The Friends of the Brothers is a celebration of the music of the Allman Brothers Band, with members closely associated with the original band and continuing the brotherhood with passion, committed to the ideals of every night being special and unique. Guitarist/singer Junior Mack has fronted Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band for 12 years and starred in the critically acclaimed Broadway show Lackawanna Blues. Guitarist Andy Aledort played with Dickey Betts for 12 years, has recorded with Double Trouble and Band of Gypsys and toured with Experience Hendrix. Singer/guitarist Alan Paul is the author of One Way Out, the definitive, best-selling Allman Brothers Band biography based on 25 years of reporting on and interviewing the band.
They are often joined by singer Lamar Williams Jr., who is the son of the late Allman Brothers bassist and was featured in Les Brers, featuring ABB members Butch Trucks, Jaimoe, Oteil Burbridge and Jack Pearson. Founding keyboardist Peter Levin toured the world with Gregg Allman for 3 years and appears on his final album, Southern Blood. Mack, Aledort, Levin and Williams all performed with the Allman Brothers Band.
“This band is based around our shared love of the Allman Brothers Band and our friendships with one another,” says Paul. “It’s not just a gig. The music is holy to us, but it’s also alive. We honor our friends and mentors’ legacies by investing this great music with life, heart and passion. It’s not about copying solos, which would be completely against the spirit the Allman Brothers had from the day Duane Allman formed the band in 1969.”
The group members’ first-hand experience with the Allman Brothers Band and their deep knowledge of the repertoire and the music’s roots and heritage allows them to play with an unrivaled depth. They perform songs from every stage of the Allman Brothers Band’s career, backed by a band of inspirational, veteran players, drummers Dave Diamond (Zen Tricksters, Bob Weir, Robert Randolph) and Lee Finkelstein (Tower of Power, Blues Brothers) and bassist Craig Privett (Half Step).
Other Friends have included guitarists Eric Krasno, Tash Neal (London Souls, Amy Helm) and Brandon “Taz” Niederauer, keyboardists Jason Crosby (Phil Lesh, Susan Tedeschi), Steve Molitz (Phil Lesh, Robby Krieger) and Ike Stubblefield (Col, Bruce Hampton, George Benson, B.B. King), drummers Jeff Sipe (Col. Bruce Hampton, Susan Tedeschi, Warren Haynes), Eric Kalb (Eric Krasno, John Scofield, Scott Sharrard) and Van Romaine (Steve Morse, the Dixie Dregs), saxophonist Ron Holloway (Gov’t Mule, Allman Brothers), and bassists Brett Bass (Gregg Allman) and Berry Duane Oakley (Allman Betts Band).
