from last night and the night before. We also try to just take into consideration the energy of the audience, what kind of audience it is, and what kind of songs seem to connect. If it's an outdoor show, it's different. If it's indoor, it’s different. And, of course, a lot of it's just based on what we feel like playing. We want to do a different show every night for ourselves, first and foremost, to keep ourselves fresh and happy; but the audience embraces that, as well.

“A lot of our audience keeps coming back to multiple shows, and I meet people all the time that say, ‘Oh, tonight's my 50th show,’ or ‘Tonight's my 100th show,’ or whatever the case is, and I'm extremely grateful for that. Still a little mind-boggling.

“I think if we were one of those bands that played the same 15 songs, the same way, night after night, that wouldn't be the case.”

Gov’t Mule live on stage. (Photo credit: Josh Hitchens // courtesy of PRESS HERE)

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For “Peace…Like A River,” Gov’t Mule was forced to go backward – not musically, but in terms of recording. Normally, the band would play new songs live – take them out and give them some air and room to grow – before getting into the studio and making them permanent.

“The COVID lockdown forced all of us into rethinking our strategies, especially people in the music business,” Haynes said. “And for me, that translated to writing as much music as I could. That was my way of dealing or coping, and I wound up writing more music than I've written in decades.

“We felt like, since we had all this time on our hands, we should just go into the studio and make two records at the same time, which we did. But we weren't able to test drive any of it in front of an audience; and we weren't able to really go into rehearsal mode, other than going straight into the studio and rehearsing there. So, it forced us to take a different approach to the recording, which wound up being not only fun but very rewarding.”

He added, “A lot of bands work that way and really enjoy it. I think the Rolling Stones worked that way a lot. But it was just a different way to make a record – but a necessary method, I think – and I'm really happy with the way it turned out.”

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Now that the new Gov’t Mule songs have been shared, “some of them have changed quite drastically – but that's always the case,” Haynes said. “When you play a song the 50th time or the 100th time … sometimes they grow in ways that you wouldn't have expected or predicted.

“There are songs like ‘The River Only Flows One Way’ – that song is different every time we play it, and that's the way it should be. What we captured on the studio recording is where it was at that moment, which we're really proud of. But we're not looking to recreate that, because it was so improvisational in nature, that we want to take that same spirit on a nightly basis. There are other ones, like ‘Gone Too Long,’ that's changed a little bit. It's become a little more of a rock song. ‘Same As It Ever Was,’ we're playing with a similar arrangement, but it's grown in some interesting ways, as well. Some of the more song-oriented ones don't change as much through the years.”

Image courtesy of Artpark & Company

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JJ Grey & Mofro will provide support for the “Kicking in your Stall” show at Artpark.

“We love those guys,” Haynes said. “We've done shows together in the past, and they're fantastic. It'll be a wonderful evening of music.

“Of course, we love Artpark. We’ve played there many times. We're just looking forward to a great night.”

He added, “That area has always been really good to Gov’t Mule ever since we started in 1994. I guess it's that area just has a lot of serious music fans – you know, people that take music as a big, important part of their life. So many of our fans are really fanatical about music, and I love that. And the Buffalo area seems to have an abundance of those kind of folks.”

Later this year, Gov’t Mule will hit the road with another Artpark regular: Ziggy Marley.

“We've been friends for a long time,” Haynes said. “We've shared the stage together a few times. He sat in with The Allman Brothers going back over 10 years ago. He and I wrote a couple of songs together – one of which is called ‘Dreaming The Same Dream,’ which is the title of our tour. That song appeared on my live album, ‘Live at Moody Theater.’ The other song we wrote together has never been recorded, so I'm hoping to brush that one off, too, and see where it goes.”

Tickets for Gov’t Mule are on sale now. Visit www.artpark.net.

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