Formation When the Allman Brothers Band reformed in 1989, partially in response to the popularity of their
Dreams box set, Warren Haynes was added as a permanent
lead guitarist and vocalist, and
Allen Woody was recruited as
bass guitarist. The two shared a love for 1960s
power trios like
Cream, the
Jimi Hendrix Experience, the
James Gang, and
Mountain. Haynes, Woody, and drummer
Matt Abts, who played with Haynes in
Dickey Betts' band, came together as Gov't Mule during Allman Brothers breaks. They released their debut album, ''
Gov't Mule, produced by Michael Barbiero, in 1995. Live at Roseland Ballroom'' was released in 1996, consisting of their 1995
New Year's Eve set opening for
Blues Traveler. When the Allman Brothers Band were not forthcoming with any new material, Haynes and Woody left to concentrate full-time on Gov't Mule in 1997. Their second studio effort,
Dose, also produced by Barbiero, was released in early 1998. They were joined by members of the Allman Brothers, the
Black Crowes,
Parliament/
Funkadelic and
the Derek Trucks Band for their 1998 New Year's Eve concert, released both in a two and four CD version as
Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends. The performances exposed some of the bands' influences, covering
Neil Young,
Free,
Traffic,
Jimi Hendrix,
Little Feat,
Humble Pie and
Black Sabbath.
Death of Allen Woody . From left:
Warren Haynes,
Matt Abts, and
Allen Woody. In February 2000, the band released
Life Before Insanity, to critical praise, and although the band had already experienced previous successes, they anticipated a greater commercial success with this album. Unfortunately, Allen Woody was found dead in
New York City on August 26 of that year. On September 21, 2000, a benefit concert was organized called "One for Woody", with the proceeds going to Woody's daughter, Savannah Woody, intended for her education.
The Allman Brothers,
the Black Crowes,
Phil Lesh and Friends,
Jimmy Herring,
Edwin McCain and several more of Woody's friends also performed at the concert. Haynes and Abts continued to do limited touring in the Fall of 2000 supporting
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals as an homage to Woody. Their subsequent "Smile at Half Mast Tour" that followed was named in reference to a poem Haynes wrote for Woody's funeral. At the "One for Woody" performance and subsequently at other shows, Haynes began appearing with the Allman Brothers Band again. With Dickey Betts' departure from the Allmans, Haynes came back full-time to the band at the beginning of 2001 and would continue splitting his time between the Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule, and, for a period,
Phil Lesh and Friends and other
re-formed Grateful Dead bands until the Allman Brothers disbanded for the final time in 2014. The next year, Barbiero, Haynes and Abts began to record a
tribute album. using some of Woody's favorite bass players. These sessions resulted in two CDs
The Deep End, Volume 1 (2001) and
The Deep End, Volume 2 (2002). A documentary of the recording sessions was also made by
Phish bassist
Mike Gordon called
Rising Low. Bass contributions to the CDs came from
Jack Bruce, formerly of
Cream,
John Entwistle of
the Who,
Mike Watt of
Minutemen,
Les Claypool of
Primus,
Flea of the
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Chris Squire of
Yes and
Stefan Lessard of
Dave Matthews Band among others. A revolving door of keyboardists and bassists were used to fulfill touring engagements in support of the Deep End recordings. Keyboardists included
Chuck Leavell,
Rob Barraco,
Page McConnell and Danny Louis. Bassists included, among others,
Dave Schools of
Widespread Panic,
Oteil Burbridge who already had filled Woody's former place in the Allman Brothers,
Les Claypool of
Primus,
Victor Wooten of the
Flecktones,
George Porter Jr. of
the Meters, former
Metallica bassist
Jason Newsted, ex-Black Crowes member and
Buddy Guy sideman
Greg Rzab, and
Andy Hess, also formerly of the Black Crowes. Louis and Hess were eventually named as permanent members of Gov't Mule.
Beginnings of the Quartet with Gov't Mule in 2008 The first CD with Louis and Hess,
Deja Voodoo, was released in September 2004. The album won the Jammy award for Best Album and was the last studio album involving Michael Barbiero as producer and engineer. Additional material from those sessions was released in 2005 as ''Mo' Voodoo''. The new lineup's second full release,
High & Mighty, was released on August 22, 2006, and it was followed in 2007 by a dub/reggae album called
Mighty High – including versions of covers and original songs with special guest appearances by
Michael Franti,
Toots Hibbert, and
Willi Williams. Gov't Mule appeared at music festivals, including
Bonnaroo,
Wakarusa,
Mountain Jam,
Vegoose,
All Good, and their annual
New Orleans Jazzfest night show, where they filmed and recorded the last show of the Deepest End tours, with 17 guest musicians in a six-hour show. Every year since 1989, Warren Haynes hosts the
Annual Christmas Jam in his hometown of
Asheville,
North Carolina. The concert usually takes place the first weekend in December at the
Asheville Civic Center, as a fundraiser for
Habitat For Humanity. Many artists who play at the Christmas Jam also perform separate gigs in various Asheville clubs, usually the day before the Jam proper. The Pre-Jam, as it is called, features many of the same artists, in smaller clubs. The 19th edition of the Jam took place on December 15, 2007 with performances by
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals,
Shelly Colvin,
Jason Isbell,
Jackson Browne,
G. Love,
Bruce Hornsby,
Peter Frampton, and others. Gov't Mule headlined. On June 28, 2008, while keyboardist Danny Louis was drafted by
Cheap Trick to revisit Sgt. Pepper at the Hollywood Bowl, Gov't Mule performed as a
power trio for the first time since 2000, this time with its regular bassist Andy Hess. The band titled their set "Old School Mule" and ran through some of their older songs such as "Wandering Child" and "Thorazine Shuffle". On September 15, 2008, Haynes' wife, Stefani Scamardo announced on her
Sirius radio show that
Andy Hess would be leaving the band and a new bassist would be in place for the fall tour. Hess was subsequently replaced by Jorgen Carlsson, who had been rehearsing with the band for six months.
Enter Carlsson in 2010 in Germany in 2017 On August 17, 2009, it was announced on the band's official website that Gov't Mule's eighth studio album,
By a Thread, would be released on October 27, 2009. On the same date, the first track of the new album, "Broke Down on the Brazos", featuring
Billy Gibbons of
ZZ Top, was made available for listening on the website. On October 31, 2009, Gov't Mule gave a special Halloween concert at the
Tower Theater outside
Philadelphia. From the Gov't Mule web site: "Following in the tradition of 2007's
Holy Haunted House and last year's
Pink Floyd spectacular, the band, once again, has something very special planned for the occasion." This third in their series of Halloween shows featured a first set of over two hours, composed entirely of
Rolling Stones covers. Previous sold-out shows had featured covers of
Led Zeppelin's
Houses of the Holy and an assortment of Pink Floyd compositions. Gov't Mule played at the "Island Exodus" in
Negril, Jamaica in January 2010, at the
all-inclusive resort The Grand Lido Negril. The First Island Exodus consisted of three Gov't Mule shows and a Warren Haynes solo show. Also appearing at this event were
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals,
Ron Holloway, and
DJ Logic. Gov't Mule also played at the
Hangout Music festival on Saturday, May 15, 2010, and at the
Azkena Rock Festival in
Vitoria-Gasteiz,
Spain, on June 24, 2010. The band also opened up for the
Dave Matthews Band on Friday, July 30, 2010, at
Cruzan Amphitheatre, in
West Palm Beach, Florida. In October 2010, Gov't Mule celebrated Halloween at the
Fox Theater in Oakland, California. Warren Haynes and company used their first set to cover
the Who's album ''
Who's Next'' in its entirety. Except for its regular festival appearances, the band was mostly on hiatus during the early part of the decade while band members pursued other projects, particularly Haynes and his Warren Haynes Band. In the summer of 2013, the band gave details on their album
Shout!, their first studio album in four years and their first release on
Blue Note Records, which was released on September 24 of that year. In what Haynes contends is a first, the album included a bonus disc consisting of covers of the album's tracks by artists including
Elvis Costello,
Dr. John,
Grace Potter and
Steve Winwood. On December 31, 2013, Gov't Mule performed with
Robby Krieger, the guitarist from
the Doors, at the
Beacon Theatre in New York City. The following year, they performed at the Beacon Theatre again with
Myles Kennedy of
Alter Bridge. They performed 18 classic
AC/DC songs in a second set with Kennedy on vocals for the New Year's Eve "Back at the Beacon" show.
Recent years On June 9, 2017, Gov't Mule released their tenth studio album
Revolution Come... Revolution Go on Fantasy Records. Following the
Rolling Stone premiere of "Stone Cold Rage", "Sarah, Surrender" was premiered exclusively at
KBCO, and the album launched for pre-orders on April 12. When talking about "Stone Cold Rage", Haynes points out that the song represents "the divide that's going on in our country right now." He explains that "even though it was written before the election, it was written knowing that whichever way the results went, we were going to have close to fifty percent of the nation very angry. Musically, it's an aggressive up-tempo rock song that reflects the anger of the lyrics, but with a sense of sarcasm and humor." On the heels of the release of their new record,
Revolution Come... Revolution Go, Gov't Mule kicked off their extensive tour, including stops at
New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival with
Soulive, New York and Philadelphia with
Chris Robinson Brotherhood, a return to Europe, 14 dates with
Galactic up and down the East Coast/Mid-West, a night at
Red Rocks, festival sets at
The Peach Music Festival,
Lockn' Festival,
Summer Camp Music Festival and Del Fest, and four shows with
Blackberry Smoke. Appearing as festival-closing headliner for the
King Biscuit Blues Festival, the band was joined in a 40-minute encore by blues musicians
Larry McCray and
Bob Margolin. In 2019, the Mule released a full-length concert film and accompanying recording,
Bring on the Music, which was recorded at Port Chester, New York's Capitol Theatre.
Peace... Like a River followed in 2023. Days prior to the release, Jorgen Carlsson announced he was departing the band, to be replaced on tour by Kevin Scott. ==Members==