If you know anything about Southern Rock, the title of this story should make complete sense to you. If not, well…. be prepared to learn a little about the son of one of the all-time greatest singer/songwriters.
Devon Allman is the son of the Southern Rock pioneer Greg Allman, co-founder of the legendary Allman Brothers Band. While he knew who his father was, Devon did not get to meet him until the age of 17. Not long after that meeting, Devon was put on the spot at a show in Miami; they introduced him and brought him out to sing “Midnight Rider”.
Around the age of 13, Devon began playing music in a garage band. He was into everything from Otis Redding, Al Green, Motörhead, Iron Maiden, The Cure and The Smiths. He was into just about it all in classic, heavy metal and the blues. He lists his major influences as the Stones, Hendrix, Cream, Santana, BB King, Curtis Mayfield and Junior Kimbrough.
In 2006, Devon’s Honeytribe band released the album “Torch” which featured Pedro Arevalo on slide guitar for “No Woman, No Cry”, “Heaven Has No Mercy” and “Why You Wanna Bring Me Down”.They also had Joe Bonamassa play guitar on “Mercy Mercy”. In 2010, they released “Space Age Blues” that featured Huey Lewis on harmonica for “Could Get Dangerous”.
The supergroup Royal Southern Brotherhood came together in 2011 with Cyril Neville, Devon Allman, Mike Zito, Yonrico Scott and Charlie Wooton. In May of 2012, the debut album “Royal Southern Brotherhood” was released. They toured with shows in USA and Canada, as well as multiple countries in Europe while the album came in at no. 5 on the Billboard Blues Chart. Devon played his last show with the band at the Wanee Festival in Live Oak, FL in April of 2014. Their second album “Heartsoulblood” was released in June of 2014 which was the result of the experience of living, traveling and playing together.
From 2013 to 2016, Devon released three solo albums. “TURQUOISE” came out first, which featured Yonrico Scott on drums, Myles Weeks on bass, and includes guest musicians Luther Dickinson (guitar), Samantha Fish (vocals), Ron Holloway (saxophone) and Rick Steff (keyboard). “TURQUOISE” peaked at no. 5 on Billboard’s Blues Albums the week of March 2, 2013.
“Ragged & Dirty” is the second solo album by Devon, released in October 2014. The core lineup consisted of Felton Crews (bass), Giles Cory (guitar), Tom Hambridge (drums) and Marty Sammon (keyboards). Additional artists included Bobby Schneck Jr. (guitar & background vocals) and Wendy Moten (background vocals). It debuted and peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Blues Albums the week of November 1, 2014.
“Ride or Die” is the third solo album by Devon, released in 2016. The core lineup consisted of Tom Hambridge (drums), Tyler Stokes (guitars) and Steve Duerst (bass). Additional artists included Ron Holloway (saxophone), Bobby Yang (strings) and Kevin McKendree (keyboard). “Ride or Die” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard’s Blues Albums the week of October 8, 2016.
Fast forward to May of 2017 and sadly, Greg Allman passed away due to complications from liver cancer. Obviously, this had a very big impact on Devon as it would anyone losing a parent. Devon was unable to keep touring until later that year.
We attempted to cover the Peace River Revival, which featured Devon as the headliner earlier in 2018; however, Mother Nature had other plans. 15 seconds or six pictures into the first song the rain came pouring down and unfortunately, the show had to be called for everyone’s safety.
Luckily, for us, we have some very good friends at the SWFL Event Center and they were able to bring in Devon for a show on the 16th of October. What a great show! Devon played a lot of his music for the first portion of the set and then brought out Duane Betts and Berry Duane Oakley to do a tribute to their fathers later in the show. If you missed this show, you had better catch them again when they come to your area!
The Devon Allman Project is a sextet that finds Devon joined by percussionists John Lum and R. Scott Bryan as well as bassist Justin Corgan, guitarist Jackson Stokes and organist Nicholas David.
Stay tuned because in Part 2 we take a closer look at Duane Betts, the son of the Allman Brothers co-founder Dickey Betts!!
Connect with Devon Allman:
www.instagram.com/devonallmanofficial
Tour Dates:
- January 28, 2019 Park City, UT The Cabin
- February 14, 2019 Fort Lauderdale, FL Rock Legends Cruise
- February 20, 2019 Stuart, FL Lyric Theater
- February 21, 2019 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Parker Playhouse
- February 22, 2019 Ocala, FL Reilly Arts Center
- February 23, 2019 Daytona, FL The Pavilion @ Destination Daytona
- February 25, 2019 Tampa, FL Keeping the Blues Alive
For more information on the amazing SWFL Event Center please visit their Facebook page and give them a “Like”!! You can also visit them at: www.swfleventcenter.com to see all the great shows they have coming up!!
Photos and review by Brian Kreuser