Warren Haynes Talks New Solo Album, Gov’t Mule’s 30th, and the Allmans Brothers’ Final Show

“Ain’t it good to be alive?” Warren Haynes sings on “This Life as We Know It,” the first single from his first solo album in almost a decade: Million Voices Whisper. It is good to be alive, as it turns out, in spite of it all. With the album, Haynes (Grammy-winning singer/songwriter and long-time guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band), hangs on through a tunnel of uncertainty to celebrate coming out the other side renewed, wiser, and hopeful.

Over the course of his career, Haynes has alternated between working with the Allman Brothers Band, its harder-edged offshoot Gov’t Mule, stints with Phil Lesh and Friends, and being an in-demand guest artist at a number of concert events and studio sessions. He’s also released three acclaimed solo albums: 1993’s hard-edged Tales of Ordinary Madness, 2011’s soul-driving Man in Motion, and the more folk/Americana-leaning Ashes & Dust with Railroad Earth in 2015. Now, with Million Voices Whisper, he returns to his soul-loving roots.

Resilience and positivity emanate not only from “This Life as We Know It,” but on much of Million Voices Whisper. Songs reach beyond the universal, into the ups and downs of relationships. Haynes has always had a knack for penning heartfelt lyrics that dig deeper than the cliches of the typical love song and examples abound here, with “From Here On Out,” “Go Down Swinging,” and others. While musically, many moments on Million Voices Whisper reinforce his longtime love and appreciation of southern soul music.

“When it started out, the first four or five songs I wrote all kind of had that Muscle Shoals sort of vibe,” Haynes says. “But then, as I continued writing, it branched off in a lot of different directions.”

Those different directions pushed Haynes toward the idea of his first solo project in nine years. His full-time band, Gov’t Mule, emerged from the pandemic in full creative mode. In fact, they recorded two separate albums at once but released them a year apart: their first all-out blues album, 2022’s Heavy Load Blues, and 2023’s more rock-leaning Peace…Like A River. With all that music, Haynes still had songs left over. “I’ve been writing so much over the past four or five years that I accumulated a bunch of songs that didn’t feel like Gov’t Mule songs,” he explains. “But they all seemed to work together. And that’s usually an indication that it’s time to make a solo record.”

He set up shop at the Power Station in New England with current members of the Warren Haynes Band: Terrence Higgins on drums (of Dirty Dozen Brass Band fame), John Medeski on keys (Medeski, Martin, and Wood), and new Gov’t Mule bassist Kevin Scott (marking the first time Scott’s appeared on a Haynes recording since joining the Mule in 2023), along with Saundra Williams on backing vocals. He then fleshed out the new songs with input from his fellow musicians.

Although he had certain ideas in mind for the new album, Haynes allowed the songs – and input from the musicians – to dictate the direction. “I never want to inflict my vision on the musicians until they’ve had a chance to offer their interpretation from what they first feel,” Haynes says of how he collects input on songs. “When you’re working with great musicians, which I’m fortunate enough to be able to do all the time, it’s inevitable that people are going to come up with ideas that you wouldn’t think of yourself.”

No Stranger to Collaboration

One of those collaborative band efforts was the funky, epic, “Lies, Lies, Lies>Monkey Dance>Lies, Lies, Lies”: “What we call ‘Monkey Dance’ is that whole [improvised] middle section,” Haynes explains. “We did a handful of takes, and they were all extremely different from each other. I think that might have been the first or second one we did, but that one just had a really unique vibe about it, and it was totally unscripted.” The improvisation lends the song a half-time, hard rock interlude in the middle of a jazzy, funk-soul workout.

Haynes co-wrote about half of the songs on Million Voices Whisper. Lukas Nelson joined him for “Day of Reckoning,” which features Nelson and Jamey Johnson trading vocals with Haynes, resulting in a sort of modern-day Crosby, Stills, and Nash sound. (In fact, the deluxe version of the album includes an extended take that begins with a tease of CSN’s “Find the Cost of Freedom.”) Each voice is distinctive, and together, they weave a unique tonal impression.

Haynes also co-wrote “Go Down Swinging” with Johnson, a song reminiscent of Robbie Robertson and the Band, no doubt inspired by Haynes and Johnson’s shared time touring the Last Waltz, a celebration and recreation of the Band’s legendary 1976 final concert, in 2022. Haynes is no stranger to working with co-writers. In the mid-to-late 1980s, he contributed to songs that eventually became country hits for George Jones (“Finally Friday”) and Garth Brooks (“Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House,” which stayed at number one for 20 weeks). That relationship with Music City carries over to this new album; he co-wrote the reassuring, soul-stirring love ballad, “’Til the Sun Comes Shining Through” with ‘90s country star Rhett Akins.

Of all the co-writes on Million Voices Whisper, however, “Real, Real Love,” a posthumous collaboration with Gregg Allman, may be the most special. “[Gregg] had started that [song] by himself,” Haynes explains. “At one point when I was down at his place in Savannah – I would go down there and we would write songs for, like, three days or something – he showed me the lyric, but he didn’t finish it,” Haynes recalls. “So, I finished the lyrics and wrote music for it, and then I called Derek [Trucks] and said, ‘We should record this together.’ That was the inspiration for us reuniting for this project.”

Reuniting With a Brother

Million Voices Whisper opens with “These Changes,” a six-plus-minute ballad culminating with a Haynes-Trucks guitar duet, reminiscent of their work with the Allman Brothers Band. It’s the first time they’ve played together in the studio since the Allman Brothers disbanded in 2014.

After working on “Real, Real Love,” according to Haynes, “We decided, ‘Well, let’s get together and write some songs.’” Two of those songs wound up bookending Million Voices Whisper: its opener, “These Changes,” and the closer, “Hall of Future Saints” which, quite literally, came to Haynes in a dream.

“It’s about acknowledging your heroes and the people you learn from,” he explains. The song’s off-kilter groove inspired an extended jam between Haynes and Trucks on the coda, while Haynes shouts out various classic blues lines. “It just kind of happened impromptu in the studio,” he says.

Mules and Ordinary Madness

In addition to the usual promotional work for Million Voices Whisper, Haynes is reaching back into the archives to celebrate a couple of milestones. His first solo effort, “Tales of Ordinary Madness,” which turned 30 in 2023, has just been remixed and will soon be available. There’s also the business of Gov’t Mule turning 30 next year. “It’s hard to believe that it’s been that long,” he admits. To mark the occasion, the Mule camp is planning some previously unreleased studio material that includes late bassist Allen Woody from their first three albums. “We’re hoping to put out an entire CD of unreleased stuff of the original trio,” Haynes reveals. “We’re also planning some special shows for the 30th anniversary.”

One of the long-running annual traditions since 1988, Warren Haynes’s Christmas Jam, held in his hometown of Asheville, NC is, on hold this year after Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina. Instead, Haynes has teamed with the Dave Matthews Band, Nathaniel Ratliff and the Night Sweats, Goose, and several other kindred spirits for Soulshine, A Benefit for Hurricane Relief and Recovery. The sold out event will be held on Sunday, November 24th, at Madison Square Garden. “Everybody is being so supportive in the musical community,” Haynes says. “They just need help so bad. We’re going to just try to raise as much money as possible.” 

Peakin’ at the Beacon

October 28th, 2024 marked ten years since the Allman Brothers Band’s final performance, which took place at the end of a series of six concerts at NYC’s Beacon Theater. Unlike their previous appearances at the venue, their final run of shows was just the band, no guests, and minus founding member, Dicky Betts. To mark the anniversary, the full concert was released on streaming services on October 25th and will be available as a 3-CD set on November 22, 2024.

“I’m really happy with the way that turned out,” Haynes says of the recording and the night. “That was a really special show… It just felt like we were elevated on a higher plane than normal. We’d been talking for two or three years about going out at the top of our game, and when and where and how to go about it. And it came off exactly like it’s supposed to.”

Dedicated to Dickey

Million Voices Whisper is dedicated to Betts, who passed away in April of this year. “[Being in the Allman Brothers Band] was just such amazing opportunity for me,” Haynes says. “And with Dickey Betts’ passing, I feel like I owe it to the world to acknowledge that he gave me the biggest break of my career.”

Haynes was picked to be part of the Dickey Betts Band after Betts had seen him play guitar behind David Allen Coe in the early 1980s. Haynes was also an integral part of Pattern Disruptive, the DBB’s sole album in 1988.

“I had no idea that that was going to lead me to me joining the Allman Brothers,” Haynes says. “Every time a reunion was brought up, the answer was always, ‘No, that’s never gonna happen.’ So, I took them at their word.”

The following year, when Haynes got the call saying the Allmans actually were reforming – and wanted him to be a part of it – he was as surprised as anyone. “I’ve always said that if I joined a band that I grew up listening to, the Allman Brothers would be at the top of the list,” he admits. “Aside from that, the doors that it opened for me were unbelievable, and Dickey’s the one that gave me that opportunity.”

Listening to Million Voices Whisper, including the reunion with Derek Trucks on three tracks, one can’t help but sense the pride Dickey Betts would surely still feel for his one-time protégée, long-time bandmate, and life-long brother.

Million Voices Whisper was released on Nov. 1 via Fantasy Records.