Webzine Le Net Blues
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The Allman Brothers with Eric Clapton
- Beacon Theatre New York
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Butch Trucks
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THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND
(Patricia Clavel)
The Allman Brothers finished a series of 15
shows last March at the New York Beacon Theater. Did the end result
meet your expectations, and if so, what were they exactly?
(Butch Trucks)
-Not really sure how to answer those questions.
My expectation is, always has been and always will be to play the best
music I am capable of playing and to make it possible for the people playing
with me to do the same. The recent Beacon run ranks right at the top of
doing those things. Every show and every guest just took things to different
places, but all 15 of them were amazing. I have never been through a musical
experience as powerful as those 15 shows. Musically and emotionally they
were as good as it’s ever been. I guess what I try to do now is to top
them.
I know surprise guests made some special appearances
here and there, how was it? Any special anecdote to tell?
It was a lot of things. How do you compare Taj
Mahal with Randy Brecker or Johnny Winter with Sheryl Crow? Everyone brought
their own voice to the show and somehow we seemed to be able to talk to
them all. There were 67 in all and I guess the best anecdote is that we
were able to play 100 different songs during those 15 shows, many of them
for the first time, and there wasn’t a single train wreck.
Have you ever considered a reunion with your
ex-second lead guitarist Dickey Betts, especially on the occasion of the
40th anniversary year of the Allman Brothers Band (ABB)?
We did invite him to join us for the Beacon run
but we didn’t hear from him.
Do you still keep in touch with him?
No.
After 40 years of success, are there still
any dreams or goals left to be fulfilled by this band?
I can’t think of any. I am just enjoying the
intensity that the band continues to play with. I come off of the stage
most nights blown away that I get paid for having so much fun. After doing
this for 40 years what else could anyone ask for?
May I ask what your projects are for the future?
Can we hope that a Canadian tour is one of them?
We are beginning a 56 show summer tour. We have
started with the west coast and will be doing the Midwest and an east coast
run. Sorry but we weren’t able to work out any shows in Canada this year.
Other than for your great music, to what specifically
do you think you owe your great success and longevity to?
Sobriety, good health and staying in shape. I
work out with a personal trainer when we’re off. It takes a lot of energy
to play three hours with the amount of power that we play with.
I am sure they are more than one and many
more to come, but what special event or accomplishment would you describe
as the highlight of your career so far?
Right now I have to say this year’s Beacon run.
Gregg Allman
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The Allman Brothers 2009
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MOOGIS
You have created a new internet concept called
Moogis: a website which provides for $125 direct access to fans to all
the great Allman Brothers performances at the Beacon Theater. What
motivated you to exploit this particular medium? Does it offer a richer
experience or more interesting options than a DVD? Is it just an
experiment or a long-term project? How many subscribers have you got so
far, and did you receive any feedback?
Moogis evolved from a failed attempt to start
a record label aimed at the “jam band” market that would give the artist
ownership in the label. As you can probably tell starting a new label these
days is not the smartest thing to do. When I decided to fold the label
I started trying to come up with a model that could replace the failing
labels and radio stations as a new paradigm for music distribution and
exposure. Moogis is that model. The communities of today are on the internet.
When I was a kid I came home and got together with the other kids in the
neighborhood and play ball or something. Now most kids come home and log
on and hang with their friends. I plan to evolve Moogis into a place that
will be on everyday with a live concert every night. It will be filled
with videos of the current jam bands as well as the new up and coming ones.
Not only will Moogis give music lovers a place to hang with their friends
that like the music they like it will also give these new bands a chance
to get some national and even international exposure.
More and more music stores and music label
companies disappear every day due to the overwhelming availability of music
on the internet. The fact that you came up with Moogis demonstrates your
understanding and ability to adapt to new technologies. How
do you think this is affecting the music industry and what do you expect
for the future?
It is my hope that the Moogis model will take
hold. This will be a way for artists to finally make a good living playing
music. Right now, with the demise of the record companies and radio stations
playing less and less good new music it is very tough to break a new band.
Moogis will solve this problem. We also have a revenue sharing model that
will make it possible for young bands to start making a living with their
art and finally give up their day gigs.
Are you preoccupied by these changes, or do
you simply perceive this problem as a natural and inevitable evolution
of the music industry?
The internet has most definitely changed the
world. I am one of those that believe that anyone who downloads a song
or rips it from a friend is stealing. This seems very obvious to me. I
would like to see a person that sells shoes for a living allow people to
just come in and take shoes without paying for them. Now I would like them
to explain the difference. They make a living selling shoes, musicians
make a living selling their music. You steal their songs you take away
their ability to make a living. All that being said I don’t think that
people are all of a sudden going to develop the ethics that will allow
music sales to provide a living for most musicians. Moogis is a way to
monetize the live concert in a way that everybody wins. Of course there
is nothing that we put on Moogis that can’t be ripped but you cannot rip
the live experience. Of course being at the show is the best way to see
a band but since we can’t all go to every show we would like then the Moogis
model is as good a second choice as there is.
BUTCH TRUCKS
Derek Trucks
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Beacon Theater - New York
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You have been the ABB’s drummer since the beginning;
needless to say you have gained a great deal of experience as a musician
over the years. Do you ever find yourself still learning or getting influenced
by other drummers’ technique or approach?
Not so much at this stage of the game. I did
my woodshedding years ago. I learn now by playing.
What other recent groups or artists do you
listen to today?
To be honest I don’t really listen to much music
these days. When I do it tends to be some of the old standard jazz albums
like Mile’s “Kind of Blue” or ‘Trane’s “My Favorite Things”. I tend to
spend my time driving around listening to college lectures on philosophy,
history and literature. Still getting my education.
Please talk to me about your relation with
your nephew: guitarist Derek Trucks ?
Derek is, as you say, my nephew. Because he also
happens to be a very good, decent and intelligent human being I think the
world of him. As a guitarist with the Allman Brothers we are in another
world. Our blood relationship to each other has little to do with our relationship
to each other as musicians playing together. He just happens to be one
of the best guitarists in the world and I am lucky enough to be playing
with him.
Forty years as a professional musician is an
accomplishment by itself, forty years as a successful musician seems to
defy the realm of possibility. Did you ever think when everything
started that the ABB could keep on rocking together for so long?
To be honest “thinking” wasn’t something we did
a lot of 40 years ago. It was very much living in the moment. It still
is. It just happens to be 40 years later. I do believe that this is one
reason we have done what we have done. We never set out to become “stars”.
It was and still is all about the music.
What kind of experience the crowd may expect
during one of your shows?
If they like the kind of music we play they can
expect to be taken to new places every time they see us.
Thank you so much!
Patricia Clavel
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