The Pitch, Kansas City, MO - pitch.com
originally published: October 14, 2004

Gov't Mule
Deja Voodoo (ATO)

Live, these guys burn it up so much, you can fry an egg on any stage
they're standing on. Yes, they jam, but they are grittier and heavier
than the average jam band. And because they model their sense of
interplay after classic jazz outfits, it's unfair to dismiss Warren
Haynes as a standard blues-rock guitarist and the rest of the band as
mere props backing him up.

Gov't Mule goes deep on soulfulness and groove. On the other hand, the
band's passion, fire and greasy fluidity are understandably difficult
to capture on record. The relatively sedate material on this album,
the first studio appearance of keyboardist Danny Louis and bassist
Andy Hess, will most certainly come blazing to life in concert. If
you want to come as close as possible to that dimension with Deja
Voodoo, turn it up loud on the most kick-ass stereo you can find.

Haynes reflects on Mule's rough year

The Michigan Daily
By Jared Newman, Daily Arts Writer
Music Review
October 22, 2004
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/10/22/4178f11969
423


It was exactly one year ago today that rock and blues quartet Gov't
Mule stomped through Ann Arbor's Michigan Theater. Back then, Mule's
big story was that their search to replace the late bassist Allen
Woody had come to a close with veteran string-thumper Andy Hess.
Joining original members Matt Abts (drums) and Warren Haynes (guitar,
vocals), Hess and keyboardist Danny Louis filled out the sound left
behind by Woody.

This year, The Mule returns to the Michigan Theater, finally getting
settled as a band and embarking on a cross-country tour backed by
their latest studio work, Déjà Voodoo.

The decision to switch from a power trio to a quartet after Woody's
death could be viewed as an homage to his aggressive sound. "It
seemed unfair to the band, to the new bass player, to the audience
and to the music to continually be comparing the past to the present
to the future," testifies frontman Warren Haynes. "What you lost is
forever lost. You're trying to replace that with something new."

Despite his regular gig with the Allman Brothers Band, Haynes chose to
continue with Gov't Mule after Woody's death because he realized what
opportunities might have been missed had he and Abts decided to split.
Haynes notes, "It finally dawned on me that the only reason I really
knew Allen Woody is because the Allman Brothers continued after
losing Duane Allman and Berry Oakley." Gov't Mule are a more personal
project for Haynes - something over which he has infinite creative
control. "It's the place that allows me to write and perform songs in
any way I see fit. It's my laboratory."

Though the songwriting on Déjà Voodoo rocks hard, it doesn't compare
to the live experience, especially with a performer like Haynes
taking center stage.

Aside from his regular gigs with Mule and the Allman Brothers Band,
Haynes has toured with The Dead and jammed with cats like John
Scofield and Bernie Worrell. But he just figures that the long hours
are his responsibility as someone endowed with speedy fingers and a
gritty blues voice. "Music is not like digging a ditch. It's fun, and
for people like myself that are blessed the ability to do what we
love for a living, that's something you can't take for granted."

It's never easy to explain why someone like Haynes sounds as good as
he does on his instrument, but he thinks he may have an idea. "We're
all products of our influences. I know that the types of soloists
that I enjoy are musicians that sing through their instruments and
have that vocal-like quality. That's what I've always tried to
achieve for myself."

Haynes's signature style, along with the bands collective taste for
improvisation, means that there should never be a dull sonic moment on
stage. "To me, the ultimate is to walk away (from a show) knowing
that you just saw something that will never happen again, so we take
a different approach night after night." With that mentality in mind,
there should be plenty of repeat customers from last year, looking
for another share of The Mule at tomorrow night's show.

from www.mule.net

ADDITIONAL NEW YEARS RUN SHOWS ADDED
The Mule will be playing the brand-spankin' new Ram's Head Live! In
Baltimore, MD on December 27th and 28th. This is not the Ram's Head
in Annapolis, this is a brand new room and should be the perfect
place to get your Mule on before heading to NYC for the Beacon shows.
Rams Head Live! 20 Market Place Baltimore, Maryland 21012
Tickets are available NOW through Mule Ticketing Password: themule


MULE GETS SIRIUS
Catch an exclusive Gov't Mule Mini-Concert and interview this Friday
10/29 @ 6PM EDT (and repeated 11PM) on Sirius Satellite Radio's Jam-
On Channel 17. If you are not a Sirius subscriber, go to sirius.com
to find out how to get a free 3 day trial.


MORE SHOWS IN 2004?
Check back here on Friday for the announcement of 2 newly confirmed
late-December (in addition to the Xmas Jam) Gov't Mule shows.  See
above.

Christmas Jam info still pending.  So check the Mule's site over the
next few days to get the update they are promising.

IT TAKES MORE THAN A HAMMER & NAILS...
Gov't Mule will once again be performing at "Warren Haynes Presents:
The 16th Annual Christmas Jam" to benefit Habitat For Humanity at The
Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, NC on Saturday December 18th.
Additional confirmed bands and special guest performers, as well as
ticket information, will be announced shortly.

10-26-04
Albany and Nashville are now available for download. Nashville
featured many special guests including JoJo Herman from Widespread
Panic, Audley Freed (Black Crowes), Jack Pearson (Allman Brothers
Band) and the band Gomez.  (www.mule.net)

TO DOWNLOAD GO TO: http://www.muletracks.com/
---------------------------------------------------------------------

See setlist information on the first four muletracks downloadable
matrix shows:

10/20/04
Nashville, TN
Ryman Auditorium

     1st Set: Soulshine, Slackjaw Jezebel, I Think You Know What I
Mean, About To Rage, Perfect Shelter, Bad Little Doggie, Birth Of The
Mule, Slow Happy Boys, Mule

     2nd Set: Time To Confess, Blind Man In The Dark, 32-20 Blues (1),
Out Of The Rain (2), Sco-Mule (3), 30 Days In The Hole (4)
Encore: Don't Let Me Down +(5), Simple Man (4)

     Setlist Notes: (1) Mickey Rafael on harmonica and JoJo Hermann on
Rhodes piano; (2) Mickey on harmonica and Lee Roy Parnell on slide
guitar; (3) Jack Pearson on guitar; (4) Audley Freed on guitar; (5)
singer, guitarist and keyboardist from "Gomez"; + first time played

10/17/04
Albany, NY
Palace Theatre

      1st Set: Slackjaw Jezebel, I Think You Know What I Mean, Blind
Man In The Dark, Mother Earth, Bad Little Doggie, World Gone Wild, No
Celebration, 32-20 Blues
      2nd Set: Mr. Big, If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day, Fallen
Down, Wandering Child > Drums > Lively Up Yourself, New World Blues,
Lola Leave Your Light On
      Encore: Wine and Blood, Soulshine


10/16/04
Portland , ME
State Theater

      1st Set: Thorazine Shuffle, Fool's Moon, Perfect Shelter, Bad
Little Doggie, About To Rage, Rocking Horse, Birth Of The Mule >
Slackjaw Jezebel
      2nd Set: John The Revelator *, Larger Than Life, Game Face,
Trane > Drums, Silent Scream, Effigy, Mule > Who Do You Love? > Mule
Encore: Long Distance Call
      Setlist Notes: * Danny on trumpet


10/15/04
Boston, MA
Orpheum Theatre

      1st Set: Bad Man Walking, About To Rage, Mr. Man, Banks Of The
Deep End, Temporary Saint, Sco-Mule, Beautifully Broken, Slackjaw
Jezebel, Blind Man In The Dark
      2nd Set: Thelonius Beck, Painted Silver Light, No Need To
Suffer, Devil Likes It Slow > Drums > jam > My Separate Reality, Bad
Little Doggie, Lola Leave Your Light On
      Encore: I'm A Ram

Setlist information: http://www.mulebase.com/index.asp

Chicago Sun Times (Suntimes.com)
Pop/Rock

Spin Control
October 24, 2004

VARIOUS ARTISTS, "ENJOY EVERY SANDWICH: THE SONGS OF WARREN ZEVON"
(ARTEMIS) ***

VARIOUS ARTISTS, "UNDER THE INFLUENCE: A JAM BAND TRIBUTE TO LYNYRD
SKYNYRD" (SANCTUARY) ** 1/2

Asked by David Letterman what he had learned about life during a
battle with cancer that had ravaged his body before his death, singer-
songwriter Warren Zevon arched an eyebrow and delivered the reply
that gave title to the new Zevon tribute album. And, in the main, the
friends and accomplices who sing Zevon's songs on the new record seem
to have taken his carpe diem message to their hearts.

Old pal Jackson Browne, for one, grabs "Poor Poor Pitiful Me" by the
throat, resulting in a rave-up of Eddie Cochrane-esque proportions.
Other highlights include Don Henley's reggaefication of "Searching
for a Heart," Jill Sobule's affecting "Don't Let Us Get Sick," Bruce
Springsteen's folkie take on "My Ride's Here" and the loopy David
Lindley-Ry Cooder take on "Monkey Wash, Donkey Rinse." Regrettably,
some sandwiches are more enjoyable than others. Less successful here
are Billy Bob Thornton's breathless "The Wind" and the Wallflowers'
relatively nondescript "Lawyers, Guns and Money."

As for the Skynyrd tribute, Les Claypool's take on "Call Me the
Breeze" is a stunning achievement in funkification, Gov't Mule is
soulful on "Simple Man," Moe and John Hiatt bring the blues
with "Ballad of Curtis Loew" and Yonder Mountain String Band offer a
bluegrass reworking of "Four Walls of Raiford."

The rest of the bunch here, though, including Galactic, North
Mississippi Allstars, Blues Traveler and Drive-By Truckers range from
uninspired to annoying. Skynyrd deserved better.

Jeff Wisser

Oct 26, 2004
The road warrior
Gov't Mule's Warren Haynes talks about how keeping busy keeps him
fresh
By Marc Shapiro
Staff writer
University of Maryland's Independent Student Newspaper
DiamondbackOnline.com

Warren Haynes may be the busiest, hardest working guitarist in
rock 'n' roll.

While most musicians tour with one band at a time, the Gov't Mule
frontman stretched himself touring with jam pioneers The Dead,
southern rock heroes The Allman Brothers Band and his own group. He
even played solo acoustic sets opening for The Dead to promote his
solo June release Live at Bonnaroo. How does he manage to do all of
these things at once? For Haynes, it's a matter of necessity.

"All these projects help to keep me fresh, keep from being stale,"
says the 44-year-old Asheville, N.C., native. "If I just did one
thing all of the time I would definitely find myself in a much
quicker burnout factor." On some nights, Haynes found himself playing
double duty when two of the bands' paths crossed.

Lately Haynes has focused his energy on what he calls the outlet for
his own heart, the blues-rock quartet Gov't Mule. Its October
release, Deja Voodoo, marks the first studio album from the band's
current four-piece line-up. The album, Haynes says with his southern
drawl, "sounds like Gov't Mule but it doesn't sound like anything
[the group has] ever done."

Gov't Mule enters new territory with Deja Voodoo. As heard
on "Perfect Shelter," things get funky with a wah-wah guitar sound.
And then there's "Slackjaw Jezebel," the album's first single, held
together by a bouncy bass line and a guitar riff that'll stick in
your head all day. That song, as well as the blues-driven "Lola Leave
Your Light On," came to life in the studio that was a departure for
Haynes and Co., who usually play their songs live before laying them
down. In fact, all of Deja Voodoo is fresh Gov't Mule music that
never saw the light of day until the album's release.

Flashback 10 years; Gov't Mule originally formed as a three-piece in
1994 with Allen Woody, then-bassist for the Allman Brothers Band, and
Matt Abts, former Dickey Betts Band drummer. The following year saw
the band's self-titled debut.  After five years of jamming and
touring, the future of the band was called into question when Woody
was found dead in a New York hotel room.

"When Woody passed away, there was a lot of uncertainty as to whether
we would be able to continue as a band," Haynes recalls.

Unsure of what to do with Gov't Mule, Haynes went back in 2001 to
play with the Allman Brothers Band, four years after he first left to
do Gov't Mule full time. Though the band was getting along and
sounding great, Haynes had a personal revelation that convinced him
Gov't Mule was going to carry on.

"When I realized the only reason I knew Allen Woody in the first
place was because the Allman Brothers continued after losing Dwayne
Allman and Barry Oakley - that was quite a revelation for me," Haynes
says.

Gov't Mule then reemerged with The Deep End, The Deep End, Vol. 2 and
The Deepest End, a live record. Gov't Mule had an all-star parade of
guests on these albums, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea,
former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, Primus' Les Claypool,
Funkadelic's Bootsy Collins and Cream's Jack Bruce, to name a few.
Gov't Mule added its permanent second half: keyboardist Danny Louis
and former Black Crows bassist Andy Hess.

"It feels like it's a real band again, which is the most refreshing
part of all of it," Haynes says. "There was a time when we weren't
sure if that feeling would ever be back." Haynes adds that when
playing with Hess and Louis it felt like a band, as opposed to an all-
star sitting in.

"It's hard to put into words what that feeling is but it's a
chemistry where bands are based in the first place," Haynes
says. "You can't explain it, you don't really question it, but it
just has some unspoken thing that happens."

With the rebirth of Gov't Mule, and The Allman Brothers Band and The
Dead as future options, Haynes shows no signs of slowing down.

"I think most musicians or artists in general tend to feel like what
they've accomplished gets eclipsed by what they would like to
accomplish," Haynes says. "I think in my case, I definitely feel like
I haven't done nearly what I've set out to do."

Gov't Mule performs tomorrow and Thursday night at 9:30 Club.
Admission is $27.50. Call (202) 393-0930.

For more information, go to www.mule.net

MULE GETS SIRIUS
Catch an exclusive Gov't Mule Mini-Concert and interview this Friday
10/29 @ 6PM EDT (and repeated 11PM) on Sirius Satellite Radio's Jam-
On Channel 17. If you are not a Sirius subscriber, go to sirius.com
to find out how to get a free 3 day trial.

MORE SHOWS IN 2004?
Check back here on Friday for the announcement of 2 newly confirmed
late-December (in addition to the Xmas Jam) Gov't Mule shows.

IT TAKES MORE THAN A HAMMER & NAILS...
Gov't Mule will once again be performing at "Warren Haynes Presents:
The 16th Annual Christmas Jam" to benefit Habitat For Humanity at The
Asheville Civic Center in Asheville, NC on Saturday December 18th.
Additional confirmed bands and special guest performers, as well as
ticket information, will be announced shortly.

UPCOMING GIG SPOTLIGHT: THE 9:30CLUB
Gov't Mule returns to one of its favorite rooms in the country to
play - The 9:30 Club - for 2 show on WED, October 27th and THURS,
October 28th. As one of only two 2-night stands of the tour, these
shows promise to be HOT! Get your tickets now!

Catch Warren Haynes Live On The Radio
Warren will be interviewed live on the air Wednesday 10/27/04 on WDVE
in Pittsburgh. Tune in at 2PM.

NEW YEARS TICKETMASTER ON-SALE
Ticketmaster still has a limited number of seats available for New
Year's Eve. Be sure to get yours before they sell out. Tickets are
available here for the 30th and here for the 31st

THE BEACON NEW YEARS SHOWS INFO
Gov't Mule is extremely proud to announce that The James "Blood"
Ulmer Trio with Jamaaladeen Tacuma and G. Calvin Weston will open the
Beacon Theater show on 12/30. New Year's Eve will be "An Evening With
Gov't Mule<" as the band will be playing 3 full sets of music.
Tickets go on-sale to the public on Fri October 15th @ 10 AM EDT.

DEJA VOODOO IN STORES NOW
"Deja Voodoo" is now in stores, so go out and pick it up. Or you can
always purchase the new CD online in the Gov't Mule MusicToday store.
This album, the first to include keyboardist Danny Louis and bassist
Andy Hess along with founding members Warren Haynes and Matt Abts, is
comprised completely of songs which have never been performed live.
When asked to describe the album, Haynes Haynes says "It sounds like
Gov't Mule, but it doesn't sound like anything we've already done. It
has the same muscle and the same influences and character. But the
fact is that it's a new band interpreting, and I'm writing songs for
the sound of the new band.

Gov't Mule - "Deja Voodoo" is available here.
Tracklist:

1. Bad Man Walking
2. About To Rage
3. Perfect Shelter
4. Little Toy Brain
5. Slackjaw Jezebel
6. Wine and Blood
7. Lola Leave Your Light On
8. Silent Scream
9. No Celebration
10. Mr. Man
11. My Separate Reality
12. New World Blues

Gov't Mule team kick-started
October 22, 2004
BY JIM DeROGATIS POP MUSIC CRITIC
Chicago Sun Times - Chicago,IL,USA

Guitarist-vocalist Warren Haynes, drummer Matt Abts and bassist Allen
Woody had spent nearly a decade honing their chops as one of the
hardest-rocking, most melodic and most consistently inventive jam
bands on the scene when Woody died of a heart attack at the age of 44
in 2000.

Haynes and Abts purged their grief by performing a series of tribute
concerts and recording two albums -- "The Deep End, Vols. 1 and 2" --
with some of Woody's four-string idols filling his role. Some
musicians might have let those discs stand as the band's swan song.
But Gov't Mule has returned with a vengeance on "Deja Voodoo,"
picking up where the original trio left off, and pointing the way
toward the future.

The new lineup of Haynes, Abts, bassist Andy Hess and keyboardist
Danny Louis will perform at the Riviera Theatre tonight. I spoke with
Haynes from his home in New York before the start of the tour.


Q. What was the mind-set going into this record?

A. We really wanted to capture the sound of the new band, because it
is a new band now, with two new members with Andy Hess on bass and
Danny Louis on keyboards. It's the first thing we have done with
those guys, so we wanted to show the natural progression and sound
that this band has; we were really writing with that in mind. I feel
like it's the next record after [2000's] "Life Before Insanity" in a
way, because "The Deep End" records kind of stand as a separate
entity. I'm real proud of those; I loved the music that we made, and
I thought it was as cohesive as it could be, but it still wasn't a
band. This record really feels like a band to me, and it was a
pleasure making it. It all fell together nicely, and I was really
pleased with the way it turned out.


Q. You and Matt were very close to Woody. Did you ever feel that "The
Deep End" was the last waltz for Gov't Mule?

A. I think we thought more about that at the beginning, shortly after
he died -- whether we should just call it quits then. But once we
decided to keep it together, we felt, "Full force -- let's go for it
and open a new chapter. It's not going to be the same as it was, but
it'll be the same spirit and it will go where we were headed,
anyway." Once we started playing with Danny, and eventually when we
started playing with Andy, it really started feeling like a band
again, and the old songs and the new songs kind of translate equally
well. Andy is doing an amazing job; he's a different player than
Woody -- he's not a Woody clone by any stretch of the imagination --
but of course having been through everything that we've all been
through, that's the last thing we would want. But he has that big
personality, and he has that big bottom-end sound that Woody had, and
the pocket that he has with Matt reminds me of that pocket that Matt
and Woody had, which was Gov't Mule's sound in the first place.


Q. Despite all of your other musical activities -- the Allman
Brothers, Phil Lesh and Friends, your solo efforts -- something
always keeps you coming back to Gov't Mule. What is it?

A. Gov't Mule is where my heart and soul is. I would like to think
that Gov't Mule is going to continue to record and perform for years
and years and years to come.


Q. When you play with other musicians, do you always bring something
back to the band?

A. Hopefully, I bring something from each situation, because I think
that's an organic thing. You absorb a lot of what's going on around
you and pick up stuff even if you don't acknowledge it. It's
definitely what keeps me fresh -- jumping from one project to
another, as opposed to being equally busy with just one project. That
would get a little mind-boggling, but somehow going from one to
another to another brings a lot of fresh energy and different
influences into the picture.


Q. You're really an old-school road warrior -- you're never home!
Doesn't that life get old?

A. The traveling gets old. The music never gets old. I've been lucky
so far; I feel like I'm having a great ride. To turn down any of
these opportunities is really what would seem crazy -- to look back
and go, "Oh, I could have done this, but I said no."


Q. What inspires you to sit down and write a song?

A. I usually don't write until I'm lyrically inspired; I usually wait
until I have some sort of lyric that is pushing me to write the
music. That usually has been the case with me, but within the last
few years, I've kind of made myself do the opposite, and I've been
writing music and adding the lyrics later, which is the reverse of
what I normally do.


Q. For someone who's best known as a guitar firebrand, it's
interesting to hear you say that the words often come first.

A. I don't even know why that is! Maybe it is just laziness. I'm not
one of those guys who sits around and writes little guitar riffs and
puts them on tape. I do that occasionally, but for some reason that's
not really my thing. The inspiration comes all at once, and it
usually comes with some key phrase or some idea lyrically. Then I sit
down and the music comes shortly afterward. I guess that's backward
from what most people do.


Q. So you don't throw a lot of music away?

A. No, I don't. I don't really like writing guitar-riff kind of
songs, where you have a bunch of cool riffs but no reason for it.
I've always been attracted to singer-songwriters -- there's that
indescribable thing that makes a song a song. It's not the bass line,
and it's not the snare drum sound, and not the tempo, and not, in
most cases, the guitar intro. It's something beyond all of that. I
remember Tom Petty in an interview when I was a kid saying that a
certain phrase would make him want to write a song. I tend to listen
that way and write that way.


Q. What's your proudest moment on the new album?

A. I think a lot of it is very different. There are songs like "Wine
and Blood," where I'm glad that we were able to make that song fit
into the overall picture, because I really love it, and it is a
departure for Gov't Mule. Same with "Toy Brain," a song that I'm very
proud of, but the question was, "How do we make it sound like a part
of the Gov't Mule record?" I'm not only partial to ballads but
departure songs -- songs that are different from what we have done.


Q. You do like to challenge your audience. Do you feel as if you've
ever thrown them something they didn't understand at all?

A. I think every record throws them something that they don't
immediately get, but then, hopefully, eventually they do. I think you
owe it to your audience to give them music that is not digestible at
the first listen in all cases. Every song doesn't need to be so in-
your-face that you get it from the first listen; a lot of my favorite
records were that way.


Q. How did the new blood change the way the band works?

A. Danny Louis wrote two of the songs with me, and we have a history
of writing together -- he co-wrote "Life Before
Insanity," "Beautifully Broken" and "Trying Not to Fall." He's such a
fountain of musical information; his influences go all over the map.
A lot of times, he'll just play something that will inspire me to
want to write a song. In certain cases, we'll sit down and write the
song together, and in certain cases, we'll write individually, but I
really enjoy working with Danny both as a writer and as a player.
With Andy [Hess], I just love the feel that he and Matt create
together. I'm really proud of what Andy has brought to the table. I
think the band has a deep groove that we haven't felt in a long time.


Q. The trio with Woody developed its ability to do these really great
jams without ever being self-indulgent, but it took a long time to
get to that point. How is that developing with the new group?

A. We really found ourselves in a situation where we got to that
place much quicker than we thought we would. Matt and I are both
smiling about it, because we're not even in the luxurious position of
being able to compare where the new band is to where the old band
started -- we have to compare it to where the old band wound up. We
had almost 10 years of playing with Woody, and we grew so much in
that time. We were much better seven years later than we were when we
first started, so it's a lot of pressure to put on new members, but I
feel very good about [it].

E-mail: jimdero@..., or visit Jim DeRogatis on the Web at
www.jimdero.com.

Monday, October 18, 2004

Review: All-out virtuosity satisfies the fans of Gov't Mule


By APRIL BOYLE, Special to Portland Press Herald

Copyright © 2004 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

A line snaked down Congress Street onto High Street Saturday night as
devoted fans amassed outside Portland's State Theatre for their
yearly dose of Gov't Mule and the band's incomparable leader, Warren
Haynes.

The doors opened at 7 p.m., and excitement gripped the air as fans
reminisced about past shows.

By 8:20 p.m., the restless crowd could wait no longer. A chant
of "Bring out the Mule" produced the band, bathed in red lights and
smoke. The theater soon shook with the base-driven power
of "Thorazine Shuffle."

The evening that followed was an all-out show of musical virtuosity
that featured Haynes on vocals and guitar, Matt Abts on drums, Danny
Louis on keyboards and backing vocals and Andy Hess on bass.

The band's lineup solidified last year with the permanent addition of
Hess, replacing Allen Woody, who died in August 2000.

Haynes delighted the audience time and again with awe-inspiring solos
that pushed the boundaries of the guitar frets and strings. In his
hands, the guitar brayed like a donkey in "Mule," wailed in "Effigy"
and bordered on combustibility during a scorching solo on "Rocking
Horse."

Other old-time favorites included "Fool's Moon," "Bad Little
Doggie," "Larger Than Life" and "Game Face."

The two-set show lent a pleasant sense of déjà vu to longtime Mule
fans, with plenty of familiar tunes to sing along to.

The band also gave the audience a little "Déjà Voodoo," performing
four songs off the recently released album. The songs both freshened
the set and utilized the strengths of the current lineup.

Fans bopped and danced along, possessed by the irresistible driving
drum and bass beat of "Slackjaw Jezebel," while "Perfect
Shelter," "About to Rage" and "Silent Scream" all perfectly
highlighted Louis as his fingers simultaneously flew across the
ivories of two keyboards.

Keeping with tradition, the band took a break during the second set,
leaving Abts to wow the audience with an eight-minute drum solo that
showcased a variety of drums and percussion.

The second half of the show also featured two gospel blues
songs. "John the Revelator," originally recorded by Blind Willie
Johnson, opened the second set with Haynes delivering a soulful a
cappella.

The band returned for an encore with "Long Distance Call" by Muddy
Waters.

Gov't Mule's characteristic blend of southern blues-rock,
musicianship and musical forays is something that must be experienced
firsthand. If you haven't caught them before, do so next year.

It's a guarantee that fans will once again be lining the streets for
their yearly fix of the Mule.

April Boyle is a free-lance writer from Casco.

> The St Louis setlist sounds like a great setlist and a high energy
> night.  Looks like a Mule Tracks purchase to me.
>
> http://www.muletracks.com/
>
> I prefer my Mule without too may guests.  :-)
>
>
> Mr Man
> About To Rage
> Bad man Walking
> Rockin Horse
> Banks of the Deep End
> Devil Likes it Slow
> Empty Pages (Danny was terrific on this 12-31-03)
> Little Toy Brain
> Slackjaw Jezebel
>
> set 2
>
> Thelonius Beck
> Jealous Kind (Ray Charles song)
> Patchwork Quilt
> Don't Step On the Grass Sam
> Life Before Insanity (a rare one)
> drums
> Warren jam
> Larger Than Life
> New World Blues
> E1 Goin Out West (woo hoo, one of my favorites)
> E2 Wish You Were Here

Warren and the guys must have been on for this great set list.
Definately a Mule Track purchase.  If anyone needs help downloading,
let me know.

Ang

MULE TRACKS HAS OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED

Mule Tracks is your destination for all Live Gov't Mule downloads.
Each and every Gov't Mule show will be available for download shortly
after the show. Downloads will be a matrix recording from the
soundboard, and will be available in both MP3 & FLAC formats.

Head over to www.mule.net and go to Mule Tracks.
------------------------------------------

NEW GOV'T MULE DATE ADDED IN PORTLAND, OR

Gov't Mule will be playing at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland, OR on
Sunday, November 21st. Tickets are on sale now through all
Ticketmaster outlets. Gov't Mule is on the road right now, crossing
all over North America; check out the complete tour dates at
www.mule.net to see when they're coming near you.
-------------------------------------------

SPEND NEW YEARS EVE AT THE DEJA VOODOO LOUNGE

Gov't Mule would like to invite you to spend New Years Eve with us at
The Deja Voodoo Lounge. Gov't Mule will be performing December 30th &
31st at the Beacon Theatre in New York City. On December 30th we are
pleased to welcome the James "Blood" Ulmer trio as our special guests
to open up the evening, while on the 31st Gov't Mule will be
performing three full sets to ring in the New Year.

Tickets for the shows are on sale now through Ticketmaster.com.
---------------------------------------------------------

DEJA VOODOO IS IN STORES

Deja Voodoo is now in stores, so go out and pick it up. Or you can
always purchase the new CD online in the Gov't Mule Musictoday store
at www.mule.net by clicking onto Mule Merch.

This album, the first to include keyboardist Danny Louis and bassist
Andy Hess along with founding members Warren Haynes and Matt Abts, is
comprised completely of songs which have never been performed live.
When asked to describe the album, Haynes says "It sounds like Gov't
Mule, but it doesn't sound like anything we've already done. It has
the same muscle and the same influences and character. But the fact
is that it's a new band interpreting, and I'm writing songs for the
sound of the new band."
---------------------------------------------------------------

NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON

A new and improved www.mule.net is on the way. It will be live very
soon!

St Louis setlist sounds like a great setlist and a high energy
night.  Looks like a Mule Tracks purchase to me.

http://www.muletracks.com/

I prefer my Mule without too may guests.  :-)


Mr Man
About To Rage
Bad man Walking
Rockin Horse
Banks of the Deep End
Devil Likes it Slow
Empty Pages (Danny was terrific on this 12-31-03)
Little Toy Brain
Slackjaw Jezebel

set 2

Thelonius Beck
Jealous Kind (Ray Charles song)
Patchwork Quilt
Don't Step On the Grass Sam
Life Before Insanity (a rare one)

more to come

The Ann Arbor News

Gov't Mule heads in new direction
Band is back on track and coming to the Michigan Theater
Thursday, October 21, 2004
BY KEVIN RANSOM News Special Writer

Warren Haynes has had it up to his guitar neck with the jokes about
how he's the new "hardest-working man in show business."

"Yeah, I'm kinda sick of hearing that," said Haynes with a good-
natured sigh during a recent interview. "I mean, it's flattering, I
guess, but I don't work as hard as the average housewife. It's not
like I'm digging a ditch. I'm playing music."

The "hardest-working-man" honorific was first bestowed on James Brown
in the 1960s for his sweaty, frantic performances, and it gets
recycled every few years when a new yeoman comes along. Rock critics
dusted it off again last spring after The Dead announced that they'd
tapped Haynes to join them for their summer tour.

Haynes' stint in The Dead - where he faced the unenviable task
of "replacing" legendary singer-guitarist Jerry Garcia - meant he
could lay claim to being in three bands simultaneously - Gov't Mule,
the Allman Brothers Band and now The Dead. ("The Dead" is the moniker
the surviving members of the Grateful Dead chose for themselves last
year after touring on and off as The Other Ones since 1998.)

The Dead tour concluded in late August and the Allman Brothers' tour
wrapped up two weeks ago. So when when Haynes comes to the Michigan
Theater on Saturday, it will be with the Mule. Besides being the lead
singer and sole guitarist, Haynes is the Mule's primary songwriter.

Gov't Mule's new disc, "Deja Voodoo" is the first studio album from
the group since the 2000 death of original bassist Allen Woody, who
was also Haynes' bandmate in the Allmans from '89-'97. (After Woody's
death, the Mule released a series of "Deep End" live albums that
showcased an array of superstar guest bassists, including Jack Bruce,
John Entwhistle, Chris Squire and Bootsy Collins.)

"Deja Voodoo" also marks the studio debut of Woody's full-time
replacement, bassist Andy Hess - and also introduces a fourth member,
keyboardist Danny Louis, into a band that was previously a bruising,
blues-metal power trio. Founding member Matt Abts still handles
drums.

"We felt like we'd already begun to move in a new direction even
before Woody died," said Haynes by phone from an Allman Brothers tour
stop in Raleigh, North Carolina.

"And then with all the 'Deep End' stuff, we kept going that way, so
we wanted this album to capture the essence of that sound, and also
capture the spirit of the band as a quartet.

"I think this is a funkier-sounding band than what we were in the
past," remarked Haynes in his easy-flowing Carolinian accent.

"Deja Voodoo" definitely kicks the Mule's previous fondness for slow-
to-midempo grooves into a quicker, sturdier gait. About half of the
tracks rock to a harder groove - which should be welcome news to
holdouts who were jazzed about Haynes' guitar-slinging heroics, but
longed for the Mule to up the beats-per-minute.

Gov't Mule in general and Haynes in particular are avid disciples of
muscular 1960s and '70s blues-rock, and "Deja Voodoo" crackles with
musical references to Led Zeppelin, Cream, Robin Trower, Bad Company,
etc. Haynes' thick, snarly riffage on "Mister Man" and his wah-wah
effects on "Perfect Shelter" both evoke "Bridge of Sighs"-era Trower,
while the slashing stutter -funk of "Lola, Leave Your Light On"
suggests Zeppelin, circa "Physical Graffiti."

As for his summer stint in The Dead as a Garcia surrogate, Haynes
said he was thankfully able to take the same approach he used in the
Brothers when he was first invited to fill the guitar slot previously
held by an equally reve red musician - Duane Allman.

"In both situations, the other guys allowed me to draw the line
between paying homage to what had come before and injecting my own
personality into the music," said Haynes, whose instincts are to play
heavier, edgier riffs than either Allman or Garcia.

"But in both situations, I had so much respect for what had come
before that I usually took a 'when in Rome' approach, and just played
to the music inste ad of trying to make it heavier. That seemed like
the right thing to do, and it usually worked out pretty well."

http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/aanews/index.ssf?/base/features-
0/109837209925990.xml

Writer and music critic Kevin Ransom can be reached at
KevRansom@....

Hi Luis - You can buy the official Gov't Mule recordings through
www.mule.net - Go to merchandise and look under music.

The DVD you are talking about is called the Deepest End.  It is a DVD
and two audio discs recorded at the Saenger Theatre in New Orleans in
May 2003.

I am in the process of buying a new computer.  When I do, I will send
you some audience recordings.  They are the only ones that can be
traded.

I'll let you know when my burner is up and ready.

Angela


--- In WarrenHaynesandGovtMule@yahoogroups.com, "Luis Lopes dos
Santos" <lls1959@m...> wrote:
>
> Hi Folks,
> >
> I'm a big fan of Gov't Mule. Unfortunately I cannot find anything in
> Portugal.
> I'm aware there is a DVD. Can someone help me to acquire it.
> Or even better if you have any audience/soundboard DVD's to trade.
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Luis from Portugal

Hi Folks,
>
I'm a big fan of Gov't Mule. Unfortunately I cannot find anything in
Portugal.
I'm aware there is a DVD. Can someone help me to acquire it.
Or even better if you have any audience/soundboard DVD's to trade.
Thanks in advance.

Luis from Portugal

10-20-04 Mule Tracks Goes Live
Mule Tracks has launched. The Boston and Portland shows from this
past weekend are available for download.

http://www.muletracks.com/

Gov't Mule
Deja Voodoo
David Eduardo
Friday, October 01, 2004

In the era of mergers and acquisitions and Big Business' constant
move towards maximum efficiency, I forward the motion that the jam
and improvisational music scene do the same, and streamline it's
efforts while raising it's profile. For starters we'll need a catchy
slogan and a recognizable logo. We'll let a talented writer determine
the slogan- but as for the logo I think I can handle this one. How
about a caricature of scene stalwart Warren Haynes? He's undoubtedly
the hardest workingman in show business- or at least this corner of
it. He's got his fingers in so many pies; he's resorted to using his
ten toes too.

I'm from Texas, reared and raised, and for the longest time I took
pride in that fact. Now that my late 20's allow for a new point of
view (I hear it's called retrospect), I have no idea why I felt there
was a social cachet associated with my Lone Star roots. It was a
great place to grow up, no doubt, but I don't think I'll return for
much more than a temporary nostalgic stroll down memory lane.

Gov't Mule reminds me of growing up in the best country in the 48
contiguous. Like the title of the recently released record Deja
Voodoo suggests, I think I've been here before. After so many lessons
I understand now the world isn't made up entirely of sunshine and
happy endings. There is struggle and there is sweat, and when you
wake up tomorrow, there's a little more of the same. Warren Haynes is
the respected old-timer in a sleepy Southern town and shares his
fountain of wisdom on nearly every track. "Bad Man Walking," "About
to Rage" and "Perfect Shelter" tell stories that are vague, yet
substantial- offering sound advice, yet gloomy forecasts from what
are certainly deeply personal experiences. As for the guitar work-
it's a lesson in virtuosity. And the back end thumps. This might be
the finest rhythm section in the land, finally securing Andy Hess as
fulltime bassist, and they'd prove their prowess in any back alley
brawl.

At the same time though, the album highlights, and the band's
admirable qualities, are subtle and could get lost in casual ears.
For some this may sound like just another bar band, delivering
clichéd Southern doses. For others, like a friend from Alabama that
joined me for a listening session, this album and the band, is sheer
nirvana. You could tell by the eat shit grin, and the look in his
eyes, The Mule were serving up something special. A full meal deal on
a cafeteria tray, where you slide through line pointing at your
favorite soul food. You don't have to wait too long, pay too much, or
worry about the sweet tea gone sour, cause there's a boot flask
waiting for you with something a bit stronger inside.

Deja Voodoo is a 64 box of crayons filled with only shades of blue,
and Warren Haynes delivers them in a fashion no one on the scene
matches. You can never go wrong with the blues.

Gov't Mule
Deja Voodoo
Originally released: 2004
BMG Entertainment

Warren Haynes, rock's most valuable player, must have to check his
calendar to figure out which band he's in on any given day. If it's
Tuesday, it must be the Dead or the Allman Brothers Band (or both).
That's both remarkable and -- from the enervated sounds of Deja
Voodoo -- a little problematic. Voodoo is slow-burning Southern bar-
band music with an angry, haunted edge. There are just two up-tempo
rockers -- "Slackjaw Jezebel" and "Mr. Man" -- as Haynes lets most of
the songs find their own spooky, churning groove. "About to Rage" is
a cogent political diatribe, and the eleven-minute
centerpiece, "Silent Scream," contains truly searing guitar solos.
Yet for all its intensity, the album lacks some essential spark --
and it sometimes sounds like the hardest-working man in show business
needs a break.


PARKE PUTERBAUGH
(Posted Sep 22, 2004)

http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/6479189/govtmule?
pageid=rs.Home&pageregion=triple1&rnd=1095876288312&has-
player=true&version=6.0.11.847

Govt Mule: Tracking Deja Voodoo With Warren Haynes

Posted on Wednesday, September 08 @ 12:23:59 CDT
Warren Haynes Shares His Thoughts on Gov't Mule's new CD
By Fred Adams

Having spent much of the year on the road with the Allman Brothers
and The Dead, guitarist Warren Haynes is obviously thrilled that the
time has finally come for the release of Deja Voodoo, the new Gov't
Mule CD that he calls "my favorite album I've ever recorded."

Deja Voodoo is Mule's first release since the keyboardist Danny Louis
and bassist Andy Hess were asked to join the band on a permanent
basis last year. The album is a departure from past Mule efforts,
yet, in many ways, the songs sound very familiar, as if you've heard
them all before. While the trademark Mule sound remains, this album
could have just as easily been released in the mid-1970's. With
influences that range from ZZ Top to Yes, Deep Purple to Led
Zeppelin, Deja Voodoo is an album filled with potential for huge
commercial appeal.

The material on Deja Voodoo is all new—songs the band had never
before performed live. This was a marked departure from the group's
usual method of road testing their material before heading into the
studio. Now, eight months after the band went into the studio to
record, Deja Voodoo is about to be unleashed to the world.

A sure fire "CD of the Year" nominee, Deja Voodoo is an album that
many will consider the best release of the new millennium. At bare
minimum, Deja Voodoo is sure to help Mule reach a much wider
audience. Given the chance to withstand the test of time, Deja Voodoo
is an album that could one day be considered amongst the finest
recordings ever.

With the release of Deja Voodoo now just a few days away, An Honest
Tune brings you this special song-by-song recap of album, presented
in the words of Warren Haynes.

"Bad Man Walking"

"Danny and I got together in his little studio to do some writing,
and `Bad Man' was the first thing, we started working on.  It came
together really quickly.  He started playing that intro riff on
either bass or guitar; you know Danny plays every instrument, and
then I came up with that funky little riff that follows it. We just
started spitting things back and forth toward each other, and it kind
of chronologically wrote itself; each part just came after the other
one. The whole time we would just stop and start tweaking each
section a little bit and I was actually writing lyrics as we were
going along.  The concept got in my head and I started writing verses
as we were writing the music, which is kind of interesting that
doesn't usually happen for me, but we knew.  It was taking on a Mule-
ish sound, but it didn't sound like anything we'd ever done so we
were psyched about it right from the get go."

"About To Rage"

"I wrote (this one) last November.  A lot of times I have been so
busy on the road, and November and December are the times I come off
the road and take a break.  So I've doing a lot of writing, and that
song came about late one night.  I didn't have a guitar, but I could
hear the music in my head. I was staying at my in-laws house when I
started writing it, and I didn't (want to) wake anybody up.  I was
writing the lyrics from the melody, but just kind of envisioning what
the guitar would sound like if I had one. The next day I went to a
guitar store close by, and picked one up and started putting the
music together.  It came together pretty quickly too.  I was really
excited about showing that one to the band because I knew that that
was going to be a song the band could really interpret, and once we
got into rehearsal it kind of took on a life of its own. Everybody
felt like when we got to that tune, and started working it up, it was
kind of a turning point for the record.  It was kind of indicating a
new direction for us."


"Perfect Shelter"

"This song was written a little earlier, but not much, at home in New
York.  You and I have had this conversation before, Fred.  I usually
write lyrics first, then the music. I did the opposite on this one.
I think I wrote the music, and then like a day later lyrics started
coming to me.  But it was all at a point when I had some time at
home, had some time to relax, and let things sit, and that song is
really about reflecting on life in a positive way, and living your
life to the fullest, knowing that none of us are immune to the
bullshit.  And after what we all just went through, you know, that's
really in the long run is what makes us all the same is that
hardships or death or whatever the case can affect any of us at
anytime and in that way were all equal.  Perfect Shelter is just
saying that there's nothing you can do to avoid it.  You can do your
best but there is no immunity."


"Little Toy Brain"

"(This) was written years ago, probably six or eight years.
Significantly speaking, as far as immediate significance to (Mule's)
history, this was the song we were going to do with Paul McCartney
had he joined us for The Deep End sessions.   I wrote Paul a letter
reaching out to him saying we really needed him to be part of these
sessions and that we were reaching out to him as a seminal bass
player and not as a Beatle, a pop star or a singer, but that how
important his bass playing was in the world of rock n roll,
historically speaking. I said, you know in the way we would want
James Jamison or Jaco Pastorius if they were still alive, were the
same reasons we want Paul McCartney, because it would be none of
these amazing bass players if it weren't for you.  We got a response
from his camp.  He said he thought the project was really cool, but
his schedule was too crazy.  Just the fact that we got a response at
all was pretty cool.  We were all excited about just getting a
response from Paul McCartney, that's the song we would have done.  I
had given it a lot of thought when I wrote that song I had always
acknowledged the Beatle influence and I would have loved to have
heard what he would have played on it. I am sure Andy played it as
if, he was thinking Paul McCartney when he played it. And, of course,
I would have tried to talk Paul into singing some of it.

"It's a very different song for Gov't Mule, but it's a song that's
been around a long time, and it's a song I have always looked forward
to recording.  I have always loved the song, and it was just a matter
of the right time and place for it."


"Slackjaw Jezebel"

"Slackjaw Jezebel is a new song, one of the last songs written for
the record really.  We pretty much worked that one up in the studio.
I started out with the musical concept, just wanting something with
that kind of groove, `cause it was a groove we had never explored as
a band before. I just thought it would be a nice welcome change of
place for a Gov't Mule record, and something for us to sink our teeth
into in a different way.  So, I wrote the music first, and then added
the lyric later, which for me is backwards. I have been writing that
way a lot more lately, especially with up tempo stuff

  "And there is another interesting story with that tune.  We wanted
it to have this real greasy, nasty feel and sound. So we talked
Michael Barbiero, almost against his will, I say that laughingly,
into moving the drum mics around and going for more of an old school
sound like you used to get with three microphones in the old days
when everything was more ambient. So it took a while to kind of reset
up how the drums sounded and, of course, we were all going for a
little different approach. We had just ordered some Cuban food, and
it got there, and someone said `your food is here.' We were like
let's run through the song one time as a rehearsal and see how it
feels and how it sounds and then we'll go eat, and come back and cut
it.

"So, we played it, and it felt really good.  We went in and got our
food, and went into the control room and started eating and listening
back and I just felt from the get go that that captured the nastiness
we were looking for and eh, um, the ore we all listened to the kind
of dirty quality, the looseness, the necessary looseness that the
performance had the more we all kind of agreed, that's the take.  You
know, even though it was a rehearsal we never played it again.  That
was the one and only time we played it.  At the end of it, if you
listen closely, you can hear someone, I think its me, say, `Let's
eat,' as soon as the last chord is over.  You have to turn your
stereo up really loud (to hear it).  And then, we decided that when I
did the vocal, we'd continue the nastiness, we would run the vocal
through and amp. As opposed to using a normal studio clean vocal
sound, it's got that real grungy, grimy kind of quality to it."


"Wine And Blood"

"Wine and Blood, I wrote in the last year or so. It all kind of came
together, the music and words, all at the same time.  It's very lyric-
driven.  Most of my slow songs come about that way.  (This one has a)
very Appalachian influence as far as the melody, and even the lyric.
There is something very haunting about the whole thing that I just
equate to an Appalachian thing. Many of my lyrics just do that by
nature.

"I do feel like the overall message of the record is about living
life after death.  After someone close to you passes away.  Not that
the songs are about that.  It's not like they are songs written about
Woody, but I think my general outlook is much more positive right now
and focused on living life to the fullest and not sweating the small
stuff.  I think one of the things I learned from Woody's death is
that the small things are not important; its the big things that are
important, you know.  Your friends, and your family, health and
happiness, sanity and all the things your parents taught you when you
were a kid.  And, when you go through something like that, you start
realizing that the stuff you were stressing about is not worth
stressing about. And that's kind of where I am at these days, and I
think that gets reflected in the overall mood of the record. (But) it
doesn't keep it from being dark.  All of our stuff is kind of dark."


"Lola Leave Your Light On"

"(`Lola') was a very interesting project that we tackled.  Matt had
one final day in the studio and it was getting late.  It was
nighttime and we had pretty much recorded everything we had set out
to record. Matt had to fly to California the next day, so we
basically had to hopefully record one more song.  I guess in some
ways we were ahead of schedule, and I had one song that I had written
that was ready to go that we could have interpreted and recorded
right then, but it was kind of mid tempo kind of song and I felt like
we had enough of that kind of stuff on the record, so I started
writing the music for what would become Lola, but I didn't have an
arrangement, I didn't have a lyric, I didn't have a melody, I just
had the basic structure of some of these riffs. So we kind of took a
vote `which way do we go' and everybody agreed, `why don't we try to
put this new rocker together.'

"So, in the same way we did `Bad Little Doggie,' where we just kind
of put it together from scratch in the studio, we approached `Lola'
that way, but even more so. We just played all the musical parts of
the tune together and separately and every way possible with Matt to
make sure we had not overlooked any possibilities for what may happen
in this tune, because I didn't have an arrangement for it yet.  Matt
got on a plane with no idea what the song itself actually sounded
like, because it was actually finished after he was gone.  We had
just put down all the pieces of it, and, Michael Barbiero and I spent
a lot of time in the studio just editing and piecing together the
right arrangement for it.

"Then, when I wrote a lyric, of course, it changed again.  But I kept
the basic structure of the music down the same way we did `Bad Little
Doggie,' although `Bad Little Doggie' was a live performance. After I
wrote the lyric, we had to go back and so some editing because the
lyric always changes the arrangement somehow.

"It was the same thing with `Lola,' but even more.  The music was
mostly in tact, but I went home that night thinking it sure would be
nice if I came up with a lyric between now and tomorrow so we could
go ahead and finish this tune and decide how it goes, figure out how
the arrangement is really going to be. About 2 or 3 o'clock in the
morning my phone rang and it was my friend Jeff Anders who is the
only person who calls me at 2 or 3 in the morning. I call him at the
same time because we know the other is u Jeff said, `Hey, man, did
you ever do anything with that hook, that phrase, Lola Leave Your
Light On?'

"He told me about this idea about a phrase, a hook he had. He had
mentioned it to me months earlier and I'd not thought about it. So, I
said `I'll call you right back' I sat down and wrote all the words
to `Lola Leave Your Light On," and it came real quickly. I called him
back about 45 minutes or an hour later and said `I think I just wrote
it.' He was cracking up on the other end of the phone. That is where
Jeff came into the picture.  He just totally inspired that whole
thing.  That's his phrase and his hook, and it came at the perfect
time because it fit perfectly.  By then I had a melody in my head and
that phrase fit perfectly where the melody was supposed to be and I
just kind of knew it was meant to be.  So it was one of those things
you don't question.  It turned out great."


"Silent Scream"

"Very Beatles-ish,  and a little Pink Floyd-ish.  Danny and I wrote
that together.  The intro riff, he had been playing on the bus for
months and we always talked about where we were going to go with it,
the chord changes, and the verse we were going to play. He had come
up with a few different versions of how the verse could go.  One day
we'd play it one way, the next day we'd play it (another).  When we
actually got together in Danny's studio to write the tune, we kind of
hit on what we felt like was the best way of approaching it.  In the
same way as `Bad Man,' I was writing lyrics as we were writing the
music, which again not usually the case for me, especially in a co-
writing situation.  But it was all just coming out at once and we
wrote the whole tune. (We did) the kind of ballad part of it, and
then Danny came up with the bass line that takes it into the rock
section in the middle. So all of a sudden it has this King Crimson
kind of vibe going on.  We felt like it was a natural place to go.
It's very shocking.  People probably don't expect it to go there, but
it makes perfect sense. And then, when it comes back go to square
one, it's really kind of refreshing or uplifting.

"I am really excited about playing (`Silent Scream') live.  We
haven't played any of these songs live. We played (this one) some at
sound check, but never in front of an audience.  When we worked that
up at rehearsal, right off the bat we knew it had a lot of
potential.  Everyone was into the song, but we knew potentially it
could go a lot of places and purposely we were not locking down where
some of the places were going to go, especially in the middle
section.  As an example, the little keyboard solo that Danny plays in
that middle rock section was totally by mistake.  We weren't sure
what was going to happen there and he just started add libbing.  I
don't even think the tape was rolling.  He was just kind of playing
like jazzy stuff across those changes and it was not what we
intended, or he intended.  None of us had thought that way.  We never
rehearsed it that way, but Michael Barbiero and I were sitting in the
control room and both of us were like `man, that's really cool, we
should do that' and so we told Danny, `go out and do that on those
changes.  Put it there and we'll see what happens.'  It's kind of
like two worlds colliding.  You got this dark rock foreboding section
going on and this almost jazz piano solo being played on top of it.
It's very strange.

"When it comes back the tune ends with this big Beatles-ish chorus.
Now, it cross-fades into that outro jam, which was written completely
separately.  That whole piece of music was one of the first things we
wrote and we, at one point, thought it was going to be part of `Bad
Man.' but the tempos were too drastically different.  It sounded
better slower. That jam is just a late night in the studio having fun
and we decided to tag it onto the end of `Silent Scream' and kind of
make it part of the whole song so it becomes this big kind of medley
or production or whatever it becomes. That was something that came
about gradually.  I love the way that whole thing progresses.  To me,
it reminds me of when I was growing up and all my favorite records
and the twists and turns they would take and late at night you could
just kind of get lost in that kind of stuff, you know.

"I think (`Silent Scream') is one of the areas where Woody and Andy
have a lot in common.  What Andy played on there is probably very
similar to what Woody would have played.  "


"No Celebration"

"This has been around quite awhile, I wrote it years ago.  I was
always kind of toying with which way to go with it.  At one point I
was saving it for an acoustic solo record.  (Another) point, I
thought it would be nice to have a little string section, right in
the middle of the bridge. Then, when we did the Deep End Sessions, I
met with John Paul Jones when he was in New York and talked to him
about recording with us and I sent him a demo of me playing it by
myself `No Celebration' on acoustic guitar. He was into the tune and
we were going to record that with him and at one point we talked
about him even writing a string arrangement for the middle of it, but
his plans changed.  He was originally going to be doing an American
tour, but it got cancelled and he wasn't going to be back in the
States until the deadline was over, so we kind of decided to
hopefully do something with him in the future. It didn't work out for
the Deep End Sessions, but he was someone we had been communicating
with and at one point had actually slated time for. Obviously, he
would have been a huge addition to that whole project.

"But since (talk of) that song being playing with the band for the
Deep End, we worked it out it out as a band and it sounded really
cool.  It's very different approach for us.  Matt is playing these
African hand drums, Andy's playing this hypnotic trancelike bass
part, and Danny's doing a lot of real trancelike keyboard sounds.  It
definitely captures the vibe of the tune. But not in a traditional
Mule way. I think it's a nice departure for us."


"Mr. Man"

"I wrote in a hotel in Philadelphia during the Phil & Friends tour
last year, which would have been November also.  I just set down late
one night with a guitar and just starting playing this rock riff and
set down and wrote the lyrics all in the same night.  It just came
out really quickly.  It's somewhat of a protest tune.  And then, we
started working up the song with a band and it really kind of took on
a different life, a little different character than I expected but
all in a good way.

"It kind of has influences from a lot of different eras really.  A
lot of it due to what Danny did. When we first started playing it, he
was playing the traditional B3 through a Leslie and he didn't like
it.  He thought it didn't fit the tune. Mike and I were in somewhat
of agreement with him but curious to see what he would come up with
in contrast. So he devised this way of running his organ through a
Marshall amplifier like Deep Purple used to do and all of a sudden it
just took on this whole retro craziness that really fit the song much
more than the traditional B3. And the wacky stuff he's playing in the
middle of it is like a Clavinet run through these strange pedals and
stuff.  Between what Andy and Matt are playing and pumping that song
up, and what Danny chose to do to add the colors (to the song).  I
think that's what makes the song work.  It was a matter, for me, of
getting the right performance, and, if we had the right performance,
then I was totally into that tune.  But it took awhile.  The original
performance came quickly, but then Danny wanted to go back and re-do
his parts.  And we're not a huge overdub band, but sometimes when its
right its right so we came back in with a whole different approach
and it really made the tune special.  The whole jam at the end of it
is just very spontaneous."


"My Separate Reality"

"That song has also been around about 10 or 12 years.  I wrote it not
too long after I moved to New York. It may have even been a contender
for Tales of Ordinary Madness (Warren's solo CD released in 1993).  I
always envisioned doing it on a solo record (since) it never made
sense for a trio because I always felt it drastically need keyboards.
But then once we got to Life Before Insanity and we started pursuing
that direction, then all's fair in love and war at that point.  But,
it never was a trio song for me.

"It went through a lot of exploration as far as what would be the
right way to capture it.  At one point I wanted to do it with
acoustic piano, acoustic upright bass and like a real smokey jazzy
kind of feel but once we worked it up on the road with Matt and Andy
and Danny, just their natural interpretation, of what they felt they
should be doing, was perfect for Mule.  We play that song at sound
check quite a bit.  We would play it two or three times in the
afternoon when there is nobody in the room, so it was pretty
prepared, even by the time we got to rehearsal.

"(`My Separate Reality') is a first take. `Jezebel' and `My Separate
Reality' are both a first takes too.  We cut it two more times just
to see if we could get it better, which we always do, even though we
did not with `Slack Jaw.' Usually when you get a first take, and we
usually have at least two or three on every record, you still go back
and see if you can beat it, and you never do.  With `My Separate
Reality' we compared it to some of the later takes and just felt like
it had more of the haunting quality that the song needed."


"New World Blues"

"This was written same time as `Perfect Shelter' and a lot of the
newer songs.  I just wanted it to be like worlds colliding.  The
verse doesn't indicate where the chorus is going to go and vice-
versa.  They sound juxtaposed.  I really love the jam at the end of
it.  The interplay between me and Danny is just really nice. You
know, we were just having fun in the studio, jamming like we would
live and our first impression was well, we can fade it out, or
shorten it. But the more we listened back to it, we were like `no, we
gotta keep that.' And then the more I heard it, the more it felt like
when it was over, the record was over, and you go pick up the vinyl
and take the needle off and put it back in the sleeve.

"Shortly after, when we were listening to rough mixes after we had
recorded the first five or six songs, I just felt like it had that
feeling of closure.  (`New World Blues') just reminded me of the
whole mood that the outro had set.  It just reminded me of getting up
and taking the record off and putting it up and being done."
---------------------------------------------------------
For a more detailed look into the making of Deja Voodoo, complete
with in-depth interviews of the rest of band, bios of the group's
newest members and much more, stay tuned for the next issue of An
Honest Tune on November 1, 2004. Deja Voodoo will be available at
your favorite local record store on September 14.

Vail Daily -

http://www.vaildaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?
AID=/20040914/AE/109140001

BACKBONE OF BLUES Red Rocks becomes venue for voter registration
drive

Cassie Pence September 14, 2004

TELLURIDE - Most young people think of the blues as old people's
music. What they don't realize is the importance blues has on the
music they're listening to today.

Founder and director of the Telluride Blues and Brews Festival, Steve
Gumble, however, does know the genre's significance. Being someone
who chooses Muddy Waters over Michael Jackson, he picks bands that
hard-core blues fans will enjoy and also attract music lovers in
general.

"My programming is eclectic compared to other traditional blues
festivals out there. I try to stretch the genre as far as I can and
try to appeal to a wider audience," Gumble said.

Gumble thinks of the festival, which begins Friday and goes through
Sunday, as a educational process as well. He chooses groups that
cross genres but have a solid blues backbone, hoping to draw a
younger crowd into the blues and into the festival. Warren Haynes of
Gov't Mule, who plays with special guest Greg Allman Saturday, is a
perfect example.

"Warren Haynes is a blues guitarist, although he doesn't promote
himself that way," Gumble said. "Warren Haynes is someone who crosses
out of the blues genre but really his backbone is based in blues."

The funk and blues go hand in hand, so a lot of the musicians on the
bill exude that New Orleans sound. Mofro, playing Friday, is one of
Gumble's hidden favorites - although the group has pockets of
popularity.

"Blues aficionados aren't listening to Mofro but will probably enjoy
them," Gumble said.

The three-day festival takes place in the Telluride Town Park, one of
the most scenic music venues in the country with three 13,000-foot
mountain peaks surrounding the stage. The event began in 1994 as
strictly a beer festival, each year growing exponentially. Fifty
breweries, serving over 150 kinds of beer, will be setting up in
tents at the back area of the park in a big semi circle. It's
designed so festival-goers can listen and sample at the same time.

New this year, Denver-based DiscLogic - a music download provider for
artists, record labels, music distributors and other entertainment
companies - will be recording the live sets, and for a fee, you will
be able to download songs from their Web site www.discologic.com.

"It didn't really take much to convince us to do it. For us, it's
keeping up with the technological times. We think it's a real
positive thing for everyone involved," Gumble said. "The difference
with DiscLogic is the band actually makes money, which is pretty
unique. I am not a fan of downloading music off the Internet, (it's)
essentially stealing. This is different. You can download, but the
band gets paid. That's pretty unique."

For more information on Telluride Blues and Brews, go online to
www.tellurideblues.com.

Cassie Pence is the Arts and Entertainment Editor for the Vail Daily.
She can be reached at cpence@....

Vail Colorado

Gov't Mule, Roseland Ballroom, NYC - 9/13 Chad Berndtson 2004-09-29
Jambase

We came for a knockout of a CD release party, and we got something
far more important: a reassuring nod and -- blink and you missed it,
for this was ostensibly a "no frills" Mule show like any other –
proof that after four years of reinvention, the idea of Gov't Mule
undergoing a real rebirth is no bullshit.

Gov't Mule is no longer a collaborative – it's a band again. The
comfort zone and the joy that that realization brought was slow to
dawn on attendees during this well-sold Monday night at Roseland: a
three and a half hour, somewhat frustrating, patience-testing, guest-
less show that devoted the entire first set to brand new material and
cut the second set short due to curfew.

But it was there. And it is something great to behold.

First amen: The new tunes kick ass

For once, a band has made good on its promise and done exactly what
it said it was going to do: the brand new songs on Deja Voodoo sound
like old and new Mule, and perhaps more importantly, sound like the
most natural progression possible from the Deep End discs: the old
school Mule grounds them, but they tackle almost the full range of
Mule styles and instead of being tunes that have to merely
accommodate keyboards and a bassist who isn't Allen Woody, they are
songs that are as much Danny Louis and Andy Hess as they are Warren
Haynes and Matt Abts.

Deja Voodoo is a deeply involved disc, the Mule's darkest and most
intense yet, and the type that, annoying and rock crit chic as it is
to say, is best imbibed and subsequently grasped with repeat listens.
Some songs are definitely better than others, but all came to life in
one way or another during the first set at Roseland, and applause to
the Mule for chewing its own second set time to give these nuggets
the workouts they deserve.

You have your straight up Mule gassers -- the opening "Bad Man
Walking," "Perfect Shelter," and "Mr. Man," for example -- destined
for the go-to, dependable ripper slots in the setlist (i.e. the same
punchup effect that opening with a "Bad Little Doggie" or hammering
it in during a mid-set lull provides), played straight, hard-nosed
and rarely, if ever, messed with. Then you have your centerpieces,
which depending on the band's mood (and Warren's lead) explode into
cacophonous, psychedelic hailstorms or moody, brooding rockers: the
Floydish/King Crimosnesque "Silent Scream" (an audience slayer among
many at the Roseland show); the prickly diatribe "About to Rage," the
gritty, spaced-out blues "Slackjaw Jezebel," and the broken morality
tale "New World Blues."

Then there are the songs that push this thing over the proverbial
line, and scintillating, frisson-filled live renderings only
confirmed their destinies as Mule staples. "Lola Leave Your Light On"
is Bad Ass -- the no frills cock rock tune that scratches the
Zeppelin itch and gives Warren the chance for some curled-lip raunch,
both on vocals and guitar. "My Separate Reality" simply floors, a
marriage of Haynes' finest, slow-to-boil-over drear (think "No Need
to Suffer," "World of Difference," that sort of stuff) and the more
introspective, dour-as-all-hell devastators ("Tastes Like Wine") he
delivers best during solo acoustic outings. Mighty and undeniably
well-done stuff, all of it.

Second amen: The Mule is four now, not two plus two

Danny and, especially, Andy no longer feel like guest musicians to
the audience, and the Mule didn't need a banner change (the
background stage banner in the first set, which was the contorted
griffin-like creature that graces the front of Deja Voodoo, changed
to the classic, red-and-black mosaic-like Mule banner for set two) to
prove it. Louis is comfortable such that he has no problem adding
fills, colors and runs to Mule tunes in places where they weren't
before, and no problem stepping up to challenge Warren in the solo
improv arena in places where, in past years and Mule adventures, he
played things straight and safe. "Blind Man in the Dark," which
closed the second set, is quickly becoming his tune (the amorphously
expanded solo section, which first jelled during Karl Denson's brief
stint as a featured guest in spring 2003, has coagulated into a
dynamite Hammond B3 playground), and he's also a force to be reckoned
with on traditionally Haynes-dominated tunes like "Thorazine
Shuffle." He still reaches sometimes for a peak that, by way of a
sloppy exploration, won't be there and needs to find a better way
(instead of just sort of collapsing out of it) to bail out of a
failed experiment, but it's clear he's a weapon now, not just an
addition, and the band knows it.

It's Hess who's had the time of it, and his presence still lacks in
some areas, but just to hear that cocksure rumble that kicks
off "Thorazine" again and knowing he'll be able to hold it down and
won't have to rely on Abts so much is refreshing. Hess is coming, if
not here yet -- he's getting the gist of when to jazz-dance beneath
the lead players and when he really needs to throw the anchor and
just groove. Abts, still the scene's most criminally underrated
drummer, feels it too -- he doesn't have to lean so much to the bass
now that it's not shifting players every other song, and while it
will be a while before he molds a solid performance rapport with Hess
into an E.S.P. one, the dynamics are jelling: Abts knows he can rely
on Hess if he wants to get a little fancy, same as he's willing to
follow Hess's lead if the bassist sparks an idea of his own. Matt
Abts the Hammer remains this band's rock.

Third amen: Warren Haynes is starting to relax again, both as a
player and a bandleader

It's not as if Warren never had those "out" moments of truly mind-
altering guitar work during the Deep End tours, or didn't have fun
(and provide it for the audience) welcoming every great musician in
his Rolodex to share his stage in the past three years, but Mule fans
who remember what Haynes was like in his wild, unrestrained all-meat
days (think early 90s ABB and beginning Mule), or are at least
familiar with recordings from those formative years can tell that the
Warren of recent years been erring on the side of tethered more often
than not.

It's not that he's tired at all (or maybe he is), nor does it have
anything to do with the Allmans (where he remains the raw meat
stalwart to Derek Trucks' stringier, more experimental fare) or the
Dead (he's right for this band and he isn't, but that's a discussion
for another time) -- we're talking Warren Haynes, lead singer and
lead guitarist of Gov't Mule.

Mostly, it has been one discernible habit in particular: the tendency
to become "Captain Warren," and worry more (understandably so, given
the rotating cast) about the band and holding it together in a jam
than getting into his own zen sphere and cutting loose with the same
balls-out gravitas we all love him for. You hear many musicians that
have played with Haynes (Panic's Dave Schools for example, in the
Deepest End interviews) talk about how he likes to "cut throats"
and "let the floor drop out" and fun-to-

say stuff like that, but during the Deep End period, it's clear that
those moments happened somewhat less during the band's rebuilding
period -- they were replaced by more collaborative, guests-are-doing-
something-totally- awesome-in-the-moment stuff, but where's Warren
just stepping to the front and pillaging an audience?

To an unpracticed ear for his hellhounded, exploratory soloing, this
reticence was probably unnoticeable, but Warrenheads know that he
uses relied-on licks (as most marquee guitarists do) quite often, and
when he's out of ideas in a solo, his go-to vault for improv
resources leaves his playing naked and rather repetitive. This
happened far less than another habitual occurrence, however: even
when he was getting on a marvelous creative tangent (often) in his
soloing, he seemed often too nervous about what the rest of the band
was doing to follow it, closing off solos just three or four bars too
early, as if he wasn't willing to really stretch out and fire into
orbit for fear the rest of whomever was on stage with him that night
wouldn't know how to catch him.

But not recently, and certainly not tonight. Haynes was a ballast, a
machine gun and a machete at Roseland, exciting eyes and knowing ears
watching him build those old school, gutting solos to their exploding
climaxes and shivering peaks, hoping he holds off before noise damage
ensues but at the same time begging him to just pour the whole damn
can of gasoline on the fire. He teed off during the second set with
hands and words during "Thorazine," "Blind Man" and a marvelous run-
through of Al Green's "I'm A Ram," while offering jazz-cadenced, more
reserved, but no less core-cutting contortions on the tunes that
required them, such the textured jam that bled from "Larger Than
Life" into "Birth of the Mule." The only real weak spot was the set-
opening "Soulshine," which is always wonderful to hear, but perhaps
more than any other Mule tune suffers considerably when its soul-
lifting improvisational section is truncated and perfunctory, as it
was tonight.

The show's encore was a sizeable treat all in itself, from a band
that prides itself on providing them. A few tuning strokes from
Warren and, as the first of two songs began, in crept a vaguely
familiar, gorgeously pastoral progression that first sounded
like "Into the Mystic," but quickly became a majestic rendering
of "Ballerina," a rawer Van Morrison chestnut several years older
than "Mystic," found on the immortal Astral Weeks (1968). In Haynes'
ongoing quest to tackle the Morrison catalog (and this Van fanatic is
holding out in giddy earnest for the day he attempts "Cyprus
Avenue," "Astral Weeks" or, preferably with
horns, "Caravan"), "Ballerina" is a curious, mature and rewarding
choice: slightly obscure (although it was still embarrassing how many
Roseland attendees didn't seem to know it), and epitomizing the
rawer, more unrefined antecedent to Van's beloved "Caledonia soul"
that got further and further away from the gritty R&B of Them with
each successive album in the early 1970s.

As if to clear the air after all that headiness and ethereal beauty,
Mule busted into its terse arrangement of Robert Johnson's "32-20
Blues," which over the years has become one of the band's most
reliable vehicles: a necessary injection of ballsy blues whether the
set needs it or not, and an unchecked, elastically-jammed showcase
for Haynes and whomever he's chosen as a foil. This is one of Mule's
more reliable "guest tunes," especially for sitting-in guitarists
(all-time versions include the Live With a Little Help from Our
Friends slugfest with Derek Trucks and Chuck Leavell, The Deepest End
with Sonny Landreth, Will Lee and Karl Denson, and, most recently,
the Telluride Nawlins'-soaked scorcher, guest starring the Bonerama
front line). Here, Haynes threw the improv baton at Louis, who
answered with punch, and then yanked it back, peeling off sheets of
Les Paul gristle, his fingers racing up and down the fretboard,
wringing slide licks out of the thing as if he were with his bare
hands extracting sap from a maple tree. With that crazy, lemon-
faced "Warren" look that means he's going to take it up a notch,
Haynes tacked on a false ending to his solo, and then began to play
call and response - with himself.

Tickling the high register and answering those pixie tones with
syrupy moans on the low, it was an inspired bit of wankery from a pre-
legendary guitarist who rarely lets his solos get that wonderfully
ridiculous anymore. That's not a dig: Haynes is more in control of
his guitar than some folks are of their fingers, and rips the shit
out of it with largely peerless expert abandon, but to see him
giddily jerking off on himself, if for but a scant minute, was even
more confirmation that the Mule can finally relax and play with some
fuckin' balls again.

The Deep End albums and concerts as a whole are important historical
documents for this band, and in the no less than 26 Mule shows I saw
during those years, I take away memorable moments from each. This
Roseland adventure was the first time in four years, however, that
going to see and hear this band didn't feel like Haynes, Abts &
Friends - it felt like the Mule. They're a band again: an intensely
musical, creative force to be reckoned with, with the brightest of
futures.

We're lucky to have `em.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/thesunherald/

Posted on Thu, Sep. 30, 2004 The Sunherald (South Mississippi's
Homepage)

Mule packs bluesy wallop

Deja Voodoo," Gov't Mule (ATO Records) ***½

This album was released Sept. 14, and, hopefully, there aren't too
many differences between my advance and the real thing. "Deja Voodoo"
is the first band-based album by the Mule since original bassist
Allen Woody's death in 2002. It's also the first album since
remaining founders Warren Haynes (guitar, vocals, primary songwriter)
and Matt Abts (ambidextrous drumming dervish) named longtime sideman
Danny Louis (keyboards) and new bassist Andy Hess as permanent
members of the group.

Thus, these 10 tracks serve as both continuation and departure from
Gov't Mule's 10-year history. The years since Allen's death have been
filled with high-profile ventures featuring leading bass players from
many musical genres. Now, the Mule can return to expanding their
musical palette as a band with new guitar tones, plus innovative
recording/writing techniques.

Co-produced by longtime cohort Michael Barbiero and Haynes, the album
has consistency of sound in spite of its merry genre hopping. Some
songs were written before Hess joined; the others were specifically
written for this band lineup. "Silent Scream" and the opener, "Bad
Man Walking," were co-written by Louis. The Zep-like rocker "Lola
Leave Your Light On" was co-written by Hess. All three will appeal to
different facets of the Mule's audience and will provide fertile
ground for live improvisation.

From this reviewer's seat, there have been too many jam-band albums
lately. This one has familiarity, due to Haynes' vocals and stunning
guitar work; and Louis' keyboards plus the supernatural tightness
between Abts and Hess are a marvel to listen to, even if they
sometimes feel overly analytical.

Surely the guys are having fun on most of these songs. What would be
the harm in sounding like it? The players enjoy each other and enjoy
playing the new songs, but there's a serious vibe in the air most of
the way through. That aside, methinks most of Gov't Mule's expansive
fan base will dig this one.

Since I'm not a longtime fan and am unfamiliar with the work of the
original "power trio," I can speak only for myself and other late
arrivals. However, this is a powerfully played, well-sung, well-
produced album; so, fans of blues-based jam music of high caliber
will enjoy slipping into "Deja Voodoo" again and again. Most local
stores will have this one, or check online at www.atorecords.com
------------------------------------------------------------------- -
Ricky Flake is a former punk rocker, working musician (he's drummer
and vocalist with the band ConspiraSea) and music fan who lives in
Biloxi. Reach him at lobotomy3857@.... ---------------------
---------------------------------------------------

Saturday, October 16, 2004

Keyboardist helps anchor Mule
Ulster's Louis enjoying big time and local projects
By John W. Barry
Poughkeepsie Journal


There is percussion but no drums. There is bleeding but no pain. You
hear his song ring in your ears but feel it in your gut.

While guitarist Warren Haynes belts out ballads, strangling his six-
string and waving it like a wand, keyboard player Danny Louis strikes
black-and-white keys. His bleeding organ channels Sunday morning
mass. The lonely notes of his electric piano drip like dew off a
blade of grass, they run like tears down a cheek.

From his teenage years as a musical gym rat playing clubs around the
Hudson Valley by night and playing trumpet in the Rondout High School
Band by day, Louis has hit the rock 'n' roll big time. He helps
anchor one of the hottest jam bands in contemporary music -- Gov't
Mule -- and in June played with his band mates at a music festival in
Tennessee that hosted 90,000.

On Sunday, Louis and the Mule men ride into Albany for a concert at
the Palace Theater, a venue within a reasonable driving distance of
Poughkeepsie that is quickly becoming something of an East Coast
gathering spot for jam bands and their fans.

New players on CD

Gov't Mule is touring in support of its latest CD, ''Deja Voodoo,''
its first release with a new lineup formed after original bass player
Allan Woody died in 2000. Joining original members Haynes and drummer
Matt Abts are Louis, who was born in Ellenville and grew up in
Kerhonksen, and bass player Andy Hess, formerly of the Black Crowes.

In between his days blowing a horn in high school and marking time
with the Mule, Louis as a teenager had his playing critiqued by jazz
legend and Ulster County resident Jack DeJohnette. He also played
bass in power trios at such clubs as The Well and Astoria Hotel in
Rosendale, both owned by (Uncle) Willy Guldy, one of the Hudson
Valley's most colorful characters.

''I knew Danny as a young kid,'' Uncle Willy said this week. ''He was
always with the bands, following the bands. Danny always had that
personality, always smiling, he always had that happy grin on his
face. ... I think he wanted to be a musician from the get-go and
number two, a famous musician and a rock star, and he accomplished
it. He is a rock star.''

Uncle Willy said Louis underscored the type of person he is after
Gov't Mule's most recent appearance in the Hudson Valley, at Ulster
Performing Arts Center in Kingston a year ago next week. After
playing for hours with the Mule, Louis stopped in at Tony's Pizzeria,
across Broadway from UPAC, said hello to Uncle Willy and sat in for a
few songs with his old friend, guitarist Jimmy Eppard, whose band was
performing that night on the patio at Tony's.

''He doesn't forget people,'' Uncle Willy said of Louis.

As a teenager, Louis performed on trumpet in concerts and recitals,
and at one point played in an ensemble that backed up the West Point
Cadet Choral Group.

Louis lived for years in Boston, where he was a member of The Cars.
He later moved to Manhattan and went on to tour and record with Joan
Osborne, Joe Cocker, UB40, Tracy Chapman and others.

A good fit

In New York City, Louis lived in the same lower Manhattan
neighborhood as Haynes. The two knew each other as musicians, but
also as neighbors exchanging nods on the sidewalk.

They got to know each other better when a keyboard player from the
Warren Haynes Band had a conflict with the ensemble's touring
schedule. Haynes polled the three members of his band on who he
should hire as a replacement. All three knew Louis and all three
recommended him.

Louis and Haynes jammed, and their fates were sealed. The Warren
Haynes Band toured, played dates with one of the other bands that
Haynes is in, the Allman Brothers Band, and Haynes went on to form
Gov't Mule, which at that time was the type of band that gave Louis
his start -- the power trio.

Louis would sit in with the Mule when they played New York City and
he got a ''thank you'' on the band's first album. After Woody died
the Mule played with a rotating cast of bass players as well as
keyboardists Rob Barraco of Phil Lesh & Friends and Chuck Leavell,
the longtime Rolling Stones sideman.

The relationship that Haynes and Louis shared made him a natural to
play with the ever-evolving Mule, but he has been the only one to sit
on the keyboard bench since sitting in. From his perch in the band,
Louis has co-written songs with Haynes. Among his contributions are
the guitar introduction to ''Beautifully Broken,'' a signature Mule
song. Louis also co-wrote two songs on the new album.

Regarding the mechanics of his relationship with Haynes, Louis
said, ''Chemistry is a tough concept to quantify in words. We share a
background in music. We grew up listening to a lot of the same
things. We both love a lot of the same things. I think some of these
little guitar riffs I end up writing spark a little inspiration in
him and he bounces off that and begins to find ways to sing and write
words over the musical parts. I'm a frustrated guitar player and he's
one of my favorites. You can't imagine -- I'll say, ''Hey, what do
you think of this?' He'll say, 'That's pretty cool, can I use that?'
We'll end up in a room together and from the point of inspiration, it
goes various different ways.''

After Albany on Sunday, Louis and the Mule head to the Grand Ole Opry
in Nashville for a show Wednesday and continue touring through the
Midwest and Canada before winding up in the Northwest. The band will
reconvene in the ''Deja Voodoo Lounge'' with shows on the last two
nights of the year at the Beacon Theater.

But wherever he may roam, Louis never seems to forget his Hudson
Valley roots.

''I learned as a young kid to really appreciate being outside,''
Louis said of growing up in a home located on state preserve land in
Ulster County.

Regarding the region, Louis said, ''What seems to be so unique about
it for me is, you get this blend of people who are equally dyed-in-
the-wool country folk and then there are other people who migrate to
the area or still keep in touch with their lives in the big city in
New York. ... The area has had this sort of melange of hard-core
country farmer folk and cosmopolitan folk that had seen a bit of the
world and real artists.''

Building on his affinity for the area, Louis is hoping to make more
marks musically in the region, during time off from the Mule.

''I am hoping to re-emerge in the area with some projects,'' he
said. ''I have a number of live projects in the works that I would
like to come back home and unveil in a sort of low-key way and
reconnect with the area.''

As for where Louis can be found showcasing these projects: ''You
wouldn't have to look far from wherever Uncle Willy is.''

John W. Barry can be reached at jobarry@....

What -- Gov't Mule.

When -- Sunday, 8 p.m.

Where -- Palace Theater, 19 Clinton Ave., Albany.

Tickets -- $27.

Information -- Call 845-454-3388 or visit www.ticketmaster.com; call
box office at 1-518-465-4663 or visit www.palacealbany.com; for
information on Gov't Mule, visit www.mule.net.

Gov't Mule will make recordings of its concerts available for
download, 48 hours after each performance. Visit
www.mule.net/tracks.html.

http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=5569&disp=all
Jambase (September - October 2004)

RESURRECTION OF THE MULE: WARREN HAYNES
by Andy Tennille

Warren Haynes just might be the busiest musician on the planet. The
veteran guitarist splits his time between two Rock 'n Roll Hall of
Fame bands, the Phil Lesh Quintet, and his own band, Gov't Mule.
Haynes also recently released Live at Bonnaroo, a live album from his
solo acoustic performance at the annual Tennessee music festival in
2003. His idea of a vacation this summer: four days off between the
end of the Allman Brothers Band's summer tour and the beginning of
The Dead's second leg of their summer shows, during which he flew to
L.A. to play Leno.

This week, Haynes and drummer Matt Abts released Deja Voodoo, the
first Gov't Mule studio album since the passing of founding member
and bass player Allen Woody and the addition of new members Andy Hess
and Danny Louis. The reincarnated Mule has a fuller, funkier sound
courtesy of Louis' keys work, Hess' bumping bass, and his ability to
groove with Abts. The Mule's music is still focused on Haynes'
searing guitar, but the new additions provide him with an excellent
foil. The band took to the road this week on a two-month, cross-
country tour in support of the new album and will most likely be
coming to a venue near you. Enjoy.

AT: Take me back to the day in 1997 when you and Allen Woody
decided, "Hey we like this Mule thing, we want to take it full time."

WH: Well, we actually procrastinated quite a bit, because leaving an
institution like the Allman Brothers is a scary thing to do, you
know? There was a long period of where we knew that we needed to make
that move and pursue Gov't Mule full time, but we just had to work up
the nerve. When that came about, we left in April of '97 right after
the Beacon run because that was the biggest window that would give
them time to make changes. And at that point in time, we were just
really very excited about the future. Things were just going really
well for us on all fronts. The band was hitting on all cylinders, and
it wasn't so much the case in the Allman Brothers. There was a lot of
dissention, not a lot of creativity, and the band wasn't rehearsing.
There were no plans to do another record. It just felt like we were
going through the motions. Mule was the exact opposite, and so that
helped us make our choice. We felt like, unless we made that move,
people were always going to view the Mule as a side project. In order
for people to take it as serious as we were taking it, we had to show
ourselves and the rest of the world how committed we were.

AT: Woody passed in August of 2000, and here we are four years later
with the first new Mule studio album since his death being released
next month. How have the last four years, and the whole Deep End
experience, been beneficial to you in overcoming the loss of Allen,
and how do you think that experience has reflected in this new studio
album?

WH: Well, I think that us deciding that we wanted to record with all
these different bass players, all of Woody's heroes, and not jumping
into choosing a bass player right away, was really in a subtle way
what kept Gov't Mule together. And what allowed us to continue to
grow and maintain momentum without having to cross over into
territory that we were uncertain about. Going in every day with a
different bass player standing where Allen Woody used to stand, in
most cases his heroes, was incredible. You know, walking in one day
and it is John Entwistle, and the next day it's Jack Bruce, and the
next day it's Larry Graham, and the next day it's Chris Squire--
that's a good week. (Laughs) That was very intimidating for us, very
enlightening, very liberating, all these emotions were mixed
together. It was very bittersweet because we were still mourning our
partner. But at the same time celebrating his life by honoring him
with some of his absolute favorites.

And we learned a lot from that whole experience. Every bass player
and every special guest that we recorded with brought something fresh
and exciting to the table, and we were able to tap into it and learn
from it. And I think that that has something to do with the new
direction that Gov't Mule is exploring on the new record. You know
all those influences had been brought to the surface, so at that
point it was okay to utilize them.

AT: Yeah, all of these different guys brought their own
characteristics and personalities to those recording sessions. You
guys were bound to be influenced by that experience.

WH: Absolutely. We just kept our ears open and you know, tried to not
force the situation and tried and see where it would go organically
and see what each person was going to bring to the table and try to
be inspired by it and learn from it.

AT: One of the things that you've mentioned about this new album is
the band's new sound. What is the sound of this new band, besides the
obvious influence of the additions of Danny Louis and Andy Hess to
form a quartet instead of the power trio format? What makes the sound
of the new Gov't Mule different than the old Mule?

WH: Well, this is a chemistry between four people now, instead of a
chemistry between three people. Andy and Danny both play like they
are in a quartet, which is what we are now, so it works out
perfectly. When Woody passed, Matt and I kind of made the decision to
add a member at that point because we didn't want to put ourselves or
the new bass player or the audience under the pressure of constantly
comparing the old to the new. We thought it was time to open up a new
chapter. If you go back to Life Before Insanity, you can see a lot of
these directions being hinted at on that record. That was the first
record where we really utilized production and overdubs and, you
know, a lot of different instrumental textures. Woody and I both
played a lot of different instruments on that record. And we had
keyboards on that record, we had Ben Harper playing lap steel and
singing. So you can see where it might have grown from that point
forward had we not halted the progress. And then if you mix in all
the influences from all the different bass players throughout the
whole Deep End project, Deja Voodoo was the obvious next step.

AT: In the notes that I read on the release of this new album, you
said that with each new Mule studio album, you guys try to break new
ground and explore new areas. Yet Michael Barbieri has had a
consistent hand in producing these records from the beginning. How do
you think that consistency with him as a producer has played out as
far as the finished products with each of these records? And what is
his greatest skill that he brings to the production of these studio
albums?


WH: Sonically speaking, Mike is one of the best that I've ever worked
with. The sounds that he is able to capture on tape, to capture what
a band really sounds like and not change it in any way, unless it
wants to be changed, is an art. And he is a true artist in that way.
It's funny because, at the end of every record, Mike comes up to me
and goes, "You know, on your next record, you are probably going to
want to try a different producer." And we always have the discussion,
and I go, "Yeah you know, one of these days we're going to have to do
that, but I am not sure if we are ready to do it yet." And then I
started co-producing with him recently, so it changes the dynamic a
little bit. I'm sure we are going to try someone new in the not-so-
distant future. Maybe even for the next record, with Mike's blessing.
But he is just so comfortable, he is almost like part of the family
at this point. Maybe that is the reason to try somebody different, to
shake free of that comfort zone.

AT: I didn't know if his constant influence on these albums has made
you guys feel even more comfortable as musicians to explore different
things, and that the idea of breaking new ground with each records is
that you have this consistent feeling with the producer that it makes
you feel comfortable as a musician to explore. Because this record,
and this is no knock on Woody because he could get really funky, but
I think this record is a lot more funky than some of previous Mule
records. It has got almost a New Orleans-like vibe to it.

WH: Yeah, the chemistry that Andy and Matt have together is totally
different than the chemistry that Matt and Woody had. But it is
equally impressive in the way that the first time I heard Matt and
Woody play together, I heard this instant lock. The same thing with
Matt and Andy. That's something that you can't force, you can't
coerce it. It either happens or it doesn't, you know, and when a bass
player and a drummer have that instant pocket together, you are just
thankful and you don't question it. Of course, Danny is such a groove
player as well that the band takes on this whole different sound. It
is a sound that we were tampering with anyway, but when you throw
people like Bootsy Collins, Larry Graham, Flea, and Les Claypool into
the mix, it manifests itself pretty easily. Playing with George
Porter and having him on the road with us really influenced this band
a lot. And Porter is part of the family at this point. He's one of my
favorite musicians, and we were just blessed and honored to work with
him. So it was people like George, Oteil Burbridge, Mike Gordon,
Jason Newsted, and especially Dave Schools that kept this band
together.

I think the very first song I wrote was when I was 12 and just
started playing guitar. And curiously enough it was about drug and
alcohol addiction. When I look back, it is so odd that I remember
that... it was called "The Wasp." It was about this imaginary bug
that would sting you, and then you were addicted to drugs.

AT: Yeah, I definitely hear the Porter influence on this album and I
thought that was one of the obvious things the first time that I
heard it. He must have had a profound influence on you.

WH: On Andy as well. Andy is such a Porter fan. He would list Porter
up there with his top influences. It's funny because in some ways he
was stepping into Porter's shoes. One of the things that I love about
Andy is that great big bottom end sound, but he doesn't play like
Woody. He has a different approach. He is not quite as aggressive,
but he is perfectly aggressive in a four-piece setting. Woody was
such a sensitive musician that as soon as we added a fourth member he
would tone his aggression down a little bit too. It is just a natural
thing to do. In a three-piece, everybody has to be a little more
wild, and a little more aggressive, but with each member you add you
have to kind of start accommodating to the character and shape of the
sound. And so whenever we added musicians, Woody's role would change
instantly as all of our roles would. And you could see that when we
played with John Scofield, or when we added keyboards or whatever the
case may be.

AT: It's funny, I used to bartend at Ziggy's in Winston-Salem, NC for
a number of years when I was in college and saw the old Mule there a
lot. There were nights that I thought that that bar might fall apart
because Allen's bass playing was so...

WH:  It was the thunder, man. But in a trio you know, you've got a
lot to hold up by yourself when you're the bass player. And so it
kind of has to be that way. And one of the things that Gov't Mule was
founded on in the first place was that improvisational trio sound
that nobody was doing anymore. And of course now, we've graduated
past that, which most trios did. If you look back historically, most
bands that started as a trio wound up making their statement as a
trio and then forging ahead.

AT:  Makes sense. I want to jump into some songwriting, and talk
about your approach to songwriting for a little bit. And we'll get
into specifics about some of the songs on the new album a bit later.
But I was curious Warren, when was the first time you wrote a song
and what was it about?

WH: Oh, man. (Pause) I think the very first song I wrote was when I
was 12 and just started playing guitar. And curiously enough it was
about drug and alcohol addiction. When I look back, it is so odd that
I remember that. I started out at a younger age writing poetry and
all my teachers tried to encourage me to go either poetry or go into
creative writing or into journalism or something, 'cause I always was
intrigued by writing and had some sort of knack for it. But when I
started playing guitar, all that focus instantly shifted to lyrics
and songwriting. And then I wrote some amazingly stupid songs at the
beginning and this, the first one I remember I was 12 years old and
it was called "The Wasp." It was about this imaginary bug that would
sting you, and then you were addicted to drugs. (Laughs) It was the
stupidest thing ever. Even so stupid that the other people in my
band, we had a band of 12-year-olds, and the other guys were making
fun of it. (Laughs)

AT: What was the band called?

At that point, the band was called either Science Fiction or Royal
Flush. That was the first two bands that I was ever in. I am talking
12-year-old kids playing around in the garage, you know.

AT:  That's great. Let's talk a little bit about your writing
process. Do you start with music and then do you write words to the
music? Or do you start with words and then write the music? Which way
do you find easier?

WH:  My normal way of writing is to write lyrics first and to add the
music. That's kind of the opposite of what most people do. For some
reason, I don't know if it is just laziness, or I try and convince
myself that it works better for me, but I usually wait until I am
lyrically inspired to write at all. For some reason, it is much
easier to take a lyric and obtain the mood of that lyric and try and
write music that captures that mood, than doing the opposite. Now,
having said that, I've recently written a lot of songs that started
with the music first and I added the lyric. A lot of songs have
turned out great that way. There is no right or wrong way. I'm kind
of doing it the opposite way to just to kind of shake it up and not
fall into a pattern or a routine, you know? But if I went back
through my catalog, especially the songs that I feel are more
lyrically sound, it usually started as a lyric. Sometimes the up-
tempo rock songs I'll write the music first and then figure out how
to get a lyric in there. But you're second-guessing yourself at that
point, asking what mood does this music project, and can I write a
lyric that falls into that mood? But there's a hundred different ways
to write a song.

AT: Do you write every day? I read an interview with Trey Anastasio
where he talked about how he and Tom Marshall take writing trips;
they'd go somewhere specifically to write songs. Are you a person who
writes every day? And I was curious to know if you write prose or
short stories as well.

WH: I wrote a short story one time and it took like ten days to write
like 14 pages or something. It was the most frustrating experience in
my life. At that point I just said, I guess I am a songwriter. I do
write poetry sometimes now. Sometimes I write stream of consciousness
stuff at four o'clock, five o'clock in the morning, at the point
where I'm almost asleep. Sometimes I'll get inspired and sit down and
write two or three pages of stuff and then go back a few days later
and look at it and see what is there. And in some cases, I'll pull
out parts of that and turn it into a song. Some of them remain
individual pieces of poetry. I've never published any of my poetry. I
have thought about it a few times, but I'm kind of scared to compare
it to poetry by people who take themselves seriously as poets. But
more often that not, some of the stream of consciousness stuff has
its way of lingering around and finding its way into future songs.
That's what I like to do. I keep scrapbooks and notebooks full of
lyrics, and sometimes it will be a whole page of stuff. Sometimes it
will just be one line on a page that I want to remember. So in that
way I'm always writing, but I'll go sometimes two or three months
without doing any serious songwriting. And I always get scared and
have that same feeling of, "Oh my god, have I written my last song?"
But then something happens and I start working on one song, and then
another one will come and another one will come, and then I start
regaining my confidence. I think with me it's kind of like a more ebb-
and-flow kind of thing. Sometimes, my system is on input, and all I'm
doing is learning and searching and soaking up. And then at the right
time, it will start spitting it all out. Plus, it's hard to write on
the road, and I'm on the road a lot. I need that space where I am by
myself at four o'clock in the morning and nobody else is around in
order for me to just completely relax and start spitting out what's
in my subconscious.

AT: That sounds like a more realistic approach. As a writer, I think
I'd feel the increased pressure of having to deliver on some kind of
writing trip or something like that.

WH: Yeah. For me anyway, I have certain windows where I know that I
am going to be able to write during this time because I don't have
the pressures of having to be somewhere at a certain hour, and then
an hour later having to be somewhere else. And you know, so I do a
lot of writing in November and December because those are times that
usually I have time off, and I'm able to relax.

AT: Talk to me a little bit about some of your songs. What do you
like to write about and how much of your writing is autobiographical?

WH:  When I listen to my favorite songwriters, I have always been
pulled into the real dark personal pieces, you know. The ones that I
feel like are exposing raw nerve. And I have always taken that
approach myself. Sometimes it can be a little dangerous because you
are opening yourself up for serious criticism to write that way,
because you're aspiring towards something that only the greatest
writers deserve to do, in some people's opinion. I've always been
mostly moved by that stuff. It's hard for me to sit down and write
some stupid love song that I don't believe. I lived in Nashville in
the '80s, and I was able to witness the whole staff writing and
people scheduling three writing appointments a day, and getting
together with three different writers, and by the end of the day they
had written at least three songs and they didn't believe any of them,
but they hoped they would all make some money. And it just really
turned me off to that whole approach to writing.

So I try to take my cues from the people that I think are the
greatest writers out there. Starting with Dylan, and of course you
know, John Lennon and McCartney and people like Neil Young, Elvis
Costello, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, and Tom Waits. I try to
learn from those people as much as I can. I am a completely different
person, I am a completely different type of artist than all of those
people, so however much I learn from them is going to be filtered
through my brain and applied to a completely different approach
toward music. So some people may read that these people are
influences on me and go, "Wow, I don't really hear that," but
lyrically speaking, they are. I am fortunate in the way that as a
singer, I am influenced by my favorite singers. As a writer, I am
influenced by my favorite writers. As a guitar player, I am
influenced by my favorite musicians, and so I am able to mix those
three categories together and see what comes out.

AT: In terms of your songwriting alone, I have noticed that a lot of
your songs deal with love in various forms, yet you've been married
for a few years. Can you easily project yourself as a songwriter into
other people's shoes or circumstances and take their viewpoints, or
is this Warren talking about something that is going on in his life?
Are a lot of these songs autobiographical?

WH:  I tend to write about characters that are based on either other
people or people around me. Sometimes it might be something that I
have heard about or read about or whatever, and then a character will
be formed that has a certain amount of myself as a part of that
character. But hardly ever is the character completely me. I kind of
feel like, to write only about what goes in my life would be a pretty
limiting scope, you know. But at the same time, a lot of my songs
contain at least parts that are autobiographical. Most of my favorite
writers take that same kind of approach. They come up with
characters, and you can almost sense when that character becomes
themselves, and when they take on other characters. That's the way
that I tend to do it. I don't know if it's fortunate or unfortunate,
but I'm around a lot of real characters. (Laughs) All my life, I have
been around people that have struggled just to get through the day--
whether it's emotionally, or chemically, whatever the case may be.
I've lost a lot of friends through the years, and I try to learn from
those experiences, but somehow they keep haunting you and creeping
back into the things you write about as well. We're here to learn
from all these experiences and sometimes it's hard to know what the
lesson really is. Again, I do a lot of stream of consciousness
writing where I write it down as fast as it will come out and go back
later and try and figure out what really connects with me. So there
is a lot of editing involved when I write that way.

AT:  Let's talk about the album here specifically. I just wanted to
throw some song names out at you and just tell me about the recording
of the song, how you wrote the song, whatever kind of interests you
in terms of each song. And the first one I wanted to start out with
is "Little Toy Brain."

WH:  "Little Toy Brain" I wrote quite a few years ago. It was
definitely written way before Woody died. I think it has a Beatles
influence, and at some point we would have probably recorded that
song with Woody, because Woody was such a McCartney freak. He just
adored McCartney's bass playing. Whenever he had an excuse to show
that side of himself, he would love to do it.

We never worked that song up as a band while Woody was around, but at
some point we had talked to McCartney's camp about him playing on the
Deep End. Had he agreed to be part of that project, we would have
recorded that song with him. It was kind of reserved for him at that
point. I wrote a letter to McCartney, a very heartfelt letter saying
that the reason we were reaching out to him was as a seminal bass
player and not as a Beatle or a pop star. We were reaching out to the
Paul McCartney the bass player, in the same way that we would reach
out to Jaco Pastorius or James Jamerson if they were still alive. He
contacted us and his camp said that he was very intrigued with the
project and thought it was great, but he was just too busy to be part
of it. But just the fact that we got a response made me feel good. So
that song would have been done with Sir Paul, had that opportunity
arose. And since it was already floating around in my brain, I
thought we could go ahead and work it up as a band. With Danny and
Andy, it just sounded amazing.

AT: Yeah, I think it does too. Talk about "Bad Man Walking" a little
bit.

WH: "Bad Man Walking" was me and Danny sitting around in his little
studio, working up a song. That song came together really quickly.
Danny had this idea that turned into the intro, and then I came up
with the riff that turned into the verse, and it just kept kind of
falling into place. I was scribbling down lyrics while we were
sitting there. The next thing you know, like an hour and a half later
or something, we had this tune. Of course, we would continue to work
on the arrangement and all that stuff in days and weeks to come, but
it came together relatively quickly, which was nice. It's always nice
to have something that funky or that upbeat as part of the overall
picture. Andy's playing just brings that song to life.

AT: Yeah, his playing is awesome on that track. He carries the deep
end on that tune pretty well. What about "Lola Leave Your Light On?"

WH: That song was the last thing that we put together at the end of
the record. I had this idea musically floating around in my head, and
I put it on tape while we were in the studio. Matt had to fly to
California the next day and we were pretty much done with recording.
There were two song possibilities that we could have done at that
point--one that we had worked on a little bit, and one that would
turn out to be "Lola Leave Your Light On." So we sat down and worked
on the music for a while and basically put a rough sketch of the
music together. Then Matt flew home and it kind of turned into a song
after he left.

I have a friend in North Carolina named Jeff Anders that I've co-
written a few songs with. He is a musician that I grew up with and we
stay in touch. He co-wrote the "High Cost of Low Living" on the last
Allman Brothers record, and he also co-wrote "Tattoos and Cigarettes"
on my solo record. A few years back, Jeff and I were talking about
ideas one night, and he mentioned this song title he had--"Lola Leave
Your Light On."

The day that we put together the music for this unknown song, we
didn't even know if it was going to be ready in time for this record
or not. So it was like two o'clock in the morning and the only person
who ever calls me at two o'clock in the morning is Jeff. We're both
up late. So at two a.m., I answer the phone and it's Jeff. And he
goes, "Hey man, remember that title I gave you, 'Lola Leave Your
Light On?' Did you ever do anything with that?" And I said, "Jeff
call me back." (Laughs) I wrote the lyrics to "Lola Leave Your Light
On" and called him back like an hour later and said, "I, just did,
man." (Laughs) He gave me that title and it just fit perfectly into
what I wanted the hook of the chorus to be. It was just one of those
things that was meant to be. We laugh about it every time we talk
now. It came together so quickly. I love it when that happens. "Bad
Little Doggie" was kind of written that way. It just all came out so
quick that we didn't really have time to question it. It was created
in a similar way to Lola. We put the music down first, and then I
wrote lyrics to it. It's funny, I said something to Danny or somebody
toward the end of the day we recorded "Lola." I was like, "Well I'm
hoping that this comes together like 'Bad Little Doggie' did." And
sure enough that night, Jeff and I had that conversation, and I went
back into the studio the next day and told the guys I had it.

AT:  That's a great story. Another of the songs on there that I think
is pretty interesting is "New World Blues." Tell me a little about
that.

WH:  "New World Blues" is pretty new. I wrote that this year. It
could have been late last year, but it wasn't too long before we went
in the studio. I just felt like it was a strange juxtaposition of the
verse and the chorus. They are so different from each other it is
almost like they don't belong in the same song. But lyrically, that's
what it cried out for, so I kind of tweaked it to try and make myself
happy with that marriage. In the long run, we were able to kind of
create this situation where the two worlds collide. I think the whole
concept of "New World Blues" is that everybody is so ready today just
to leave reality behind and not work on it, not make it better. Just
try and find a means of escaping, in both good and bad ways.

That little jam that happened at the end of the song was totally
unplanned. We just played it like that from start to finish and
figured we could fade it out on the record. But we started listening
to it and felt that we had to keep it. That jams represents the whole
journey into the future. We thought that it sounds like the end of an
album, that it sounds like the record is over. Like in the old days,
you get up and take the needle off and take the vinyl off and put it
back in its little sleeve. That is the way it felt to me. I love the
interplay between Danny and me on that tune. Danny is just doing what
he does best, which is playing this counter-call and response thing.
When Danny and I got to know each other ten years ago when I was
looking for a keyboard player, I went to his little studio and sat
down and the two of us just played. And the call and response thing
that we had together was what sold me, what made me go, "Yeah, this
is the guy."

AT:  "Wine and Blood" is an interesting song. I like it, and I want
to get your take on where the lyrics for that came from.

WH:  It's hard to say. It is kind of melancholy, almost Appalachian-
kind of influence. Growing up in North Carolina, being surrounded by
bluegrass and Appalachian music all my life, I feel like it taps back
into some of that. It has that really lonesome feeling that a lot of
those mountain songs had. That is a relatively new song too. I was a
little concerned with being able to capture the mood of it having
written it so recently. Sometimes with songs that I take that
personally, I want them to marinate for a long time so I can really
get a feel for what it is that I want them to sound like. When I
worked it up with the band, it kind of took this whole vibe on
itself. Everybody in the band was immediately drawn to it. I brought
it in under the premise that it was one of my departure songs. And
all three of the guys were like, "I love that song, we got to do
that." So we quickly turned it into a band arrangement, and it is
very different. I don't even know what to compare it to really. But I
like the kind of lonesome quality that it has.

AT:  What about "Mr. Man?"

WH:  "Mr. Man" is a new song responding to the times. I wrote that
during the fall tour of Phil and Friends late one night in my hotel
room. And yeah, it obviously has the political statement, but it is
also this fun, up-tempo song. For me, it was more about if we could
go in to the studio and capture a version of this that is exciting
start to finish and feels like it has something to say musically as
well as lyrically. We tried a lot of different approaches on that
tune. Danny started out playing a typical B3 through a Leslie on it,
and he didn't like it. Although we liked his performance, he asked if
he could rethink it and come back in a few days with a different
approach on it. He decided to run the organ through a Marshall, like
Deep Purple used to do in the late '60s. It has this real low-fi
sound. Almost somewhere between a distorted guitar and a farfisa.
It's got this borderline cheesy, lo-fi organ sound that kicks it to
some weird, humorous place. When he came up with that, we were all
like, "Yeah, now I see what you were trying to do." It made the song
have a much more tongue-in-cheek quality. And it just seemed to fit
the tune much more than the traditional organ thing. That song is
weird in the way that it has '60s, '70s, and '80s influences all in
one tune. I don't know that I could say that about any other Mule
song.

AT: "About The Rage?"

WH: "About The Rage" was written during that same time period, last
November. If you had to pick a song to describe the new direction of
this band, I think "About The Rage" would be a nice representative.
You know it is definitely Mule, but I can't really compare it to any
thing that we have ever done. It has that merging of worlds too,
where the verse sounds completely different than the chorus and there
is a lot of different influences colliding, but hopefully becoming
one sound.

AT: Talk to me a little bit about "My Separate Reality."

WH:  That song is at least ten years old I would say. I wrote that
song one of the first years that I moved to New York. I've always
loved the tune. I had only played it on acoustic guitar, and acoustic
guitar doesn't really capture it. I had always wanted to hear like at
least a quartet, if not a bigger band, play it. It may have even been
a candidate for Tales of Ordinary Madness. It might have gone back
that far. When I wrote it, I wanted kind of a jazzy approach to it.
At one point, I was thinking about an acoustic piano and upright bass
and drums with brushes--a real kind of dark jazz approach to it. In
my mind, I was probably saving it for what would become my next solo
record. Once Andy and Danny became full time members of Gov't Mule, I
thought that we could really play that song great, cause I never felt
like it was a trio song. I felt like it had to have keyboards. So we
just worked it up and instantly it was amazing. People were taking a
little bit different approach to it than I envisioned, but it was all
for the better.

We used to work that tune up at sound check on the road. We made a
point that we weren't going to perform any of these songs live
because we didn't want to give them away. We didn't want to spoil the
surprise. With all the tapers these days and the way the world is,
it's hard to keep things under wraps. With the new Allman Brothers
record, with the exception of one song, the tapers were trading every
song that wound up on the record. And in some cases, people had made
compilations of their favorite live versions of the songs they
thought would be on the album. People get spoiled by listening to
versions that way before the record comes out. They are more attached
to those versions than they are to the one that the band thinks is
the definitive one. We really wanted to avoid that, so we made the
decision to not play any of these songs live. Some of them we would
play at sound check when there was nobody in the building, but we
didn't perform them. And that was the case with "My Separate
Reality." There was about a week where we played that song every day
at sound check, and it just came together beautifully. I thought that
I'd really like to record it. I think that is the first take of that
song. We went back a few times just to see if we could beat it, but
we went back to the first one in the end.

AT:  Last song--"Perfect Shelter."

"Perfect Shelter" is a fairly new one as well. It has that Hendrix
vibe about it. It also has a little bit of a Sly and the Family Stone
vibe about it too. Maybe there is some sort of Larry Graham influence
in the chorus in a subtle sort of way. "Perfect Shelter" came pretty
quickly and was one of those tunes that we just needed to capture the
raw vibe of it. Danny's organ part really is what kind of glued it
all together. The guitar "wa wa" stuff is all live stuff that I am
playing on the track while I am singing, and that is part of what
gives it that real Hendrix sound, the old-school approach to
recording. We just wanted that groove to kind of sell the tune. It's
that black gospel-meets funk-meets Hendrix-meets blues kind of thing.
The lyrics are just pro-life. I don't mean pro-life in an anti-
abortion way. I mean when you lived through death, and losing friends
and people important to you, the message is that you learn how
important life really is and how to live it from that day forward. It
is very much about how we are all in the same exact boat. None of us
are immune to the bullshit or threats. That's what makes us all the
same. We share that mortality.

Andy Tennille
JamBase | San Francisco
Go See Live Music!

Brilliant new start for Gov't Mule

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/storyprint.asp?StoryID=295961

By DAVID MALACHOWSKI, Special to the Times Union
First published: Monday, October 18, 2004

ALBANY -- Stalwart blues rock warriors Gov't Mule rode into the
Palace Theatre on Sunday night for an adventurous, joyous night of
jamming.

This past year especially, guitar wizard Warren Haynes seems to be
trying to surpass James Brown as the hardest working guy in show biz.
Often times you could find Haynes playing with the headliner (with
the Allman Brothers Band or the Dead), as well as opening with Gov't
Mule, and then even opening the show himself as a solo acoustic act.

In Albany, it was all Mule all night, with Haynes having it
relatively easy -- merely playing two long sets with Gov't Mule.

Bathed in purple lights and fog, Mule mounted the stage and jumped
into "Slackjaw Jezebel." Haynes' voice was pained and passionate,
while his guitar snarling and spitting out notes, drove the cart.

A slow and simmering "I Think You Know What I Mean" followed. Here,
Haynes started stretching out on the slide guitar, and though he had
two-and-a-half hours more of playing ahead of him, soared, screamed
and didn't hold a thing back.

He didn't have to; his bag of tricks was that deep.

Joining founding member drummer Matt Abts is new permanent bassist
Andy Hess, who replaces the well-loved and greatly missed late Allen
Woody. Though the addition of keyboardist Danny Louis brings a fourth
voice and textures, in many ways Mule still approaches the material
as a power trio.

"Blind Man in The Dark" held a lot of space and was where Louis was
given an extended piano solo. His technique and tone were of the
highest level.

The raw and rugged "Mother Earth" revealed Mule's Cream roots, as
well as reminding everyone the blues is where all this music comes
from. "Bad Man Walking" was full of attitude, while "No Celebration,"
with its gorgeous chord voicings, showed its sensitive side.

The quiet was over quickly as the rough and tumble "32-20 Blues"
ripped a hole in the ceiling. The dark "Mr. Big" hit a deep groove,
followed by more searing slide work during a fierce cover of Robert
Johnson's "If I Had Possession Over Judgment Day."

"Lively Up Yourself," "Fallen Down," "Wandering Child" all hit hard,
and "New World Blues" burned.

All told, Haynes is simply becoming one of the world's best
guitarists.

Now with a new bassist and fourth member on keyboards, Gov't Mule is
at a turning point. Judging by this night at the Palace, the Mule is
up for the task, ready to dig into the music even deeper.

GOV'T MULE

When: 8 p.m. Sunday

Where: Palace Theatre, 19 Clinton Ave., Albany

Length: A 90-minute and 60-minute set

The crowd: 1,500 hippies and jam band fans of all ages

Musical highlights: a raw "Slackjaw Jezebel," searing "If I Had
Possession Over Judgment Day" and the hard- hitting "Wandering Child"

From westword.com (Denver)
http://www.westword.com/issues/2004-09-16/music2.html

Originally Published By Westword Thursday, September 16, 2004
©2004 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mule Variations
Warren Haynes is one mule who's not ungovernable.
By Nick Hutchinson

Operation GI blues: Warren Haynes, Andy Hess, Danny Louis and Matt
Abts are Gov't Mule.

Getting ahold of Warren Haynes is tricky. Understandably, he likes to
keep a low profile. For the past few years he's been touring pretty
much non-stop, playing leap-frog between the current incarnations of
the Allman Brothers and the Dead, not to mention fronting his own
band, Gov't Mule. Such a road-intensive schedule warrants the
occasional game of hide-and-seek.

"This has been my busiest year ever, which, of course, is not a bad
thing," says Haynes when finally tracked down in his road manager's
room at an Embassy Suites in Syracuse. "But I won't lie; the
traveling part is hard. It's the music that's fun."

That said, Haynes seems more than capable of adapting to his
surroundings. A Southern boy, born in Asheville, North Carolina, the
guitarist is now a confirmed Yankee. When not on the road, he splits
his time between an apartment in Greenwich Village and a country
house not far from the city with his wife of six years.

"The Northeast is actually a huge market for the kind of music I
play," Haynes points out. "The Beacon Theater in Manhattan has kind
of become an unofficial home for the Allmans and Gov't Mule. We get a
tremendous response from the fans." The former drops by for a series
of shows at the venue every March, and the latter checks in every New
Year's Eve.

Even so, Haynes's roots are firmly planted in Dixie. The
singer/guitarist got his start in Nashville playing with David Allan
Coe, an artist best known for writing X-rated ditties with a redneck
spin. The chopper-riding Coe introduced Haynes to original Allman
Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts in the mid-'80s. After collaborating
with Coe for a few years, Haynes went on to join Betts's solo project
in 1986 and then the Allman Brothers Band, which re-formed in 1989
(the twentieth anniversary of the group's founding).

"I had been playing with Dickey in his band for a few years," Haynes
recalls. "I was doing slide guitar, singing and writing some songs
with him. We were polishing the dual-lead thing, so when the Allmans
started up again, I was right there with Dickey, and I was ready."

What followed was a critically acclaimed renaissance for the famous
Southern rockers; many fans and critics credit Haynes as one of the
driving forces behind the group's resurgence. Both Haynes and fellow
newbie, bassist Allen Woody, supplied enough passion to rekindle the
old Allman flames, breathing life into the band and producing new
favorites, including "Back Where It All Begins," Haynes's
own "Soulshine" and "No One to Run With."

But Haynes's story, like that of the Allman Brothers, contains its
share of tragedy and sorrow. Five years after Haynes and Woody joined
the Allman Brothers, they enlisted drummer Matt Abts and formed their
own hard-rocking side project, Gov't Mule. The two friends opted to
leave the Brothers entirely in 1997 to focus on the new band, and the
blues-based combo quickly made a name for itself. In addition to a
number of successful tours, Mule released five albums, culminating
with 2000's Life Before Insanity, a disc that was poised to be its
commercial breakthrough. But in August that year, Woody died suddenly
of a heart attack. Having lost his co-conspirator and favorite bass
player, Haynes was left at the proverbial crossroads.

"When Allen died, my first inclination was to dissolve the band," he
confesses. "I didn't think I could go on. But we got a lot of
encouragement from friends in the industry not to break up. And I'm
glad we didn't. The Mule is at a place right now that I never would
have believed we could reach." Haynes was able to keep the group
going with the addition of bassist Andy Hess and keyboardist Danny
Louis.

"With Allen, we knew over 400 songs," Haynes notes. "The new guys
have learned the material and are doing really well. It keeps getting
better and better. Matt and I are smiling again like we never
expected."

But keeping the Mule going isn't the only thing Haynes has to be
happy about these days. In 2001 he returned to the Allman Brothers,
joining guitar virtuoso Derek Trucks in yet another version of the
ever-evolving outfit, which had recently parted ways with founding
member Betts. Haynes has also teamed with former Grateful Dead
bassist Phil Lesh, who himself was bouncing back from the loss of a
musical compatriot.

"In the late '90s, Phil was putting together Phil and Friends, and he
had a list of musicians he wanted to audition to tour with him,"
Haynes says. "He called me, and I started playing in the band. He was
looking for a twin-guitar setup, and for a while it was a revolving
door of players. But eventually we stumbled upon the definitive band,
which has me and Jimmy Herring playing the leads."

Playing with Phil and Friends led to Haynes's touring with the Dead,
another reconfigured and road-tested band. With all the traveling and
musical chairs, you'd think Haynes would be overwhelmed, but he
insists it's not a problem.

"The Dead are a combination of styles, including folk, jazz, R&B,
psychedelic and country," Haynes explains. "The Allmans is more of a
blues band, and the Mule is more of a rock band. But we're all
products of the same influences, which are just combined in different
ways, to different degrees and at different levels.

"Sometimes I'll transpose licks from one group to the other," he adds
with a laugh, "just to see if people are listening."

As for cultural differences among the acts, Haynes says it's all
relative. "Musicians tend to have a lot in common," he notes, "so
it's pretty easy to blend into the different bands. The musicians I
work with have a diverse outlook on life, and the music reflects
their personalities. The Dead are from the West Coast scene and the
Allmans are from the South. They're all easy to get along with."

As for his own band, Haynes says, "The Mule is something we built
from the ground floor. It's anything we want it to be and changes
with every record."

One thing that remains unchanged, however, is Haynes's commitment to
touring. Although he's looking forward to November, when his
relentless schedule will finally allow him to return home for a
little downtime with his wife, it's clear: He's equally at home with
his bandmates on the road.

"The Mule is where my heart is at," he concludes. "Hopefully it'll go
on for years."

DEJA VOODOO LYRICS By GOV'T MULE

1. BAD MAN WALKING

Hey can I tell you a little story About a bad man looking for glory
Oh he wasn't such a bad man But he kindly let his fame seep into his
brain

Hey can I tell you a little secret You see the bad man was a lot like
me Oh he had a little wisdom But he traded it away for a 15 minute
reign

Bad man walking Bad man Bad tongue talking

Hey can you spare a little sympathy 'Cause right now I think it's
what I really need Oh do you think you really know yourself Are you
sure what you might do if the choice was up to you

Bad man walking Bad man Bad tongue talking

Bad man walking Bad man Bad tongue talking

Bad man walking Bad man Bad tongue talking


2. ABOUT TO RAGE

Hesitation is a hole in the head And contradiction buys you time A
battle worth winning Is a battle worth losing Some times revolution
is kind

We can stop and pray for rain Or we can march and beat the drums But
the storm's about to rage

He who speaks loudly will surely be heard But a whisper cannot be
ignored Heaven and hell are one in the same When desperation's all
you can afford

Knowing all along The truth will overcome And the storm's about to
rage About to rage

Anger and tears Will wash away our fears

Some pages in history will surely be burned Revisions are not always
wrong Time to discover what's really, really, really right Instead of
what makes us feel strong

Blood is on your hands But it's what the part demands The storm's
about to rage About to rage The storm's about to rage About to rage
Oh, yeah The storm's about, about to rage About to rage

Hesitation is a hole in the head


3. PERFECT SHELTER

Serene - what a dream A pillow to rest your weary bones Recharge -
redefine Time to repaint the lines Change the world - it's time
Life's around the corner, death's grip is far behind Life can be
sweet - wounds can start to heal

Stay and be destroyed - move and be renewed Grow or wither - it's all
up to you

None of us has built a perfect shelter

Don't christen me with your condescending laughter I said, don't,
don't, don't put me in a box Don't forget I once knew a few things
about you too I think you'll see, life can be quite the paradox

Stay and be destroyed - move and be renewed Grow or wither - it's all
up to you

None of us has built a perfect shelter None of us has built a perfect
shelter

Stay and be destroyed - move and be renewed Grow or wither - it's all
up to you

None of us has built a perfect shelter None of us has built a perfect
shelter

None of us has built a perfect shelter None of us has built a perfect
shelter


4. LITTLE TOY BRAIN

So you thought you can handle it - yea didn't they all Look at the
shape that you're in But fools never compromise - they go out in
flames So out with the old, in with the new What in the world has
happened to you

What goes on in that little toy brain Who'll sweep out the wreckage,
who'll sing the refrain And after the smoke clears - is there
anything left Did you wash it all away

So you cried like a baby, asking for more - still you don't know
where you've been Ain't it high time you woke up, took a good look
around You're killing yourself - damning your soul -all in the name
of sweet rock and roll

What goes on in that little toy brain Who'll sweep out the wreckage,
who'll sing the refrain And after the smoke clears - is there
anything left Did you wash it all away

"Hold me I'm lonely," you say to yourself The only one who will
listen now So what does it mean when you finally explain you were
never good at apologies

I've got some pride left, but it's plain to see It's been earmarked
for emergency So what ever happened to your blind faith - did it
crumble away Like me, like me

What goes on in that little toy brain Who'll sweep out the wreckage,
who'll sing the refrain And after the smoke clears Is there anything
left

Did you wash it all away Did you wash it all away Tell me what goes
on in that little toy brain


5. SLACKJAW JEZEBEL

Babies were crying before you got here I believe they're crying still
The world as we know it keeps right on turning I guess it always will

Still something's changed - I hate to admit it I ain't been the same
since you came around My mind is swollen from the weariness Wish you
never flagged me down

Twisted angel, cast out of some strange heaven Sent down here to pull
me out of my shell You show up on my doorstep - honey dripping from
your mouth Like some slackjaw Jezebel

Flesh and bones is all I'm made of I couldn't stopped you if I tried
The spell you were casting - way too heavy Now I can't be satisfied

But you think you're going to save me - you better think again I've
had saviors galore Although you are a vision - an angel wrapped in
sin I've seen it all before

Twisted angel Cast out of some strange heaven Sent down here, landed
on my window sill Now you walking through my backdoor - honey
dripping from your mouth Like some slackjaw Jezebel

You've got your bag of dust and you're divining rod I wonder how I
got myself here Wheel's spinning faster And I know I got to jump off
I guess I'm weighing the fire against the fear

You spoon-fed my ego - made me feel so young Kissed me 'til my lips
were sore I know you're just a Jezebel with a poisonous tongue I've
been down this road before

It's full of twisted angels Cast out of some strange heaven Sent down
here to put me through Hell You show up on my doorstep - honey
dripping from your mouth Like some slackjaw Jezebel Oh, like some
slackjaw Jezebel


6. WINE AND BLOOD

Desiree's in disarray waiting for her angels to come Where she used
to feel the weight of a thousand lifetimes Now she just feels numb
There was a time when her beauty raised the eyebrows of the town Any
man would gladly give up all he had just to take Desiree down

She stares out the window at the world passing by She's caught
beneath the wheel Too heavy to lift - she feels too weak to try
People stare like strangers where once she might've asked them in To
fill the void where her heart once was Now she just fills her glass
again And again

She walks the floor less traveled Thinks of a sad melody Wine and
blood don't mix like they used to Now they just make a memory Too
many years trying to do the right thing for the wrong man Now the
picture is clear She drinks, and she cries, and she hides from the
past `Cause the truth is more bitter than the tears

All these half-truths and alibis help build a wall of denial She
takes comfort in the night - darkness blocks the light From falling
on her aging smile Grey befalls her halo where there once was a
golden mane Her eyes don't shine like they used to Without the moon,
the sun would be in vain

She walks the floor less traveled Thinks of a sad melody Wine and
blood don't mix like they used to Now they just make a memory Too
many years trying to do the right thing for the wrong man Now the
picture is clear She drinks, and she cries, and she hides from the
past `Cause the truth is more bitter than the tears

She puts on her make-up - though no one's seen her for days Her
silence is a lonely cry She's trapped inside a maze Her tears have
turned to honey, drawing the black flies of depression Desiree's in
disarray waiting for her angels again


7. LOLA LEAVE YOUR LIGHT ON

Don't make me beg – well maybe just a little But please don't make me
crawl What you got, baby, is killing me Is making me 10 feet tall My
southern pride is all in a tizzy Weak in my knees My head is
spinning - I'm feeling kind of dizzy Guess I'm begging please

Lola leave your light on I said Lola leave your red light on Lola
leave your light on I said Lola leave your red light on

Don't tease me – well maybe just a little Don't tantalize my heart
It's hard to know where the torture ends And where the pleasure
starts I can taste the pain - I can feel the fire Seep into my soul
Mother Mary, I said please forgive me I'm about to lose control

Lola leave your light on I said Lola leave your red light on Lola
leave your light on I said Lola leave your red light on

Smooth operator - playing a little bit rough How'd you know I'd like
it that way We could come together if I call your bluff Wash our sins
away Shadows dancing on your bedroom wall - caution to the wind
Wolves are howling outside your door Oh you better let them in

Lola leave your light on I said Lola leave your red light on Lola
leave your light on I said Lola leave your red light on

Lola leave your light on I said Lola leave your red light on Lola
leave your light on I said Lola leave your red light on


8. SILENT SCREAM

Hey, what's the use - daily excuse And what's it all mean to me Pride
pushed aside - thanks for the ride More is in store, you'll see

Hey, we're all trapped in a silent scream

Life's worth the price - don't you think twice Just cause it's unjust
to you Why not rejoice - what's the other choice When death, like
your dreams, will come soon

Hey, we're all trapped in a silent scream Hey, we're all trapped in a
silent scream

Search for the truth - no one has proof But faith is all you need to
believe

Hey, we're all trapped in a silent scream Hey, we're all trapped in a
silent scream Hey, we're all trapped in a silent scream Hey, we're
all trapped in a silent scream


9. NO CELEBRATION

In the whiskey hours I sit mourning But the morning brings no
consolation Sun is rising - sky is yawning The new day brings no
celebration No celebration Reminds me life is hard Here in my back
yard

And I lie awake and I stare at the sky And my life passes by And I
lie here suffering, wondering How long, how long

In a sea of silence I lay wondering But with it comes no real
solution Dreams die young In this world of violence Just to be
betrayed by revolution - revolution Still my life is hard here in my
back yard

And I lie awake and I stare at the sky And my life passes by And I
lie here suffering, wondering How long, how long

We are only the beginning here None of us reach the end So hold me
close like an angel With your breath draw me in Feel me swim through
your bloodstream Hear my voice - soft but clear After today things
will never be the same I'm sorry for you, my dear

In a world of darkness We are surrounded - surrounded by eternity We
reach out but no love abounds us Guess we traded it for sanity
Meanwhile life is hard here in my back yard

And I lie awake And I stare at the sky And my life passes by And I
lie here suffering, wondering How long, how long

In the whiskey hours I sit mourning But the morning brings no
consolation Sun is rising - sky is yawning But the new day brings no
celebration


10. MR MAN

How much more can we ignore the voices How much longer can we keep
our heads in the sand Don't you hear me - don't you even hear me I'm
screaming as loud as I can Can't you hear me, Mr. Man

There's no concern for the people dying There's more concern for
keeping the upper hand In their faces – we're laughing in their faces
And still you don't understand Why they hate you, Mr. Man

You better get ready I said ready Time to get ready

Can you see that day when your world starts crumbling Can you see
that day when you meet your maker again Will he be like you – do you
think he's really like you You can bet your soul depends On that, Mr.
Man

It's time to get ready Better get ready I said ready


11. SEPERATE REALITY

Children in the playground, laughing and dancing in the street All
the colors of the rainbow - Wrapped in child like harmony Me I'm not
laughing - I see things only as they were When I first needed you -
yea, when I first needed you

Cars passing by - representing my life I ain't old but I ain't young
enough to cry like a baby And I'm so scared but I won't tell you for
fear you will hate me more Tough on the outside, tough on the
outside - yeah, tough all over

Clouds go rolling by as I lay floating in stream of semi-
consciousness I'll follow it `til the end or at least `til I drown in
my separate reality Sorry there's only room for me

I used to have an angel - she took care of everything Yeah, so
sometimes we cried - maybe more than most, but so what We shared
everything - even some things we should not have shared Like my
separate reality - now there's only room for me

I walk among the criminals and I pray among the saints And somewhere
in between I try to scrape off this war paint It's cold in here In
the corner of my soul - so dark and lonely Oh but I ain't never gonna
let go

Children in the playground - laughing and dancing in the street All
the colors of the rainbow - wrapped in childlike harmony Me I'm not
laughing or dancing - I see things only as they were When I first
needed you - yeah, when I first needed you

I used to have everything – now you won't even talk to me, but that's
all right `Cause I've got new friend and her name is tattooed across
my chest She won't let me down - cause I ain't never, never going to
let her in Tough on the outside, tough on the outside - and it's
surely tough In my separate reality - sorry there's only room for me
In my separate reality - sorry there's only room for me, for me Sorry
there's only room for me


12. NEW WORLD BLUES

Life is not a compromise Though it often turns to this Unintended
suicide As if our fate's sealed with a kiss

We're all taught to rise above Can't let ourselves be hurt by love So
tell me what I have to lose I'm ready to feel the new world blues

Dreams are only of a new world Instead of making this one right
But "run away" is not the answer Still we all want to take flight

Never knowing what we seek We think our pain is so unique

So tell me what I have to lose Ready to feel these new world blues

Heroes are not to cry So hold your head up high The future is ours to
see So come on and rescue me

So tell me what I have to lose. I'm ready to feel these new world
blues

So tell me what I have to lose I'm ready to feel these new world
blues

Life is not a compromise


-------------------------------------- All songs are copyrighted All
songs written by Warren Haynes Except "Bad Man Walking" by Warren
Haynes and Danny Louis And, "Lola Leave Your Light On" by Warren
Haynes, Andy Hess and Jeff Anders

Review Courtesy AllAboutJazz.com
Deja Voodoo
Gov't Mule | ATO

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=14709

Track Listing: Bad Man Walking; About to Rage; Perfect Shelter;
Little Toy Brain; Slackjaw Jezebel;Wine & Blood; Lola Leave Your
Light On; Silent Scream; No Celebration; Mr. Man; Separate Reality;
New World Blues.

Personnel: Warren Haynes: guitars and vocals; Andy Hess: bass; Danny
Louis: keyboards; Matt Abst: drums.

Listening to Deja Voodoo, one has to wonder how long the members of
Gov't Mule can keep producing music so inspired without overextending
themselves. But that's like asking yourself how long a great
instrumental solo can last, and this band's career has been
tantamount to one long improvisation, from its earliest days as a
trio comprised of guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes, bassist Allen
Woody (progenitors of the band while members of the Allman Brothers)
and drummer Matt Abst (Dickey Betts' drummer in his Pattern
Disruptive period), through the marathon Deep End project that ensued
following Woody's untimely death.

If Mule music stayed fresh during that phase because of the perpetual
rotation of musicians, the songs on the new album come alive because
of the chemistry of what's now a permanent quartet. "Bad Man Walking"
illustrates how the band functions: Haynes and new bass recruit Andy
Hess (Black Crowes, John Scofield) are both adroit musicians who can
rock, funk it up and improvise, while Abst and keyboardist Danny
Louis are essentially journeymen who flourish here because they work
here within strictly defined limits. Yet all four men obviously
derive a great deal of pleasure playing together, as witnessed by the
electricity of the studio improvisations that appear, even in
abbreviated form, on cuts such as "Wine and Blood and "Perfect
Shelter." The four-man Mule doesn't necessarily need an audience to
generate excitement.

Deja Voodoo is potent, intelligent music, hard rock with brains.
Songwriter Haynes pays as much attention to the lyrics on his tunes
like "New World Blues" as producer Michael Barbiero devotes to the
sequencing of tracks that give the near-two hour CD a tangible ebb
and flow. There's almost equal amounts punch, thud and boom in the
sound quality of songs like "About to Rage," but there's also deft
use of space during the very same track. And while some of the
material like "Mr. Man" is readily reminiscent of prior Mule--"Bad
Little Doggie" in this case--the similarity is more a question of
style than lack of new ideas.

Gov't Mule has never been shy about revealing its influences, which
is why its live shows include such a broad range of cover material
(from Johnny Cash to Zeppelin to Creedence). Yet the band transcends
the derivative on "Lola Leave Your Light On," bringing a musicianly
fervor to the performance of the primal riff-tune. Likewise, "My
Separate Reality" is almost, but not quite, blues and the
bass/electric piano/organ interplay redeems the Beatlesque "Silent
Scream."

None of this material had been played live before The Mule went into
the studio to record it. "Little Toy Brain," as unassuming a song as
it seems, may turn out to be one of Deja Voodoo's best vehicles for
the stage, while the muted likes of "No Celebration" demonstrates
just how soulful a singer Warren Haynes has become. And that's not to
mention the artful intensity he brings to his guitar solos throughout
the album, a focused, fiery approach that sets the pace for the whole
band.

~ Doug Collette

GOV'T MULE :: DEJA VOODOO

http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=5496

More than any earlier release, this reveals the classic rock band
lurking inside the Mule, a Deep Purple meal with a slice of Humble
Pie. It's always been hard to fathom why commercial radio hasn't
taken to Gov't Mule; they bang out ridiculously accessible songs in
the tight-yet-loose way that Led Zeppelin once did, all heavy and
slow and just what FM needs to continue the lineage begun in
the '70s. One doesn't expect a major break with tradition with new
Mule studio work and even with recent additions bassist Andy Hess and
keyboardist Danny Louis this resonates on the same frequency as their
first three albums (The Deep End series being a strange and
frequently impressive aberration). The first cut, "Bad Man Walking,"
feels like a pastiche of past favorites, something to limber up with
before they ease into the smoldering, salacious stuff they do better
than just about any straight rock act going. By the third
number, "Perfect Shelter," Louis makes his squiggly Worrell-esque
presence felt, proving equally adept at Hammond organ and peculiar
synth outbursts. Hess couldn't be more different from the departed
Allen Woody, proving an organic, funkified force that brings more of
the Sly Stone and Meters influences to the fore. Like all their
earlier albums, this feels pregnant with potential, the real
corridors and archetypal grooves only peeking out from the sanded
edges.

Lyrically, it's meat-and-taters stuff; romantic and punchy, tales of
faded ladies and highwaymen whose lives go deeper than most folks
give 'em credit for. There's a Tennessee Williams vibe in "Wine &
Blood" and "About To Rage," emotions held at bay maybe a little too
long, now ready to spill out, messy and real. A few spots come off a
bit obvious, notably "Mr. Man," "New World Blues," and "Silent
Scream" which both feel like not-too-distant cousins to '80s hair
metal. Warren Haynes can be an evocative street corner poet but these
words seemed like easy choices where better ones might have been
made. Still, musically "Silent Scream" could sidle up to early
Gilmour-era Pink Floyd and not seem out of place, so it's welcome
here nonetheless. "No Celebration," one predicts a future fan fave in
the making, more than makes up for any shortcomings elsewhere. Tense
and dreamy, it's the real meat of the Mule simmered to perfection,
a "whiskey hour" rumination featuring one of Warren's finest vocals
to date.

Behind it all rides, big and beautiful, Matt Abts drums, as much the
signature on their sound as Warren Haynes' blue devil vocals and well-
harnessed guitar sparks (perhaps the most skilled "rock" guitarist
since Frank Zappa, both fully capable of free-jazz noise and
randomness but drawn to inspired control and memorable licks most
days). As anyone who's witnessed this band live knows, they wield
tremendous power. What's still absent from their studio pieces is
their ear for improvisation and experimentation. The processed vocals
on "Slackjaw Jezebel" are a good start but Deja Voodoo (ATO Records)
needs more unusual elements like that if it wants to really stand out
from what's come before.

But maybe that's not the point. That they've survived at all may be
what this album is about, a new start from where things left off on
2000's Life Before Insanity. This may also be their stab at a wider
audience and experimentation doesn't jive well with that notion. It
may be their moment to stop opening for bands like Dave Matthews and
Steve Miller and finally get their name on top of the marquee. Haynes
is now known to a much greater pool of potential fans through his
very active presence in The Dead and the Allman Brothers. That could
translate into the larger audience they've long deserved. In the
meantime, they've put together a solid primer for the days ahead. The
majority of cuts are new to Mule listeners, having never been
performed live. What will be truly interesting is how this stuff
develops, grows, groping around with their "Blind Man In The Dark"
for their true face, the one waiting under theater lights that will
sweat off the first few layers and show the new skin one suspects is
lurking just below this first glimpse.

Dennis Cook
JamBase | Oakland
Go See Live Music!

One of my favorite guitars that Warren plays.

http://www.dangelicoguitars.com/news.php

They say busy hands are happy hands, and this is especially true when
they are playing a D'Angelico! Warren Haynes is a prime example. As a
guitarist for The Allman Brothers, The Dead and his own band Gov't
Mule, he has a full Summer touring schedule! Warren is pulling double
duty every night opening with Gov't Mule then joining The Dead for
some lively sets. Summer is hot, but Warren's D'Angelico NYL-5 sure
keeps him cool!


Allman, All D'Angelico!
D'Angelico welcomes a couple "Brothers" to the family. We are
pleased to announce that The Allman Brothers Band guitarists Derek
Trucks and Warren Haynes have come aboard with D'Angelico. Now every
note of the ABB's classic catalog sounds better than ever through
Derek's NYSD-9 Solidbody and Warren's NYL-5 archtop. The renowned
guitarists make sparks fly when they share the stage as well as
individually with their solo bands; Warren Haynes' Gov't Mule and The
Derek Trucks Band. D'Angelico's glad they Ain't Wastin' Time No More!