John McEuen on Sitting In with ABB 3/14/2012

[BigDad]

I met John McEuen on a plane about 8 years ago. He is an amazingly nice guy and an amazing talent (as are his sons). Here is a comment he posted on his Facebook page earlier today:

whatta night.. Allman Bros. at the Beacon Theater - Posted 03/14/2012

It was great to get a call to come and sit in on a couple of songs with Gregg Allman. I had never seen nor met Warren, whom I contacted about details by phone first, then talked with after arrival. I actually thought he was one of the crew, guitar tech or such, and he showed me around the place.. made sure I knew where food was..., etc., and generally made me feel welcome before Gregg showed up.

A bit later, after checking with the crew for a mic placement, I came back to ask Warren when I could run over the two songs before the show. After chatting with him that a quiet guy in the corner listening to us said hello, and it was a much thinner Gregg looking healthy and wise greeting me. He thanked me for coming, and we talked about 'the good old day' a bit. Gregg was the true Southern gentleman as were the rest of the group.

Showtime came.

Warren knocked me out. Not part of the crew, his true Southern rock voice and hot guitar for the brothers ripped the audience;, I had no idea just how good he is until he was out their showing them how to sing like that. He fills the space in a way that makes him an integral part of what the Brothers are all about, both in attitude and talents. Then that nice young guitar slinger I had also been talking to pre-show then took a slide lead that made it quickly apparent just why people talk about Derek Trucks with such high praise. Wow.. I had been a huge Duane fan, and after a few songs realized Derek is carrying that torch that Duane lit so many years ago, doing it proudly and with grace as duane did, and showing us where that guitar can go.

Then I came out to play the two on the banjo - Will the Circle Be Unbroken and some song with the word Kitchen in it. Both were very cool, got great response that I felt part of, and seeing that packed Beacon from the stage reminded me of how fortunate I am to do what I do. Most people sitting around their place with a few hours of nothing to do might not think of something that would be the best use of the time. That was the space I was in before the phone call to the Beacon. It was a lot more fun to decide what to do with my night on stage with the Allman Bros. than sitting home alone.

I came back home and got to work on details for The McEuen Sessions and travel problems this coming week, all of which will be solved and salve at the same time. The salve was needed because of various reasons of production the release will now be April 10 instead of April 3. Had to tell the baby to wait.

Driving to New Hampshire today to go play with a 46 year old band. Being in this band is a privilege, like having dinner with 3 ex-wives..Lots of common background, some great stories...and no dessert. Well, I had my dessert last night at Gregg's place.

[BigDad]