Editor's Note: JamBase contributor Martin Halo recently sat down with Warren Haynes for an interview that was featured on his own www.thewaster.com. Marty was kind enough to share the news with us:
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In an interview on Tuesday, December 2, Warren Haynes responded to direct questions pertaining to his possible role in the 2009 Dead Reunion and the fluffy hearsay speculation that the Allman Brothers Band will be announcing an official retirement within the next 18 months.
“There has been no talk of us retiring," clarifies Haynes. “What we are planning on having is a big blow out for the 40th Anniversary, which is next year, and the Beacon Theatre shows are going to be completely off the hook. We are planning on having more special guests than we ever had before, and the rest of the year is going to be filled with more touring than the Allman Brothers have done in a long time. It is all going to be in celebration of our 40th. We are definitely planning a big bash."
This comes a day before Gregg Allman stated in an interview, “I feel like I'm 30-years-old again."
It's a gift bag of comments for Allman Brothers fans, who praise this lineup of Allman, Trucks and Haynes as arguably the finest exhale of musicianship on a single stage right now. But, if the retirement speculation has any truth to it, Haynes attributes it as being misunderstood. According to Haynes, anything remotely resembling a string of dates after the 40th Anniversary tour legs would look like a pull back on the reigns.
“After the 40th, I don't think we plan on touring as much, but rumors of a retirement are just that - rumors," Haynes continues. But the speculation of an Allmans retirement will likely grow for Warren Haynes over the course of the next year. After winning a Jammy for his set with Bob Weir at the 2007 Bonnaroo Music Festival (accompanied by a co-headlining summer tour), and a previous stint in The Dead after the passing of Jerry Garcia, rumors again moisten about The Dead returning to the road in 2009 with Haynes as lead guitarist.
With no official announcement from The Dead camp as to whether or not there will be a reunion run after the Barack Obama support gigs back in October (read the review here), Haynes offers this comment when asked if he had been approached about joining the fold: “I have only heard rumors up to now," he responds with a pause. “We still don't know if it is going to happen. But boy, would I love to see it!"
