August 7, 2025 • 35 mins
Join @thebuzzknight for this classic replay with Devon Allman, son of the late Gregg Allman. Devon talks about his latest music, his creative process and the importance of his family legacy.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Taking a Walk. I would sit in with the Almond
brothers and I tell you what, you know, having to
stand between Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks or Warren Haines
and Dicky Betts, you know, and play on one way
out or something. These are like the Jedi Masters of guitar.
You know. The only thing you have when you're in
that situation is that you have you. There's only one
(00:21):
you in the universe. You know, you can't be Robin Trauer,
Jamie Hendrix. You know I could only be Devin Almon.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast, the show where
your host Buzz Night talks with musicians about their careers,
their passions, and their latest projects. Today he speaks with
a member of Rock Royalty. Devin Almon is the son
of Greg Almond. He's releasing his first new album in
eight years, called Miami Moon on Create Records. Buzz speaks
(00:51):
with Devin Almond on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Devin Almond, thanks for being on the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Man, and what a pleasure. Thank you for having me,
and happy Monday morning the.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Same to you. I want to start with this. I
had the opportunity one time to ask the great Bill Graham,
the greatest show he ever saw. His response was, it
was the Almond Brothers at the Fillmore East. It was
an eleven thirty show. The band played till the sun
(01:24):
came up, and the sun came through. It was just
like church, was his comment. I wanted to get your
comment on that and then ask you about some of
your favorite venues that you're looking forward to playing, especially
with the Almond Bets Revival tour.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
You know, I've actually talked to people that were at
that Fillmore show and they talk about the magic that
happened that night, and you know how it kind of
made time stand still, and you know that they have
really vivid memories of you know, of it, you know,
going so late and nobody cared. You know, you don't
hear about that these days. You know, when I hit
(02:07):
the stage, my tour manager will say, hey man, it's
an eleven o'clock curfew and if you go over, it's
a five thousand dollars fine. You know, you'll hear about
these things. It's such a tight ass vibe when it
comes to city ordinances, noise ordinances, you know, and I
(02:28):
get it. They've overhauled some of these communities neighborhoods to
have a lot of residential but you could never get
away with that these days. Man, So they were really
in a golden era for rock and roll, and yeah,
I wish I would have seen some of those shows.
I wish I would have seen Hendrix and Cream and
(02:49):
obviously the Allman Brothers with Dwayne. But with that in mind,
you know, got to be grateful that we're still able
to do this in their honor, really honored, a true
honor to step on the stage at the Beacon where
they made so many memories and played so many shows
and play their music. It's not lost on us. This
(03:10):
is not something that's it's just not lost on us.
When we hit that stage, we know the gravity of
the situation, We know the gravity of that songbook, we
know the gravity of the people that have spent literally
the best times of their lives in that room. So
(03:30):
the Beacon is very powerful for our families and the
memories and the fans. We can't wait to be there again.
The Ryman has become special for our revival tour in
Nashville just because of you know, as a consequence of
time that Nashville has finally become what it was supposed
to become, a musical mecca that was not just relegated
(03:54):
to country and Western music, but all forms of music,
jam bands, Americana, blues, and it's really stepped into the
light as such, and and the Ryman seems to be
that kind of beating art of that community, and it's
really brought in some great people to jam with us.
(04:15):
So the Ryman's been kind of a who's who of
who will show up for us, kind of kind of
become our beacon in a way. Last year we were
completely floored and honored to have Jason isbel sit in
and Sierra Ferrell come out and really lift the vibrations
of what we do in honor of Dicky Betts, Greg
(04:37):
Almon and the whole all my Brothers bands. So it's
always a pleasure. It's at the end of the year,
this revival tour. It's always three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
This is the eighth year and we're just honored to
do it every years. It's also a big reunion for
all of us, you know, I go the whole year.
(05:00):
He as shit, you know, and it's like, oh, Luther Dickinson,
get you know, giving him the biggest hug. Jimmy Hall.
You know these cats that I haven't seen all year
because we're all, you know, doing what we do.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Fillmore West not a bad place to play either, I
would think, huh.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, you know. The revival started eight years ago at
the at the Fillmore. It wasn't a tour, it was
not multi city. It was just one night. It was
Dad's seventieth birthday. He had passed earlier in the year,
and it was just a party in his honor. So
that one show at the Fillmore West is what birthed
(05:39):
this whole thing. Nobody saw this coming. This was never
planned out. It was a birthday party for Dad, and
the Fillmore called a week later and said, well that
was fun. Can we do it again next year? And
you know, here we are.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
It's like a responsibility though, right, I mean, it feels
like it really is.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
It is now for sure. You know, ultimately there's a
lot of people that can pick up parts of this
songbook and go do it justice and give it a
lot of love and people that are connected to it.
Dwayne Betts and I grew up on the tours. We
grew up listening to this music. And listening to the
masters that made it, and it's meaningful to us. When
(06:19):
I start Melissa or when Dwayne counts off Blue Sky,
It's it's heavy, man, It's it's really, really, really fucking heavy.
It's it's so bittersweet because Dwayne and I, and I
think I can speak for him. On the one hand,
we're so honored to recreate this music, you know, and
(06:41):
we have our own careers and our own records, so
when we get to do this, it's special. But on
the other hand, we just wish our dads were here
to play Melissa and Blue Skuy, you know. So it's
very it's a delicate balance there, and it's emotional.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Major congrats on Miami Moon, fantastic. Can you take us
back to when you went to school observing as a
fly on the wall recording session with the Almonds with
the legendary producer Tom Dad.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah, so I never got to see them work at
Criteria where I made Miami Moon. Criteria for those that
don't know, the famous studio in Miami, Florida where Da
Peach was done, where Derek and the Domino's made Layla
parts of Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, The Beg's those songs
(07:36):
we all love part of Fleetwood Mac Rumors. The list
goes on and on. It's a special place. All my
brothers also made Seven Turns their comeback record, but their
next record, Shades the Two Worlds, was made at an
equally important historic studio, Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, where
(07:56):
all your favorite zz top from Shark Dressman to you know,
all the first six records or whatever, they were all
done at Arden and I got to go down and
watch Tom Dowd produced that album almost on the daily
because I lived in Memphis and I had a you know,
(08:18):
kind of fledgling rock band. We were trying to be,
I don't know, something like Aerosmith or some shit. We
didn't We didn't know shit from Shinola. We were seventeen
years old. We were sneaking into clubs, trying to act
like our favorite rock stars, you know. But I as
much as I was trying to fit into a groove
(08:38):
like Aerosmith or whatever, who just announced the retirement, which
was so sad to me, But I digress as much
as I kind of was seventeen years old and trying to,
you know, be Steven Tyler or whomever. I had the
sense enough about me to go and watch Tom Dowd,
(08:59):
producer Almen Brothers, and and I knew that it was
a heavy thing to to watch and to kind of
take in. It was special, And you know, I can't
say that I necessarily picked up a bunch of production
tricks or whatever, but it was really cool to see
(09:20):
that he was absolutely a member of the band. While
they were in there, everybody was looking to him. Hey man,
should we double that intro? They look at Tom, hey man,
should Warren go to slide right there? They'd look at Tom.
You know, he was the trusted magnetic north of those recordings.
(09:40):
Their their love for him, knew no bounce. You know.
He was a dad, he was a head coach, he
was a you know, he was a barometer, he was
he was everything for them. So that was that was
powerful to watch.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
If the walls at Criteria Studios could talk, what what
would they be saying? And did you feel those vibrations
when you recorded Miami Moon?
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I don't think those SIGs could be repeated. Uh yeah, yeah,
you know when we walked in, you know, I went
to I went to actually tour the place first because
I wanted to feel those vibrations, and you know, walking
into the main cutting room, I was just like, wow,
like there's there's a weight there. For sure. I always
(10:28):
feel that in studios. I went and toured Electric Lady,
Uh not too far, you know, a year ago, considering
making a record there as well, and yeah, I feel it,
you know. We we made the two Almond bet Span
records at Muscle Shoals and I could feel it there.
It's a vibe, you know. I think, I think the
(10:49):
the electrons and shit that, you know, get trapped up
in the walls and I don't know, I can feel
that stuff. But once that's kind of you know, That's
why I wanted to go tour at first. I didn't
want to feel that on a work day. I wanted
to go check it out, take that deep breath, feel it,
(11:10):
live with it, sit in there for a couple hours,
you know. I talk talking to Trevor that runs the place,
and then like, okay, and I'll see in a few months,
let's make a record in a few months. So I
kind of got that shit out of the way that heavy,
you know, And so when we got in there, I
hired a really amazing band I got George Porter Junior
(11:32):
on bass, whom everyone knows from The Meters and his
current band the Running Partners, Ivan Neville who plays with
Keith Richards and dumps to funk on keyboards. Adam Deitsch
one of the hottest drummers on the scene today who
plays with Lettuce. He's one of the funkiest, Carl Denson
(11:52):
on saxophone, Jackson Stokes on guitar from my band, and
then Tom Hambridge, who produced it won the last few Grammys, uh,
the Blues Grammys with Kingfish and Buddy Guy and Tom.
Tom Hambridge and I have been making records together for
for a minute. I think we've done three three albums together.
And we just we set up in a circle. We
(12:15):
just jammed, you know. We ordered in Cuban food and
watch the NBA on breaks and screaming at the TV,
you know, at the slam dunks and uh. And we
had a lot of fun. Uh And it was a
it was a very just enjoyable time. And and and
once you kind of got in that circle and you're
and and and you're giving the tunes a run, then
(12:37):
all that that heaviness kind of goes away because you're
really you're you're working, you know, but at the end
of the night, you know, and we've got to shuttle
back to the hotel, and you're thinking, damn, like we're
getting to add to that that history. You know. I'm
so grateful it's still open. I'm so grateful Electric Lady
is still open, and Ardent Studios is still open, and
(12:58):
Criteria Studios. And in an era where you can go
into your bedroom with a laptop or your basement and
make a kick ass hit record, that's all the more
impetus for me to want to go to a historic
studio soak in the vibrations from the masters. And you know,
it's a hell of a lot more expensive, but I
(13:20):
can think of no better way to spend a budget
than to do a record how they used to be done.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Some of the tracks on there that I particularly love.
I love white Horse Cool is sensational. I love also
the theme of two particular songs, and I wanted to
get your take on this theme. Sure, take time to
taste it, yeah, right, and then you got to make
(13:50):
it through the world.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I see the fact that you're trying to bring a
sense of optimism in dark times.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Is that to say, for sure, you got to make
it through the world as an old Van Morrison deep cut.
And I kind of discovered that near the tail end
of that whole COVID you know shit, and I was like, man,
that's a nice message for these times. You got to
make it through the world. You gotta plow on through.
You gotta pull yourself up by the bootstraps and have
(14:22):
good community and positive, you know, a positive outlook. And
so that song was actually kind of the first one
where I was like, that's a great message. I'd like
to build a record around that, Like I want to
cover that song and build the record around that, And
I was even considering naming the record you got to
(14:42):
make it through the world. Then, with that as kind
of the I don't know, kind of the entry point
to make on the record, then I started to write
the record. It still stayed very optimistic, but it had
a new life. I saw colors, I saw hot paint,
I saw I felt Miami and palm trees and you know,
(15:04):
a little sexiness, a little jazz, a little Curtis Mayfield
and these things that I had really kind of squashed
as inspiration and influences before I really just let the
floodgates kind of be open and say, you know, this
is who I am. I don't have to make a
record that fits in a blues rock category, so I
(15:25):
can go play blues festivals or do whatever like. I
love doing that. That's a big part of who I am.
But I have this whole other side of me musically
that really you know, Curtis Mayfield, I have a Curtis tattoo. Awesome,
you know, and bounce out my Leyla tattoo. You know.
(15:46):
So Curtis Mayfield shot today The Cure, the alternative rock
band The Cure. I think those are some influences that
might surprise people that show up on this record.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I love that. That diversity is so fantastic.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
We'll be right back with more the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
You know what's amazing to think about that, I'm sure
the forefathers, the Almond Brothers, forefathers are looking down smiling.
Is the tremendous Almond community, you know, the Almond Bets community,
the Tedesky Trucks community. These amazingly passionate, incredible musicians who
(16:38):
are still out giving joy to the world. Is really
something to behold.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, it's you know, just really grateful that you know,
as we march further into the new millennium, I mean
we're you know, we're almost at a at a quarter
century end. You know, we're almost at twenty twenty five,
and to you know, to be at almost the year
twenty twenty five and have this music still be vital
(17:06):
and I have an audience and you know, is beautiful,
So very very grateful.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
What themes do you find yourself drawn to when you're
writing lyrics and how do you ultimately choose those subjects.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
I think there's a lot on Miami Moon. There's a
lot of romance. There's a lot of kind of romanticizing
your life really, you know, savoring the moments that you have.
You know, hitting age fifty for me was like wow,
you know, certainly by no means slowing down, if anything,
I'm actually going a little more hardcore lately. But I
(17:42):
think savoring those moments and really respecting the time that
you have with loved ones and you know, trying to inspire,
you know, believing in yourself. I think there's a lot
of that on this record. You know, Whitehorse is about
hey man, you can't wait for shit to have and
you got to go make it happen. You've got to
believe that that you can, that you can go and
(18:06):
achieve things. You know, and you're not. You're you're only
as stuck as you think that you are. So a
lot of that is like kind of self reflective. But
you know, there's also obviously, you know, people in our
lives that we see and we see them stuck and
it's like, hey man, snap out of it. You're you know.
So I think there's a lot of that, you know,
(18:27):
there's a lot of just positivity for progress in people's
lives and love.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Is there something in particular that your father's passing taught you, Well,
that's a.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Rabbit hole, man, something that is passing taught me. I mean,
you know, Dad, he really gave his whole life to music,
and as beautiful as that is, you know, he didn't
(19:00):
leave as much time for family. And as much as
music means to me, family is always going to be
more important, you know. And I'm not saying that he
you know, but like an example, I just got done
with like our our twelfth father son vacation with my son.
You know, I never went on one vacation with my dad,
(19:22):
and I don't have any bitterness about that. I just
have a sadness Like man, I, you know, I wish
he could have experienced that side of life. He kind
of hid behind the music and he kind of hid
behind the creativity, whereas I love unplugging from that rock
and roll world for a week with my son and
(19:43):
going We've done crazy shit. We've we've ridden camels out
into the Sahara Desert in Morocco. We've hiked glaciers in Alaska.
We've ridden the bullet trains in Japan, like, you know,
we've we've seen the Grand Can and we've we've you know,
we've four wheelers in the Sedona Desert, like whitewater rafting
(20:06):
outside of Seattle. Like we've done incredible shit that if
you would have told me I'd be doing all that
stuff with my son, like when I was a kid,
I would have thought, well, you're crazy, Like that's that
sounds like the life of fucking Indiana Jones or some shit,
you know. Truly, Like, so we come back from these vacations.
(20:26):
I just got back from the Japan one with my son,
and I think I did learn a lot from dad's
passing about that, like, savor these moments, man, this is it.
You know, I want my kid to do that with
his kid.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah, your father worked it, man, Like I uh yeah,
I was working in rock radio for much of my career,
and you know, he went out and worked it to
get airplay and you know, meet the program directors and everything.
One of my most unbelievable experiences I have to share
(21:03):
with you was somewhere in the Mumble this mid eighties,
there was a rock programmer's convention. It was this guy
Lee Abrams, who I'm still friends with, who he consulted
a bunch of radio stations and got all the programmers
(21:27):
together and one night Epic had a suite and I
freaking saw your dad playing with a keyboard for forty
minutes for programmers. And it's one of those moments I'll
never forget in my life.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Man. You know. So he worked at yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
he did, man, for sure. I mean he lived it,
you know, and you know I do too. I definitely
spent a lot of time on the road, and you know,
I've started my own record label. I've had it going
for about five years, signed three different artists, and I
finally made the decision, the big leap to put my
(22:06):
own records out on this thing. And it's a labor.
I love it's it's a lot of work, it's a
lot of time on a computer. It's a lot of
time with my team trying to figure it all out.
You know, there's big learning curve there. So definitely, I'm
I'm I'm as passionate, you know, with the business and
with the music and all that, but yeah, I like
to I like to unplug from it and and you know,
(22:29):
and be with my wife and be with my son
and uh and get that that family time in.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
When you think about unheralded Allman Brothers albums or songs,
is there anything in particular that pops out to you.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
I mean, Dreams has always been my favorite song, and
Seven Turns is probably like one of my dark horse
favorite records. I just I love it. I think there
was a new enthusiasm for them being back together. It
was a crisp production without being you know, overly. I
think it come out in ninety nineteen ninety, but it
(23:11):
didn't have that you know eighties sound that you know,
kind of kept going through at least ninety and ninety one,
you know, the kind of over reverberated, like, you know,
kind of schlocky eighties production. I love seven Turns a lot.
I think people might be surprised that that's one of
my favorites.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
It's a great one, you know. You know which one
I think deserves more recognition is no One to Run to?
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (23:39):
What a great song, my god?
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Oh no, no no One? Yeah? Yeah, so I think
it's no One Left to run with? Yeah, But the
line the lyric in the song is nobody left to
run with? And I always found that strange that the
titles no one left to run with, but they sing
nobody left round with, nobody left too wrong with it
(24:03):
a moll that's just wild. I remember when we were
learning that song for Revival, and I would always do
that with Jimmy Hall as kind of a duet. I
was like, wow, that's kind of it's kind of odd.
You know, why didn't they just call it nobody left
around with? You know?
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Yeah, I hadn't thought about that, really, that's right.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
And I don't know if that was like a printer
fuck up, like you know, and they just were like
I keep it, or if that was intentional. I still
don't know. I should ask Warren Haynes. Warren might have
a take on that. I think I will. I'm gonna
text him that I love it.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
I spurned it on.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna text him right now. It
wouldn't it be neat if during the interview he comes
with an answer.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
He probably will.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Right, Hey, Warren, happy Monday. Brother, got a quick question
for it. But see what he says. It would be funny.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
So yeah, man, But you know, you know what a
what a career? I mean, that's I went for. You know,
I didn't even meet my dad till I was like sixteen.
I met him outside the Fox Theater in Saint Louis, Missouri.
He was there, he was playing with I want to
say it was thirty eight special on the just before
the Bullets Fly tour in eighty eight. I was sixteen.
(25:21):
Hit the bus pulled up, he walked off. That's the
first time I ever saw my dad with my own eyes.
And went into the venue, Fox Theater, into the dressing rooms,
and he was he was pretty nervous. And we sat
there and we chatted for a while, and I watched
him play and you know, and thus the relationship was born,
(25:42):
and we always had more of a of a I
don't know, like a brother relationship. And there was points
in time where my dad said, hey, did you ever
think when you met your dad that you'd be the dad?
Because he'd called me for advice and shit, like, he
knew I have my head on straight, you know. And
he you know, he obviously had his crazy decades and stuff.
(26:05):
So we had a real unique relationship. He knew that
I would always tell it to him straight. You know,
I wasn't there to kiss his ass. I might have
a viewpoint that he didn't like or didn't want to face,
but I would always tell it to him straight. And
you know, there was a lot of mutual respect and
(26:26):
a lot of love there. He uh, you know, he
sorely missed for sure. But I you know, I take
solace and like the you know, the music lives on.
It's it's it's really nice when I walk into a
place and I hear you know, Midnight Rider, or I'm
watching TV and you know, one way out comes on
(26:47):
or whatever, and it's like, okay, hey dad, how you doing?
Speaker 3 (26:51):
And you had written him a very simple letter, right, yeah,
like like, what was the contents? Can you reveal of
that letter?
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, I remember. You know, as a kid,
it's tough to grow up without your dad. Well, where's
my dad? All my friends have a dad. Where's my dad?
And then I figured out pretty early on that my
dad was famous, and that was a mind fuck, you know.
You know, my mom blessed her heart and she passed
(27:22):
five months before my dad, so I lost them both
real real quick together. My mom said she could have
shit talked him a lot, but she said, hey, man,
your dad's a good guy. You're going to meet him someday.
You guys are going to get along great. And that
was it, and she always was positive about it. And
(27:42):
I don't know, man, I just kind of I went
through life. You know, I had a normal upbringing. I
played soccer, I ate McDonald's, I went to the movies.
You know. They even changed my name to my stepdad's
name for a few years, which I wasn't real crazy about.
But when I met my dad, yeah, I think I
(28:03):
was fifteen, I saw, I actually saw a video of him,
a music video on MTV, and I thought, well, this
is stupid, Like I should reach out, you know, just enough,
you know, enough of not knowing. So I just wrote
him a simple letter and it said something like, hey, man,
I'm your kid. I live in Alabama. I was living
(28:25):
in Mobile at Alabama at the time. I'm a sophomore
in high school. I played guitar. I like Ozzy Osbourne.
Here's my phone number. It was like it was the
dumbest shit letter you could ever reade. But it was
really indignative. I mean, I was fifteen years old, you know,
and sure as shit. I come home about a week
(28:47):
later and my mom, you know, was like, Davin, get
down here. I run downstairs. I thought she had gotten hurt,
and I go, Mom, what's what's wrong? And she's just
looking at me like she's seen a ghost, with her
arm outstretched with the phone saying it's your dad on
(29:11):
the phone. And I was like, get the fuck up here.
You gotta be kidding me.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
And he was.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
He was nervous, wasn't Yeah, man, he was. He was nervous.
And I said, well, Mom, you know, I'm gonna take
it upstairs. So I went up to my room and
I picked up the phone and I go hello, and
he goes, hey, demn, it's your dad, and I was like,
oh shit, what the fuck? And I'm like, hey, hey, man,
(29:44):
you know, how are you doing. Where are you right now?
I'm on tour. I met wherever he was, you know,
and and we we talked on the phone for about
oh god, man, it must have been about two hours.
I remember my ear was hurting. I was like, but
we talked a lot about music and a lot about guitar,
and it was wild. It was really wild, you know.
(30:07):
And then he was like, Hey, I'm going on tour,
you know, you should come to the show so we
can meet. And you know, a few months later, that's
when I met him at Fox Theater in Saint Louis,
and it was kind of off to the races.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
And you opened for the band frequently right over time.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Yeah, Like later on, probably starting around ninety three ish,
I would go out on stints where I would open
for the Greg Almond band, you know, my band at
the time, kind of the band Doujour different iterations, would
go out and support him, and then I would sit
(30:46):
in with his band as well and kind of learn
the ropes. I always used to just sing Midnight Rider,
and then I became more of a guitarist and I
think I graduated to one Way Out and after some
time I graduated to One Way Out and taking one
of the solos, you know, and it was I kind
(31:07):
of got this like piecemeal, like step by step. Near
the end, I was I was featured on Dreams and
had a solo in Dreams, which was incredible. And then
I would sit in with the Alman brothers and I
tell you what, you know, having to stand between Warren
Haines and Derek Trucks or Warren Haynes and Dicky Betts,
(31:29):
you know, and play on One Way Out or something
was like shit, holy shit, these are like the Jedi
Masters of guitar, you know, And what the fuck do I?
You know, the fuck do I got compared to these guys. So,
I mean, you know, the only thing you have when
you're in that situation is that you have you. There's
(31:49):
only one you in the universe. You know. You can't
be Robin Trauer, Jamie Hendrix, you can only you know,
I could only be Devin Almont. I can only play
the licks and the feel and the touch and the
way that I play and just hope for the fucking best,
you know, like if I can just do the be
the best me I can be in that moment, then
(32:12):
hopefully I'll survive this, you know, head cutting that I'm
about to receive, you know, but you know both of
those cats, they are all those cats, Dicky and you know,
rest in peace man. Dicky was was such a force.
Dicky was one of the cats that really helped me
to believe in myself, like even more than my dad
(32:34):
and I got you know, I got to hang with
Dicky quite a bit and tell him that over the
last ten years. But yeah, man, you know, you get
thrown into the fire and you try not to, you know,
get burned to a crisp well.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
In closing, you clearly have been mentored by some of
the greatest. Are you mentoring yourself some of those coming
up in the wings?
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah, I mean for sure, Like we you know, I've
signed some younger artists. You know, we always keep a lookout.
There's a kid down in Florida, Champ Jackson, who's coming up.
You know, we've had him sit in. Grace Bowers is
a phenomenal young talent. She just turned eighteen, but she
(33:22):
sat in with us on the revival in Ryman at
the Rymann Theater three years ago when she was like
fifteen years old. So we always you know, that's a
big part of the revival too, is the diversity is
the key there. Like, you know, we want to celebrate
that songbook of the Allman Brothers, but we want to
be inclusive of younger artists, older black, white, male, female.
(33:45):
You know, we want that diversity in there. We want
it to be a show that really, you know, includes
so it's not all you know, white guy, burning hot
guitar players. You know, we want great singers and soul
singers and Jimmy Hall, you know, and you know somebody
Jimmy Hall seventy, you know, Grace Bowers is eighteen. You know,
we want that spread for a show like that. So absolutely,
(34:09):
you know, if we are the bridge, you know, you
got the original rock stars of the Zeppelins and the
Beatles and the All My Brothers and the Stones, you know,
and you got these eighteen year old kids that are
that are just now discovering Hendricks and shit. And you know,
if people you know, like us are kind of a
bridge to aid in getting some of those younger folks
(34:32):
listening to the right stuff, then that's that's all we
could hope for.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
David Auman Rock Royalty, Dude, thank you so much for
your time. Congrats on Miami Moon, which is sensational. Good
luck on the revival tour, and man, it's an honor
to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
What a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Man.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Thanks for having me today.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this other episodes with your friends and
follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking a
Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and
wherever you get your podcasts
Taking a Walk. I would sit in with the Almond
brothers and I tell you what, you know, having to
stand between Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks or Warren Haines
and Dicky Betts, you know, and play on one way
out or something. These are like the Jedi Masters of guitar.
You know. The only thing you have when you're in
that situation is that you have you. There's only one
(00:21):
you in the universe. You know, you can't be Robin Trauer,
Jamie Hendrix. You know I could only be Devin Almon.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Welcome to the Taking a Walk Podcast, the show where
your host Buzz Night talks with musicians about their careers,
their passions, and their latest projects. Today he speaks with
a member of Rock Royalty. Devin Almon is the son
of Greg Almond. He's releasing his first new album in
eight years, called Miami Moon on Create Records. Buzz speaks
(00:51):
with Devin Almond on Taking a Walk.
Speaker 3 (00:55):
Devin Almond, thanks for being on the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 1 (00:59):
Man, and what a pleasure. Thank you for having me,
and happy Monday morning the.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Same to you. I want to start with this. I
had the opportunity one time to ask the great Bill Graham,
the greatest show he ever saw. His response was, it
was the Almond Brothers at the Fillmore East. It was
an eleven thirty show. The band played till the sun
(01:24):
came up, and the sun came through. It was just
like church, was his comment. I wanted to get your
comment on that and then ask you about some of
your favorite venues that you're looking forward to playing, especially
with the Almond Bets Revival tour.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
You know, I've actually talked to people that were at
that Fillmore show and they talk about the magic that
happened that night, and you know how it kind of
made time stand still, and you know that they have
really vivid memories of you know, of it, you know,
going so late and nobody cared. You know, you don't
hear about that these days. You know, when I hit
(02:07):
the stage, my tour manager will say, hey man, it's
an eleven o'clock curfew and if you go over, it's
a five thousand dollars fine. You know, you'll hear about
these things. It's such a tight ass vibe when it
comes to city ordinances, noise ordinances, you know, and I
(02:28):
get it. They've overhauled some of these communities neighborhoods to
have a lot of residential but you could never get
away with that these days. Man, So they were really
in a golden era for rock and roll, and yeah,
I wish I would have seen some of those shows.
I wish I would have seen Hendrix and Cream and
(02:49):
obviously the Allman Brothers with Dwayne. But with that in mind,
you know, got to be grateful that we're still able
to do this in their honor, really honored, a true
honor to step on the stage at the Beacon where
they made so many memories and played so many shows
and play their music. It's not lost on us. This
(03:10):
is not something that's it's just not lost on us.
When we hit that stage, we know the gravity of
the situation, We know the gravity of that songbook, we
know the gravity of the people that have spent literally
the best times of their lives in that room. So
(03:30):
the Beacon is very powerful for our families and the
memories and the fans. We can't wait to be there again.
The Ryman has become special for our revival tour in
Nashville just because of you know, as a consequence of
time that Nashville has finally become what it was supposed
to become, a musical mecca that was not just relegated
(03:54):
to country and Western music, but all forms of music,
jam bands, Americana, blues, and it's really stepped into the
light as such, and and the Ryman seems to be
that kind of beating art of that community, and it's
really brought in some great people to jam with us.
(04:15):
So the Ryman's been kind of a who's who of
who will show up for us, kind of kind of
become our beacon in a way. Last year we were
completely floored and honored to have Jason isbel sit in
and Sierra Ferrell come out and really lift the vibrations
of what we do in honor of Dicky Betts, Greg
(04:37):
Almon and the whole all my Brothers bands. So it's
always a pleasure. It's at the end of the year,
this revival tour. It's always three weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
This is the eighth year and we're just honored to
do it every years. It's also a big reunion for
all of us, you know, I go the whole year.
(05:00):
He as shit, you know, and it's like, oh, Luther Dickinson,
get you know, giving him the biggest hug. Jimmy Hall.
You know these cats that I haven't seen all year
because we're all, you know, doing what we do.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
Fillmore West not a bad place to play either, I
would think, huh.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, you know. The revival started eight years ago at
the at the Fillmore. It wasn't a tour, it was
not multi city. It was just one night. It was
Dad's seventieth birthday. He had passed earlier in the year,
and it was just a party in his honor. So
that one show at the Fillmore West is what birthed
(05:39):
this whole thing. Nobody saw this coming. This was never
planned out. It was a birthday party for Dad, and
the Fillmore called a week later and said, well that
was fun. Can we do it again next year? And
you know, here we are.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
It's like a responsibility though, right, I mean, it feels
like it really is.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
It is now for sure. You know, ultimately there's a
lot of people that can pick up parts of this
songbook and go do it justice and give it a
lot of love and people that are connected to it.
Dwayne Betts and I grew up on the tours. We
grew up listening to this music. And listening to the
masters that made it, and it's meaningful to us. When
(06:19):
I start Melissa or when Dwayne counts off Blue Sky,
It's it's heavy, man, It's it's really, really, really fucking heavy.
It's it's so bittersweet because Dwayne and I, and I
think I can speak for him. On the one hand,
we're so honored to recreate this music, you know, and
(06:41):
we have our own careers and our own records, so
when we get to do this, it's special. But on
the other hand, we just wish our dads were here
to play Melissa and Blue Skuy, you know. So it's
very it's a delicate balance there, and it's emotional.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Major congrats on Miami Moon, fantastic. Can you take us
back to when you went to school observing as a
fly on the wall recording session with the Almonds with
the legendary producer Tom Dad.
Speaker 1 (07:15):
Yeah, so I never got to see them work at
Criteria where I made Miami Moon. Criteria for those that
don't know, the famous studio in Miami, Florida where Da
Peach was done, where Derek and the Domino's made Layla
parts of Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, The Beg's those songs
(07:36):
we all love part of Fleetwood Mac Rumors. The list
goes on and on. It's a special place. All my
brothers also made Seven Turns their comeback record, but their
next record, Shades the Two Worlds, was made at an
equally important historic studio, Ardent Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, where
(07:56):
all your favorite zz top from Shark Dressman to you know,
all the first six records or whatever, they were all
done at Arden and I got to go down and
watch Tom Dowd produced that album almost on the daily
because I lived in Memphis and I had a you know,
(08:18):
kind of fledgling rock band. We were trying to be,
I don't know, something like Aerosmith or some shit. We
didn't We didn't know shit from Shinola. We were seventeen
years old. We were sneaking into clubs, trying to act
like our favorite rock stars, you know. But I as
much as I was trying to fit into a groove
(08:38):
like Aerosmith or whatever, who just announced the retirement, which
was so sad to me, But I digress as much
as I kind of was seventeen years old and trying to,
you know, be Steven Tyler or whomever. I had the
sense enough about me to go and watch Tom Dowd,
(08:59):
producer Almen Brothers, and and I knew that it was
a heavy thing to to watch and to kind of
take in. It was special, And you know, I can't
say that I necessarily picked up a bunch of production
tricks or whatever, but it was really cool to see
(09:20):
that he was absolutely a member of the band. While
they were in there, everybody was looking to him. Hey man,
should we double that intro? They look at Tom, hey man,
should Warren go to slide right there? They'd look at Tom.
You know, he was the trusted magnetic north of those recordings.
(09:40):
Their their love for him, knew no bounce. You know.
He was a dad, he was a head coach, he
was a you know, he was a barometer, he was
he was everything for them. So that was that was
powerful to watch.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
If the walls at Criteria Studios could talk, what what
would they be saying? And did you feel those vibrations
when you recorded Miami Moon?
Speaker 1 (10:05):
I don't think those SIGs could be repeated. Uh yeah, yeah,
you know when we walked in, you know, I went
to I went to actually tour the place first because
I wanted to feel those vibrations, and you know, walking
into the main cutting room, I was just like, wow,
like there's there's a weight there. For sure. I always
(10:28):
feel that in studios. I went and toured Electric Lady,
Uh not too far, you know, a year ago, considering
making a record there as well, and yeah, I feel it,
you know. We we made the two Almond bet Span
records at Muscle Shoals and I could feel it there.
It's a vibe, you know. I think, I think the
(10:49):
the electrons and shit that, you know, get trapped up
in the walls and I don't know, I can feel
that stuff. But once that's kind of you know, That's
why I wanted to go tour at first. I didn't
want to feel that on a work day. I wanted
to go check it out, take that deep breath, feel it,
(11:10):
live with it, sit in there for a couple hours,
you know. I talk talking to Trevor that runs the place,
and then like, okay, and I'll see in a few months,
let's make a record in a few months. So I
kind of got that shit out of the way that heavy,
you know, And so when we got in there, I
hired a really amazing band I got George Porter Junior
(11:32):
on bass, whom everyone knows from The Meters and his
current band the Running Partners, Ivan Neville who plays with
Keith Richards and dumps to funk on keyboards. Adam Deitsch
one of the hottest drummers on the scene today who
plays with Lettuce. He's one of the funkiest, Carl Denson
(11:52):
on saxophone, Jackson Stokes on guitar from my band, and
then Tom Hambridge, who produced it won the last few Grammys, uh,
the Blues Grammys with Kingfish and Buddy Guy and Tom.
Tom Hambridge and I have been making records together for
for a minute. I think we've done three three albums together.
And we just we set up in a circle. We
(12:15):
just jammed, you know. We ordered in Cuban food and
watch the NBA on breaks and screaming at the TV,
you know, at the slam dunks and uh. And we
had a lot of fun. Uh And it was a
it was a very just enjoyable time. And and and
once you kind of got in that circle and you're
and and and you're giving the tunes a run, then
(12:37):
all that that heaviness kind of goes away because you're
really you're you're working, you know, but at the end
of the night, you know, and we've got to shuttle
back to the hotel, and you're thinking, damn, like we're
getting to add to that that history. You know. I'm
so grateful it's still open. I'm so grateful Electric Lady
is still open, and Ardent Studios is still open, and
(12:58):
Criteria Studios. And in an era where you can go
into your bedroom with a laptop or your basement and
make a kick ass hit record, that's all the more
impetus for me to want to go to a historic
studio soak in the vibrations from the masters. And you know,
it's a hell of a lot more expensive, but I
(13:20):
can think of no better way to spend a budget
than to do a record how they used to be done.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
Some of the tracks on there that I particularly love.
I love white Horse Cool is sensational. I love also
the theme of two particular songs, and I wanted to
get your take on this theme. Sure, take time to
taste it, yeah, right, and then you got to make
(13:50):
it through the world.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:54):
I see the fact that you're trying to bring a
sense of optimism in dark times.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Is that to say, for sure, you got to make
it through the world as an old Van Morrison deep cut.
And I kind of discovered that near the tail end
of that whole COVID you know shit, and I was like, man,
that's a nice message for these times. You got to
make it through the world. You gotta plow on through.
You gotta pull yourself up by the bootstraps and have
(14:22):
good community and positive, you know, a positive outlook. And
so that song was actually kind of the first one
where I was like, that's a great message. I'd like
to build a record around that, Like I want to
cover that song and build the record around that, And
I was even considering naming the record you got to
(14:42):
make it through the world. Then, with that as kind
of the I don't know, kind of the entry point
to make on the record, then I started to write
the record. It still stayed very optimistic, but it had
a new life. I saw colors, I saw hot paint,
I saw I felt Miami and palm trees and you know,
(15:04):
a little sexiness, a little jazz, a little Curtis Mayfield
and these things that I had really kind of squashed
as inspiration and influences before I really just let the
floodgates kind of be open and say, you know, this
is who I am. I don't have to make a
record that fits in a blues rock category, so I
(15:25):
can go play blues festivals or do whatever like. I
love doing that. That's a big part of who I am.
But I have this whole other side of me musically
that really you know, Curtis Mayfield, I have a Curtis tattoo. Awesome,
you know, and bounce out my Leyla tattoo. You know.
(15:46):
So Curtis Mayfield shot today The Cure, the alternative rock
band The Cure. I think those are some influences that
might surprise people that show up on this record.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I love that. That diversity is so fantastic.
Speaker 2 (16:00):
We'll be right back with more the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Welcome back to the Taking a Walk Podcast.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
You know what's amazing to think about that, I'm sure
the forefathers, the Almond Brothers, forefathers are looking down smiling.
Is the tremendous Almond community, you know, the Almond Bets community,
the Tedesky Trucks community. These amazingly passionate, incredible musicians who
(16:38):
are still out giving joy to the world. Is really
something to behold.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, it's you know, just really grateful that you know,
as we march further into the new millennium, I mean
we're you know, we're almost at a at a quarter
century end. You know, we're almost at twenty twenty five,
and to you know, to be at almost the year
twenty twenty five and have this music still be vital
(17:06):
and I have an audience and you know, is beautiful,
So very very grateful.
Speaker 3 (17:11):
What themes do you find yourself drawn to when you're
writing lyrics and how do you ultimately choose those subjects.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
I think there's a lot on Miami Moon. There's a
lot of romance. There's a lot of kind of romanticizing
your life really, you know, savoring the moments that you have.
You know, hitting age fifty for me was like wow,
you know, certainly by no means slowing down, if anything,
I'm actually going a little more hardcore lately. But I
(17:42):
think savoring those moments and really respecting the time that
you have with loved ones and you know, trying to inspire,
you know, believing in yourself. I think there's a lot
of that on this record. You know, Whitehorse is about
hey man, you can't wait for shit to have and
you got to go make it happen. You've got to
believe that that you can, that you can go and
(18:06):
achieve things. You know, and you're not. You're you're only
as stuck as you think that you are. So a
lot of that is like kind of self reflective. But
you know, there's also obviously, you know, people in our
lives that we see and we see them stuck and
it's like, hey man, snap out of it. You're you know.
So I think there's a lot of that, you know,
(18:27):
there's a lot of just positivity for progress in people's
lives and love.
Speaker 3 (18:34):
Is there something in particular that your father's passing taught you, Well,
that's a.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
Rabbit hole, man, something that is passing taught me. I mean,
you know, Dad, he really gave his whole life to music,
and as beautiful as that is, you know, he didn't
(19:00):
leave as much time for family. And as much as
music means to me, family is always going to be
more important, you know. And I'm not saying that he
you know, but like an example, I just got done
with like our our twelfth father son vacation with my son.
You know, I never went on one vacation with my dad,
(19:22):
and I don't have any bitterness about that. I just
have a sadness Like man, I, you know, I wish
he could have experienced that side of life. He kind
of hid behind the music and he kind of hid
behind the creativity, whereas I love unplugging from that rock
and roll world for a week with my son and
(19:43):
going We've done crazy shit. We've we've ridden camels out
into the Sahara Desert in Morocco. We've hiked glaciers in Alaska.
We've ridden the bullet trains in Japan, like, you know,
we've we've seen the Grand Can and we've we've you know,
we've four wheelers in the Sedona Desert, like whitewater rafting
(20:06):
outside of Seattle. Like we've done incredible shit that if
you would have told me I'd be doing all that
stuff with my son, like when I was a kid,
I would have thought, well, you're crazy, Like that's that
sounds like the life of fucking Indiana Jones or some shit,
you know. Truly, Like, so we come back from these vacations.
(20:26):
I just got back from the Japan one with my son,
and I think I did learn a lot from dad's
passing about that, like, savor these moments, man, this is it.
You know, I want my kid to do that with
his kid.
Speaker 3 (20:42):
Yeah, your father worked it, man, Like I uh yeah,
I was working in rock radio for much of my career,
and you know, he went out and worked it to
get airplay and you know, meet the program directors and everything.
One of my most unbelievable experiences I have to share
(21:03):
with you was somewhere in the Mumble this mid eighties,
there was a rock programmer's convention. It was this guy
Lee Abrams, who I'm still friends with, who he consulted
a bunch of radio stations and got all the programmers
(21:27):
together and one night Epic had a suite and I
freaking saw your dad playing with a keyboard for forty
minutes for programmers. And it's one of those moments I'll
never forget in my life.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
Man. You know. So he worked at yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
he did, man, for sure. I mean he lived it,
you know, and you know I do too. I definitely
spent a lot of time on the road, and you know,
I've started my own record label. I've had it going
for about five years, signed three different artists, and I
finally made the decision, the big leap to put my
(22:06):
own records out on this thing. And it's a labor.
I love it's it's a lot of work, it's a
lot of time on a computer. It's a lot of
time with my team trying to figure it all out.
You know, there's big learning curve there. So definitely, I'm
I'm I'm as passionate, you know, with the business and
with the music and all that, but yeah, I like
to I like to unplug from it and and you know,
(22:29):
and be with my wife and be with my son
and uh and get that that family time in.
Speaker 3 (22:36):
When you think about unheralded Allman Brothers albums or songs,
is there anything in particular that pops out to you.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
I mean, Dreams has always been my favorite song, and
Seven Turns is probably like one of my dark horse
favorite records. I just I love it. I think there
was a new enthusiasm for them being back together. It
was a crisp production without being you know, overly. I
think it come out in ninety nineteen ninety, but it
(23:11):
didn't have that you know eighties sound that you know,
kind of kept going through at least ninety and ninety one,
you know, the kind of over reverberated, like, you know,
kind of schlocky eighties production. I love seven Turns a lot.
I think people might be surprised that that's one of
my favorites.
Speaker 3 (23:29):
It's a great one, you know. You know which one
I think deserves more recognition is no One to Run to?
Speaker 1 (23:38):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (23:39):
What a great song, my god?
Speaker 1 (23:41):
Oh no, no no One? Yeah? Yeah, so I think
it's no One Left to run with? Yeah, But the
line the lyric in the song is nobody left to
run with? And I always found that strange that the
titles no one left to run with, but they sing
nobody left round with, nobody left too wrong with it
(24:03):
a moll that's just wild. I remember when we were
learning that song for Revival, and I would always do
that with Jimmy Hall as kind of a duet. I
was like, wow, that's kind of it's kind of odd.
You know, why didn't they just call it nobody left
around with? You know?
Speaker 3 (24:18):
Yeah, I hadn't thought about that, really, that's right.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
And I don't know if that was like a printer
fuck up, like you know, and they just were like
I keep it, or if that was intentional. I still
don't know. I should ask Warren Haynes. Warren might have
a take on that. I think I will. I'm gonna
text him that I love it.
Speaker 3 (24:35):
I spurned it on.
Speaker 1 (24:37):
Yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna text him right now. It
wouldn't it be neat if during the interview he comes
with an answer.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
He probably will.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
Right, Hey, Warren, happy Monday. Brother, got a quick question
for it. But see what he says. It would be funny.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
That's awesome.
Speaker 1 (24:59):
So yeah, man, But you know, you know what a
what a career? I mean, that's I went for. You know,
I didn't even meet my dad till I was like sixteen.
I met him outside the Fox Theater in Saint Louis, Missouri.
He was there, he was playing with I want to
say it was thirty eight special on the just before
the Bullets Fly tour in eighty eight. I was sixteen.
(25:21):
Hit the bus pulled up, he walked off. That's the
first time I ever saw my dad with my own eyes.
And went into the venue, Fox Theater, into the dressing rooms,
and he was he was pretty nervous. And we sat
there and we chatted for a while, and I watched
him play and you know, and thus the relationship was born,
(25:42):
and we always had more of a of a I
don't know, like a brother relationship. And there was points
in time where my dad said, hey, did you ever
think when you met your dad that you'd be the dad?
Because he'd called me for advice and shit, like, he
knew I have my head on straight, you know. And
he you know, he obviously had his crazy decades and stuff.
(26:05):
So we had a real unique relationship. He knew that
I would always tell it to him straight. You know,
I wasn't there to kiss his ass. I might have
a viewpoint that he didn't like or didn't want to face,
but I would always tell it to him straight. And
you know, there was a lot of mutual respect and
(26:26):
a lot of love there. He uh, you know, he
sorely missed for sure. But I you know, I take
solace and like the you know, the music lives on.
It's it's it's really nice when I walk into a
place and I hear you know, Midnight Rider, or I'm
watching TV and you know, one way out comes on
(26:47):
or whatever, and it's like, okay, hey dad, how you doing?
Speaker 3 (26:51):
And you had written him a very simple letter, right, yeah,
like like, what was the contents? Can you reveal of
that letter?
Speaker 1 (26:59):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, I remember. You know, as a kid,
it's tough to grow up without your dad. Well, where's
my dad? All my friends have a dad. Where's my dad?
And then I figured out pretty early on that my
dad was famous, and that was a mind fuck, you know.
You know, my mom blessed her heart and she passed
(27:22):
five months before my dad, so I lost them both
real real quick together. My mom said she could have
shit talked him a lot, but she said, hey, man,
your dad's a good guy. You're going to meet him someday.
You guys are going to get along great. And that
was it, and she always was positive about it. And
(27:42):
I don't know, man, I just kind of I went
through life. You know, I had a normal upbringing. I
played soccer, I ate McDonald's, I went to the movies.
You know. They even changed my name to my stepdad's
name for a few years, which I wasn't real crazy about.
But when I met my dad, yeah, I think I
(28:03):
was fifteen, I saw, I actually saw a video of him,
a music video on MTV, and I thought, well, this
is stupid, Like I should reach out, you know, just enough,
you know, enough of not knowing. So I just wrote
him a simple letter and it said something like, hey, man,
I'm your kid. I live in Alabama. I was living
(28:25):
in Mobile at Alabama at the time. I'm a sophomore
in high school. I played guitar. I like Ozzy Osbourne.
Here's my phone number. It was like it was the
dumbest shit letter you could ever reade. But it was
really indignative. I mean, I was fifteen years old, you know,
and sure as shit. I come home about a week
(28:47):
later and my mom, you know, was like, Davin, get
down here. I run downstairs. I thought she had gotten hurt,
and I go, Mom, what's what's wrong? And she's just
looking at me like she's seen a ghost, with her
arm outstretched with the phone saying it's your dad on
(29:11):
the phone. And I was like, get the fuck up here.
You gotta be kidding me.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
And he was.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
He was nervous, wasn't Yeah, man, he was. He was nervous.
And I said, well, Mom, you know, I'm gonna take
it upstairs. So I went up to my room and
I picked up the phone and I go hello, and
he goes, hey, demn, it's your dad, and I was like,
oh shit, what the fuck? And I'm like, hey, hey, man,
(29:44):
you know, how are you doing. Where are you right now?
I'm on tour. I met wherever he was, you know,
and and we we talked on the phone for about
oh god, man, it must have been about two hours.
I remember my ear was hurting. I was like, but
we talked a lot about music and a lot about guitar,
and it was wild. It was really wild, you know.
(30:07):
And then he was like, Hey, I'm going on tour,
you know, you should come to the show so we
can meet. And you know, a few months later, that's
when I met him at Fox Theater in Saint Louis,
and it was kind of off to the races.
Speaker 3 (30:20):
And you opened for the band frequently right over time.
Speaker 1 (30:24):
Yeah, Like later on, probably starting around ninety three ish,
I would go out on stints where I would open
for the Greg Almond band, you know, my band at
the time, kind of the band Doujour different iterations, would
go out and support him, and then I would sit
(30:46):
in with his band as well and kind of learn
the ropes. I always used to just sing Midnight Rider,
and then I became more of a guitarist and I
think I graduated to one Way Out and after some
time I graduated to One Way Out and taking one
of the solos, you know, and it was I kind
(31:07):
of got this like piecemeal, like step by step. Near
the end, I was I was featured on Dreams and
had a solo in Dreams, which was incredible. And then
I would sit in with the Alman brothers and I
tell you what, you know, having to stand between Warren
Haines and Derek Trucks or Warren Haynes and Dicky Betts,
(31:29):
you know, and play on One Way Out or something
was like shit, holy shit, these are like the Jedi
Masters of guitar, you know, And what the fuck do I?
You know, the fuck do I got compared to these guys. So,
I mean, you know, the only thing you have when
you're in that situation is that you have you. There's
(31:49):
only one you in the universe. You know. You can't
be Robin Trauer, Jamie Hendrix, you can only you know,
I could only be Devin Almont. I can only play
the licks and the feel and the touch and the
way that I play and just hope for the fucking best,
you know, like if I can just do the be
the best me I can be in that moment, then
(32:12):
hopefully I'll survive this, you know, head cutting that I'm
about to receive, you know, but you know both of
those cats, they are all those cats, Dicky and you know,
rest in peace man. Dicky was was such a force.
Dicky was one of the cats that really helped me
to believe in myself, like even more than my dad
(32:34):
and I got you know, I got to hang with
Dicky quite a bit and tell him that over the
last ten years. But yeah, man, you know, you get
thrown into the fire and you try not to, you know,
get burned to a crisp well.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
In closing, you clearly have been mentored by some of
the greatest. Are you mentoring yourself some of those coming
up in the wings?
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Yeah, I mean for sure, Like we you know, I've
signed some younger artists. You know, we always keep a lookout.
There's a kid down in Florida, Champ Jackson, who's coming up.
You know, we've had him sit in. Grace Bowers is
a phenomenal young talent. She just turned eighteen, but she
(33:22):
sat in with us on the revival in Ryman at
the Rymann Theater three years ago when she was like
fifteen years old. So we always you know, that's a
big part of the revival too, is the diversity is
the key there. Like, you know, we want to celebrate
that songbook of the Allman Brothers, but we want to
be inclusive of younger artists, older black, white, male, female.
(33:45):
You know, we want that diversity in there. We want
it to be a show that really, you know, includes
so it's not all you know, white guy, burning hot
guitar players. You know, we want great singers and soul
singers and Jimmy Hall, you know, and you know somebody
Jimmy Hall seventy, you know, Grace Bowers is eighteen. You know,
we want that spread for a show like that. So absolutely,
(34:09):
you know, if we are the bridge, you know, you
got the original rock stars of the Zeppelins and the
Beatles and the All My Brothers and the Stones, you know,
and you got these eighteen year old kids that are
that are just now discovering Hendricks and shit. And you know,
if people you know, like us are kind of a
bridge to aid in getting some of those younger folks
(34:32):
listening to the right stuff, then that's that's all we
could hope for.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
David Auman Rock Royalty, Dude, thank you so much for
your time. Congrats on Miami Moon, which is sensational. Good
luck on the revival tour, and man, it's an honor
to talk to you.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
What a pleasure.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Man.
Speaker 1 (34:52):
Thanks for having me today.
Speaker 2 (34:55):
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Taking a
Walk podcast. Share this other episodes with your friends and
follow us so you never miss an episode. Taking a
Walk is available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and
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