Gov't Mule

Gov't Mule (pronounced Government Mule) is a

Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 as a side project
of The Allman Brothers Band by guitarist Warren Haynes
and bassist Allen Woody. Fans often refer to Gov't Mule
simply as Mule.
The band released their debut album, Gov't Mule, in 1995,
and have since released an additional nine studio albums,
plus numerous EPs and live releases. Gov't Mule has become a staple act at music festivals across North America, with both its members and frequent guests boasting
members from other notable bands, adding various funk
and blues rock elements to the bands sound.

1
1.1

The original lineup of Gov't Mule performs an acoustic set at

a record store in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. From left: Warren
Haynes, Matt Abts and Allen Woody.

History
1990s

ready experienced previous successes, they anticipated

a greater commercial success with this album. Unfortunately, Allen Woody was found dead in New York City
on August 26th of that year.[4] On September 21, 2000 a
benet concert was organized called One for Woody,[5]
with the proceeds going to Woodys daughter, Savannah
Woody, intended for her education. The Allman Brothers, The Black Crowes, Phil Lesh and Friends, Jimmy
Herring, Edwin McCain and several more of Woodys
friends also performed at the concert. Haynes and Abts
continued to do limited touring in the Fall of 2000 supporting Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals as an
homage to Woody. Their subsequent Smile at Half Mast
Tour that followed was named in reference to a poem
Haynes wrote for Woodys funeral.

When The Allman Brothers Band reformed in 1989, partially in response to the popularity of their Dreams box
set, Warren Haynes was added as a permanent lead guitarist and vocalist, and Allen Woody was recruited as bass
guitarist. The two shared a love for 1960s power trios
like Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, the James
Gang, and Mountain.[1][2] Haynes, Woody, and drummer Matt Abts, who played with Haynes in Dickey Betts'
band, came together as Gov't Mule during Allman Brothers breaks. They released their debut album Gov't Mule,
produced by Michael Barbiero, in 1995. Live from Roseland Ballroom was released in 1996, consisting of their
1995 New Years Eve set opening for Blues Traveler.
When The Allman Brothers Band were not forthcoming
with any new material, Haynes and Woody left to concentrate full-time on Gov't Mule in 1997. Their second studio eort, Dose, also produced by Barbiero, was released
in early 1998. They were joined by members of the Allman Brothers, the Black Crowes, Parliament/Funkadelic
and The Derek Trucks Band for their 1998 New Years
Eve concert, released both in a two and four CD version
as Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends. The performances exposed some of the bands inuences, covering Neil Young, Free, Trac, Jimi Hendrix, Little Feat,
Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Black Sabbath.

At the One for Woody performance and subsequently

at other shows, Haynes began appearing with The Allman
Brothers Band again. With Dickey Betts departure from
the Allmans, Haynes came back full-time to the band at
the beginning of 2001[6] and has continued splitting his
time between the Allman Brothers, Gov't Mule and for a
period Phil Lesh and Friends and other re-formed Grateful Dead bands.

The next year, Barbiero, Haynes and Abts began to record

a tribute album.[7] using some of Woodys favorite bass
players. These sessions resulted in two CDs The Deep
End, Volume 1 (2001) and The Deep End, Volume 2
(2002). A documentary of the recording sessions was
1.2 2000-2003
also made by Phish bassist Mike Gordon called Rising
Low. Bass contributions to the CDs came from Jack
In February 2000, the band released Life Before Insan- Bruce, formerly of Cream, John Entwistle of The Who,
ity, to critical praise,[3] and although the band had al- Mike Watt of Minutemen, Les Claypool of Primus, Flea
1

HISTORY

of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chris Squire of Yes and Wakarusa, Mountain Jam, Vegoose, All Good, and their
Stefan Lessard of Dave Matthews Band among others.
annual New Orleans Jazzfest night show (where they
A revolving door of keyboardists and bassists were used lmed and recorded the last show of the Deepest End
to fulll touring engagements in support of the Deep End tours, with 17 guest musicians in a six-hour show).
recordings. Keyboardists included Chuck Leavell, Rob
Barraco, Page McConnell and Danny Louis. Bassists
included, among others, Dave Schools of Widespread
Panic, Oteil Burbridge who already had lled Woodys
former place in The Allman Brothers, Les Claypool
of Primus, Victor Wooten of the Flecktones, George
Porter, Jr. of The Meters, Jason Newsted (formerly of
Metallica), Greg Rzab formerly of The Black Crowes
and the Buddy Guy Band, and Andy Hess, also formerly
of The Black Crowes. Louis and Hess were eventually
named as permanent members[8][9] of Gov't Mule.

1.3

2004-2008

Every year since 1989, Warren Haynes hosts the Annual

Christmas Jam in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina.[10] The concert usually takes place the rst weekend in December at the Asheville Civic Center, as a
fundraiser for Habitat For Humanity. Many artists who
play at the Christmas Jam also perform separate gigs in
various Asheville clubs, usually the day before the Jam
proper. The Pre-Jam, as it is called, features many of the
same artists, in smaller clubs. The 19th edition of the Jam
took place on December 15, 2007[11] with performances
by Kevn Kinney, Grace Potter and The Nocturnals, Shelly
Colvin, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Jackson Browne, G.
Love, Bruce Hornsby and Peter Frampton among others.
Gov't Mule headlined.
On June 28, 2008, while keyboardist Danny Louis was
drafted by Cheap Trick [12] to revisit Sgt. Pepper at
the Hollywood Bowl, Gov't Mule performed as a power
trio[13] for the rst time since 2000, this time with its regular bassist Andy Hess. The band titled their set Old
School Mule and ran through some of their older songs
such as Wandering Child and Thorazine Shue.
On September 15, 2008, Haynes wife, Stefani Scamardo
[14]
announced on her Sirius radio show[15] that Andy
Hess would be leaving the band and a new bassist would
be in place for the fall tour. Hess was subsequently replaced by Jorgen Carlsson,[16] who had been rehearsing
with the band for six months.

1.4 2009

Abts with Gov't Mule in 2008.

The rst CD with Louis and Hess, Deja Voodoo, was released in September 2004. The album won the Jammy
award for Best Album and was the last studio album involving Michael Barbiero as producer and engineer. Additional material from those sessions was released in 2005
as Mo' Voodoo. The new lineups second full release, High
& Mighty, was released on August 22, 2006, and it was
followed in 2007 by a dub/reggae album called Mighty
High - including versions of covers and original songs
with special guest appearances by Michael Franti, Toots
Hibbert, and Willi Williams.

Danny Louis in 2010, at a concert held during the New Orleans

Jazz & Heritage Festival.

On August 17, 2009, it was announced on the bands ofcial website that Gov't Mules eighth studio album, entitled By a Thread,[17] was on schedule for release on OcGov't Mule continues to tour extensively and has become tober 27, 2009.[18]
a staple act at many music festivals including Bonnaroo, On the same date, the rst track of the new album, called

3
Broke Down On The Brazos (featuring Billy Gibbons September 24 of that year. In what Haynes contends is a
of ZZ Top), was made available for listening on the rst, the album included a bonus disc consisting of covers
website.[19]
of the albums tracks by artists including Elvis Costello,
[22]
On October 31, 2009, Gov't Mule gave a special Hal- Dr. John, Grace Potter and Steve Winwood.
loween concert at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia.
From the Gov't Mule web site: Following in the tradition of 2007s Holy Haunted House and last years
Pink Floyd spectacular, the band, once again, has something very special planned for the occasion. [20] This
third in their series of Halloween shows featured a rst set
of over two hours, composed entirely of Rolling Stones
covers. Previous sold-out shows had featured covers of
Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy and an assortment of
Pink Floyd compositions.

On December 31, 2013, Gov't Mule performed with

Robby Krieger, the guitarist from The Doors, at the
Beacon Theatre in New York City.[23]
The following year, they performed at the Beacon Theatre again with Myles Kennedy of Alter Bridge. They
performed 18 classic AC/DC songs in a second set with
Kennedy on vocals for the New Years Eve Back At The
Beacon show.[24]

2 Discography
1.5

20102014
Following is a listing of Gov't Mules major releases.
Nearly every concert that Gov't Mule plays is recorded
and sold online in both high and low resolution MP3 format, and in the lossless FLAC format.[25]

3 Members
Timeline

4 References
Gov't Mule at a concert in the Fabrik Hamburg, Germany 2015

[1] Gibson. Gibson Backstage Pass Holiday Double Issue

2006. Gibson.com. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[2] Archived January 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.

Gov't Mule played at the Island Exodus in Negril, Jamaica in January 2010, at the all-inclusive resort The
Grand Lido Negril. The First Island Exodus consisted of
three Gov't Mule shows and a Warren Haynes solo show.
Also appearing at this event were Grace Potter & The
Nocturnals, Ron Holloway, and DJ Logic.[21]
Gov't Mule also played at the Hangout Music festival on
Saturday, May 15, 2010 and at the Azkena Rock Festival in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, on June 24, 2010. The
band also opened up for the Dave Matthews Band on Friday, July 30, 2010 at Cruzan Amphitheatre, in West Palm
Beach, Florida.
In October 2010, Govt Mule celebrated Halloween at the
Fox Theater in Oakland, CA. Warren Haynes and company used their rst set to cover The Whos album Whos
Next in its entirety.

[3] Smith, Michael B. (2000-02-15). Life Before Insanity Gov't Mule. AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[4] Musician Allen Woody Found Dead - ABC News. Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[5] ONE FOR WOODY - 9.21.2000, NEW YORK.
JamBase. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[6] Hittin' The Web with The Allman Brothers Band - Where
Music Plus Friends Equals Family. Allmanbrothersband.com. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[7] Information and results for 'Warren Haynes: Gov't Mule
pays tribute to Allen Woody.(guitarist discusses recording
of music albums The Deep End Volumes I, II)(Interview)'
| AccessMyLibrary - Promoting library advocacy. AccessMyLibrary. Retrieved 2012-04-20.
[8] Archived August 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.

Except for its regular festival appearances, the band was

mostly on hiatus during the early part of the decade [9] Need We Say More? - News - Govt Mule Announces
Permanent Bassist. Jambands.com. 2003-09-12. Rewhile band members pursued other projects, particularly
trieved 2011-09-13.
Haynes and his Warren Haynes Band. In the summer
of 2013, the band gave details on their upcoming album [10] 20th annual Warren Haynes Christmas Jam is gonna rock
Shout!, their rst studio album in four years and their
Asheville. Independentmail.com. Retrieved 2011-09rst release on Blue Note Records, which was released on
13.

[11] Warren Haynes Presents Christmas Jam.

jam.com. Retrieved 2011-09-13.

Xmas-

[12] Sgt. Peppers at 40a Beatles Celebration featuring

Cheap Trick. Hollywood Bowl. 2012-05-14. Retrieved
2014-07-17.
[13] Mule Tracks All Downloads | Majestic Ventura Theater Ventura, CA 06.28.08 | Shop the Mule Tracks Ocial Store. Muletracks.shop.musictoday.com. Retrieved
2012-04-20.
[14] Evil Teen Records. Evilteen.com. Retrieved 2011-0913.
[15] Welcome to the world of satellite radio - SiriusXM Radio. Sirius.com. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[16] Gov't Mule New Bassist Band Welcomes Jorgen Carlsson. Jambase.com. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[17] Jurek, Thom (2009-10-27). By a Thread - Gov't Mule.
AllMusic. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[18] Gov't Mule: New Album By A Thread out 10/27 on JamBase. Jambase.com. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[19] News. Mule.net. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[20] Tour Dates. Mule.net. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[21] Gov'T Mule'S Island Exodus Iii. Mule.net. 2007-01-01.
Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[22] Brandle, Lars (July 11, 2013). Gov't Mule 'Shout' Out to
All-Stars On New Album. Billboard. Retrieved August
9, 2013.
[23] Gov't Mules New Years Eve Show 12/31/2013.
Mule.net. 2015-01-08. Archived from the original on
January 8, 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
[24] Gov't Mules New Years Eve Show 12/31/2014.
Mule.net. 2015-01-08. Archived from the original on
January 8, 2015. Retrieved 2016-06-06.
[25] Mule Tracks. Mule Tracks. Retrieved 2011-09-13.
[26] American certications Gov't Mule The Deepest
End. Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
[27] DeRiso, Nick (May 30, 2015). Gov't Mule, 'Dark Side
of the Mule' - Album Review. Ultimate Classic Rock.
Retrieved September 20, 2015.
[28] Gov't Mule: Sco-Mule: Music. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2015-03-05.

External links
Ocial Gov't Mule site

EXTERNAL LINKS

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