Warren Haynes is one of rock and roll’s most deft and prolific practitioners. Combining blues, jazz, folk, and hard rock influences, he has earned a reputation as a soulful singer, virtuosic guitarist, and thoughtful songwriter, whether leading his band, Gov’t Mule, or launching various solo projects. He was a guitarist for the legendary Allman Brothers Band for twenty-five years.
Haynes is promoting his fourth solo record, Million Voices Whisper (out 11/1/24). Featuring John Medeski on keyboards, Terrence Higgins on drums, and Gov’t Mule bassist Kevin Scott, the new collection of songs enables Haynes to express his love for Muscle Shoals-style rhythm and blues. It is an emotionally animated record, full of hopeful lyrics and the extended guitar jams that his legions of fans have grown to love. To help on the improvisational front, Haynes enlisted his former Allman Brothers bandmate, Derek Trucks, who alongside Haynes, co-wrote three of the new songs.
Million Voices Whisper is a powerful addition to the Haynes catalog, providing musical excitement and lyrical contemplation. It is the work of a mature songwriter and seasoned performer who has assembled a creatively adept group of musicians.
Haynes is preparing to play a series of shows with Gov’t Mule in November and December, including one with the Warren Haynes Band at the benefit show titled Soulshine for hurricane victims in his native town of Asheville, North Carolina. He will then embark on a spring tour with the Warren Haynes Band in support of Million Voices Whipser; Glide recently had the opportunity to talk to Haynes. We discussed his new record, his diverse range of influences, and adopting a positive attitude through the changes and challenges of life.
You’re a prolific songwriter and musician – writing and performing songs with Gov’t Mule and on your own in various genres. How did you decide these new songs comprise a solo album rather than another Mule record?
Since I had written several songs that didn’t seem like Gov’t Mule songs but did all seem to work together, that indicated that it was time to make a solo record. Also, I had not made a solo record in nine years. I can usually tell early on if something sounds like a Gov’t Mule song, or a song for a solo record, or neither.
How did the sound and style of the new record develop? It’s quite different from Ashes and Dust, your previous solo record, which was recorded with Railroad Earth.
The first songs that I wrote for the record had a Muscle Shoals vibe, which is country-soul. The songs were a little different from Man in Motion, my blues and soul solo record. As I continued to write, the songs grew in different directions. They all worked together, but in a way that each song had its own personality. I look at Ashes and Dust as the exception, rather than the rule, because that record was quite a departure. Even though it was my last solo record, it was so different from anything else that I’ve ever done. This record is more comparable to Man in Motion.
Some of the musicians on the record and the supportive tour bring a lot of personality and power to the songs – John Medeski on keyboard, Terrence Higgins on drums. How did you recruit and select them?
Well, Kevin Scott on bass has been the bassist for Mule for the past couple of years. He seemed like a logical choice, because he’s very musically diverse. Medeski and I had been working together a lot in the past few years on other projects, one of which is The Last Waltz tour. He’s always been one of my favorite keyboard players. So, thankfully, he was available. Terrence Higgins was in my last solo band, over ten years ago, and he’s just fantastic. I really wanted to see what this particular band would sound like playing together. Although I had played with all of them, the four of us had never played together. I assumed it would be great, but you never know until you jump into the fire, and I’m happy to say that it exceeded my expectations right from the beginning.
How does your role differ when you are leading Gov’t Mule from what you just said, leading a new band?
It’s similar. I want everyone to bring their personality to the table. I want to see what their natural inclination is upon hearing a new song instead of or before I impose my own thoughts. I always think it is best to open my mind to what everyone feels about the song in the beginning. If that seems like it is flowing, even if it is different from what I initially imagined for the song when I was writing it, I will let it continue. When you are working with great musicians, their ideas will usually take the song further than where you could have taken it on your own.
One of these songs has a Gregg Allman co-write. What’s the story behind that?
Gregg started writing the song, “Real, Real Love.” The song goes back pretty far. He had shown me the unfinished lyrics, but he had not written any music for it. So, I took the incomplete lyric, and finished it. Then, I added music and melody. Then, I called Derek Trucks on the phone and asked him if he would like to be involved in the recording of it. And that’s also where the inspiration for him being involved in this record came from. So, we decided to write together. First, I went down to Georgia to his place, and we spent three days writing together. We came away with four songs, two of which are “These Changes” and “Hall of Future Saints,” which we recorded with Derek for Million Voices Whisper. It was really great to collaborate in the studio with him for the first time since the Allman Brothers stopped playing.
When was the last time that you guys wrote together?
That’s been quite some time. The last thing we wrote together was “Walk Through This Life” for the Tedeschi Trucks record, Signs, in 2019.
You’ve collaborated with many amazing musicians. Is there anyone left on the list?
Well, for the most part, everyone on my list has already come to fruition, even if it is just jamming together. It tends to happen organically whenever that happens, and sparks start to fly. So, even though there are some people on that list, it isn’t something that I would try to force.
The songs on the new record are very emotional and reflective, continuing the personal songwriting of Peace Like a River, the most recent Mule record. I know that you had a health scare and lost your dad. Were those experiences part of the genesis of these songs?
Well, the last few years started with the lockdown situation, and then I broke my shoulder blade and had to cancel songs for the first time in my life. The past few years, in general, have been challenging for me and pretty much the entire world. So, one of the things that I discovered, going back to the Covid lockdown, is that I wanted to use that as an opportunity to shift gears, and not continue writing in a way that reflected where I was before. I wanted to open a new door, and write songs looking at life through a different lens, a much more positive attitude. I’ve written many dark songs. I wanted to use the new opportunity to go down a different road. I did a lot of soul searching, and found that I need to appreciate the great things in my life. I have a great life, and I need to acknowledge and explore that more in music. Someone asked me once, “Why don’t you write more happy songs?” I explained that when I am happy, I’m not writing songs, I’m enjoying life. It was always the challenges in life that inspired me to dig deep and write. These last few years had me trying to go down a new road.
The lead single, “This Life As We Know It,” is a positive and hopeful song.
Yes, it is. What we’ve all been through in the past several years is something that we all share. We experienced challenges that impacted us all. So, I didn’t want to dwell on the downside of it. I set out to adopt a more positive view.
“Hall of Future Saints” is another great song. It references your musical heroes. What was the inspiration for that song when you and Derek sat down together?
The music came first. Lyrically, the song is about a dream I had. But I enhanced it, taking artistic liberties and poetic license. Once I dug into it, it seemed appropriate to point out some of my heroes. I had never done that before. Once we got into the studio, the song came to fruition, and we got into a long jam. Probably, nine out of ten artists would faded early, but the jam was very personal and poignant to us. So, I included it, and utilized the outro jam as a way of tying in the styles of some of those people that the lyrics reference into the song itself.
The tour to promote the record began with Slash, and his Serpent music festival. How did that go?
It was a fun tour. We did a lot of jamming.
This is more of a Mule question, but you are friends with Slash and also James Hetfield of Metallica. Gov’t Mule is easily the heaviest band of the jam world. Is heavy metal and hard rock important to you as a songwriter and band leader?
There were a lot of hard rock bands that made a big impression on a young kid like myself in the 1970s. I loved Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. Led Zeppelin was a major influence. But I never exclusively listened to one thing. At the same time, I listened to soul, blues, jazz, and reggae. I always went through phases, listening to one genre for a while and then listening to another. For awhile, I thought I outgrew some of the music, but then I went back and listened to it, especially the stuff we are talking about, and it really turned out to be great, timeless music.
For me, that’s the most important thing – If the music doesn’t fall by the wayside from an integrity standpoint. If it holds up, decades later, it belongs in the category of timeless. When I was listening to Black Sabbath and Deep Purple when I was twelve, thirteen years old, none of us knew that they would end up in the pantheon. Gov’t Mule does have a hard edge about it, but that’s also because of the school of Cream, Hendrix, and The Who. As I’ve talked about in the past, the main idea behind Mule was to bring back the power trio – the improvisational power trio. From hard rock to blues, jazz, and soul, we’ve tried to reflect all of our influences that we can.
Are there any influences that you consciously set out to reflect on the new solo record?
It has a way of combining my soul music roots, my blues music roots, and my singer/songwriter roots. I hope that it is unique, but also honors where it came from.
David Masciotra is the author of six books, including Exurbia Now: The Battleground of American Democracy and Metallica (a 33 1/3 book). He has written for many publications about politics, music, and literature.
