FAMILY BUSINESS
“I THINK THE THING PEOPLE WILL REALIZE AS THEY SEE US IS THAT WE MAY BE RELATED TO THESE LEGENDS, BUT WE HAVE A STRONG CENTERPIECE BAND AND A STRONG RECORD … WE HAVE A BEAUTIFUL THING GOING.” —DEVON ALLMAN
DEVON ALLMAN AND DUANE
Betts met each other in 1989 when the Allman Brothers Band — the group anchored by their fathers, Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts — reformed for a 20th -anniversary tour. Devon, 17, walked onto a tour bus and saw a tow-headed preteen Duane listening to music intently on his Walkman.
“I said, ‘Hi,’ and asked him what he was listening to,” All-man recalls. “He said, ‘Testament,’ and I was like, ‘All right!’ We bonded right away.”
Their friendship might’ve begun on their fathers’ bus over cerebral muso speed metal, but it’s blossomed into something very different — and very much, a collection of original songs in which you can hear echoes of the Allman Brothers Band even as they forge their own sound. The album was recorded live at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where so much essential music has been captured, including tracks by the Rolling Stones, Otis Redding and Wilson Pickett, to name just a few. It’s also where Duane Allman earned acclaim as a session player.
