Gov't Mule
GNP and DSP welcome Gov’t Mule to the historic State Theatre of Ithaca on Saturday, November 15 at 8PM. Reserved seat tickets are $29.50-$39.50 (includes $1.50 theater restoration fee) and go on sale this Friday at the State Theatre box office (located at 105 West State St./MLK Jr Ithaca, NY), or online at http://stateofithaca.com/govtmule. Box office hours are Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm. For questions and group sales info call the State Theatre at (607) 277-8283.
AUTHENTIC ROCK TORCHBEARERS GOV’T MULE RETURN WITH EPIC, STAR-STUDDED NEW STUDIO RECORDING SHOUT!
Double album is first release in four years and features ELVIS COSTELLO, DR. JOHN, BEN HARPER, TOOTS HIBBERT, GLENN HUGHES, JIM JAMES, MYLES KENNEDY, DAVE MATTHEWS, GRACE POTTER, VINTAGE TROUBLE’S TY TAYLOR AND STEVE WINWOOD
Few bands have a reputation for making music as consistently honest, organic and daring as Gov’t Mule. Now the enduring group fronted by visionary singer-guitarist Warren Haynes returns with their first album in four years – their Blue Note Records debut Shout!, a breath-taking, exploratory double-disc set to be released on September 24.
“This album puts a spotlight on the songs and the way that we interpret them, which hinges on the unique chemistry we’ve developed as a band,” explains Haynes, who along with Mule co-founder and drummer Matt Abts, multi-instrumentalist Danny Louis and bassist Jorgen Carlsson charted Shout!’s adventurous contours.
Shout!’s second disc shines a beam on a guest list of famed interpreters Elvis Costello, Dr. John, Ben Harper, Toots Hibbert, Glenn Hughes, Jim James, Myles Kennedy, Dave Matthews, Grace Potter, Vintage Trouble’s Ty Taylor and Steve Winwood, who each delivered an alternate vocal performance of one of the first disc’s new Gov’t Mule tunes.
“No one’s done this before, which is exciting,” says Haynes, “but it’s even more exciting actually listening to these artists sing our songs. Their performances bring new ideas, energy and sometimes even different meanings to every number.”
And Haynes, of course, remains one of the most formidable guitarists and vocalists of the modern era, effortlessly cross-pollinating genres and unfurling solos that broil with passion in his distinctive, signature style. No wonder fans of the Grammy nominated band have come to expect nothing less than the virtuosity, intelligence and breadth that propels Shout!.
Here’s how Blue Note Records president Don Was, who’s also a Grammy winning producer and performer, sums up Gov’t Mule’s place in contemporary music: “The Mule holds a unique and lofty berth. They have roots that run real deep – drawing from the entire history of rock ‘n’ roll going all the way back to Robert Johnson and the Delta. Yet, despite their mastery of past idioms, they have managed to rearrange those elements into a whole new thing. So while the music they make is quite contemporary, I dare say they have deeper roots than other bands that are creating new music.
“According to the Blue Note manifesto written by our founder Alfred Lion back in 1939, our label is dedicated to the recording of ‘authentic music.’ I don’t know how much more authentic you can be than Gov’t Mule! It’s an honor to release their records on the Blue Note label. On this new album, they’ve elevated their songwriting, playing and production values to a whole new plateau. It’s gonna blow people’s minds!”
Add the word “again,” because Gov’t Mule have been blowing minds since their eponymous 1994 debut. That album found the band boldly transfusing new blood into old-school psychedelic blues-rock at a time when the genre was largely ignored. Gov’t Mule’s stylistic grasp has grown inexhaustibly since.
Fighting the trend in a declining music industry, the band’s fan base, too, has steadily expanded over the course of 15 studio and live releases and thousands of performances – at first in small clubs and theaters, then at halls and major international festivals.
Today, Gov’t Mule have become a human encyclopedia of great American music even while adding to that cannon. And through it all Haynes has served as not only the group’s captain, but as a beacon of creativity and excellence that inspires fans and fellow musicians.
Parallel to his nearly two decades in the Mule, Haynes has been the six-string mainstay and a vocalist for the Allman Brothers Band and the Dead, and performed or recorded with a diverse array of other artists. In 2011 he made his second in-studio solo album, the aptly titled Man In Motion, which paid tribute to his blues roots and found Haynes experimenting with different guitar tones and effects not traditionally associated with Gov’t Mule.
“Everyone in the band has such a wide variety of musical points of reference that a song can start in any style – from rock to blues to funk to R&B to reggae – and end up going to a completely different place. “On Shout! every performance of each song stands on its own, but always sounds like us,” he adds. “Even if it’s a part of us that most people have never heard before.”
In reflection, Haynes offers that Gov’t Mule’s journey has been full of surprises. “There’s no way I could have anticipated the way we’d grow when we started,” Haynes remarks. “Everyone in Gov’t Mule brings their own personality to the music, and we’re always looking for opportunities to expand and excite ourselves. Shout! is proof of that, as well as an album I could never have predicted we’d make even five years ago.”
Links: Mule.net – Tickets – Box Office info – Directions – Map