Devon Allman’s Honeytribe – Torch
It is surely no cakewalk to launch your career in music if your father has gone and made himself a legend before you had any say in the matter. That’s especially true if your sound resembles that of your dad’s. Understandable as that is, given the DNA, the music in the household, and so on, it has to be and forgive the Allmanism a cross for Devon Allman to bear.
Of course, you’d never know it from the sound of Torch, on which singer-guitarist Allman (son of Gregg), backed by keyboardist Jack Kirkner, bassist George Potsos and drummer Mark Oyatzabel, so strongly evokes the Allman Brothers that you’d hear the resemblance instantly, no matter what the leader’s last name happens to be. Would the congas on “Mahalo”, so discreet as to be nearly inaudible, be there at all if it weren’t for the precedent of Marc Quinones with the ABB? From the vocal phrasing and trudging blues of “Perfect World” to the greasy slide and shuffle groove of “Why You Wanna”, their energy is more imitative than original. Even so, the spirit and chops they bring to the table would make this OK, if they hadn’t thrown a gratuitous and unnecessary cover of “No Woman, No Cry” into the mix.
Ironic postscript: Kirkner divides his time between Honeytribe and a Grateful Dead tribute band out of St. Louis. Were it not for the song titles on Torch, it’s tempting to suggest that he has two such projects on his calendar.