I first found the Hittin the Web site in around 1998 or so.  With some down time at work I started exploring the World Wide Web searching for links to a variety of interests.  I had recently been digging out my old Allman Brothers LPs and tapes.  I wondered, "what happens if I Google Allman Brothers?"

I had never logged into any site at all.  Ever.  Period.  I was new to the world of on-line forums and chat.  I started reading various things called threads.  My interest had been piqued!

I guess one of the first things that I discovered - contrary to my own opinion and that of those who knew me well was that I was probably not THE biggest Allman Brothers fan in the universe.  I learned so many new things.  There discussions over WHICH version of Mountain Jam was the greatest.  The only one that I had ever heard was on Eat a Peach.  You mean there are others?

I began to exchange opinions and ideas with what at that point were only screen names.  Some of these folks offered to share CDs of live recordings  of actual Allman Brothers shows.  I knew I wasn't dead but I thought I'd somehow arrived in Heaven!

I'll confess that I got drawn into a couple of troll battles early on - before I'd developed on-line etiquette and self control.  I began to relate to several of the posters.

I noticed that several folks from my region planned to attend shows that I had tickets for.  I arranged to meet up with these posters and met real folks who became genuine friends.  Having become actual friends, I now don't recall screen names, but the first folks that I met at a show (Randall Bramblett with Chuck Leavell at Piedmont Park ... I think) were David (Goliath), Sue L. (forget the screen name) and Patrick C (the guy in shorts).  

It was because of the friends that I'd made on this site that I planned my first ever visit to New York to attend a Beacon show.  

This trip was not unlike that scene in the movie, Big Fish where the guy attends his father's funeral and meets all the characters whom he assumed were exagerations of his father's stories who turned out to be real!  I can't name all of the folks, but it was just mind-blowing to meet these people in person.  

One of the best friendships I've ever had was made on the plane trip back to Birmingham.  I was wearing my Eat a Peach shirt and the guy across the aisle asked me how many shows I had attended while in New York.  This guy's name was Randy -aka Buppalo1.  By the time the plane landed in Birmingham, Randy I had a rock-solid friendship.  We spent a lot of time together at shows, at dinners and in each others homes.  It was a friendship that I have missed every day since Randy's passing.

There were/are a LOT of other life-long friendships that I made thanks in no small part to the Hittin the Web with the Allman Brothers website.  

There came a point  - and this will sound blasphemous to most - where I attended Allman Brother's concerts as much to see friends as I did to hear the band!  When the band came to its final rest, I was shocked to find how much of my social life was tied to the band and the Hittin the Web site.

Every morning I go through a physical and mental ritual of exercise, prayer and meditation.  These sessions always include a reflection on the music and the friends that I have made via this incredible website.  Many of these friends have made their final curtain calls.  I think of folks like Randy, Bill Ector, TanDan, Byrd W, Karen B, David P, Brent S, Hophead (Ron), Clay P ... so many folks who really meant a lot to me.

I don't mean this as a whine, but I have been tied up with some family matters that has restricted my travels for much of the past 5 years or so.  There are still some peachheads out there who I have not seen in a while.  These folks are still in my heart and on my mind.  I hope to catch up with all soon.

Sorry about the long and winding post and the personal sentiments.  But when I tell you how big a part of my life the Hittin the Web site has been I mean it.

Thank you Lana!  Thank you Rowland!  Thank you to all the people who have been a part of this world for the past 30 years!

I first saw the Allman Brothers Band in early 1970. Went with a friend and not that excited about it but was instantly hooked. The band had their top mojo working and playing in a style and swing that was contagious to me and suddenly I was a fan for life. 

I'm 78 now and continue to have the ABB bug, especially recordings of the original band. 

Not sure when I discovered this wonderful website. In the 1990's it had to have been. 

Thank you Lana and Rowland for this wonderful site. It's very sharp and professionally operated. 

One of the best results from networking on this site was a trip to Florida in 2000.  I met a guy here on this website, also named Rob, and we hooked up almost immediately after I arrived there.  The first thing he did when he picked me up at my motel was drop a one ounce bag of weed into my lap and announce, "Welcome to Florida".  I thought, "OK, this is looking like a pretty damn good trip."  And it was.  Rob had a place with his lady right on Sarasota Bay.  Unfortunately Rob dissapeared from this website many years back, and I have completely lost touch with him.  I wonder if any old-timers here would remember him, his screen name was Hemlock.  One night I happened upon a little music joint in Siesta Key which is a cool little beach town right near Sarasota.  Caught a happening little band there which just happened to feature Duane Betts and Pedro Arevalo.  Those two were cranking out some good tunes even 25 years ago, and you could sure hear their potential.  If you didn't know, Dickey and Donna's home is right on Sarasota Bay.  I was still drinking then (didn't quit until 2011) and I have to confess that I WAY overdid it another night on that trip.  Rob had let some buddies of his know that I had come all the way from California and some of them knew me from the website.  Multiple people were buying me drinks and I am embarrassed now at how wasted I was that evening.  Took a cab home fortunately, and had a WICKED hangover the next morning, but tons of coffee and a big ham and egg breakfast helped a lot.  Another night I was having a few beers in another drinking establishment in Sarasota.  I met a fellow probably in his 50's or 60's who actually knew Dickey......."I just saw Dickey last week."  He had been at Dickey's place to do some construction work on his home.  He was REALLY pissed when the subject turned to comments Gregg had been making about Dickey recently......this trip was quite soon after ABB had booted Dickey.  He said, "I REALLY have a BIG problem with Gregg saying ANYTHING negative about Dickey.  Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!!!"  You could hear the anger in his voice.  And of course he had a point.  

I had just gotten into the ABB in the early 1990s and I remember checking the website out for news and buzz when we first got internet. By 1995 band news had begun to slow down a bit. I recall the big news the homepage announced the return of "Ain't Wasting Time No More" to the set list for the first time in 20+ years. There was even an audio file (!) you could sample and after trying to get it to play over my dial-up internet for an hour, it played a whole 5 seconds at a time between loading haha. Same thing happened with the return of "High Falls".

I still remember reading about Warren/Woody leaving and Jack/Oteil joining, that was how I got my ABB news. I read some user comments now and then but didn't really join the party until 2004 on the old blue site as the band began to gain some momentum again. I moved to NYC in 2005 and began connecting with a few people for Beacon get togethers, and connected with even more friendly folks I still call friends at Wanee Fests. Amazing when you connect the dots in the flesh, we got the full Macon tour from the amazing TanDan who is greatly missed.

In 2005 I was just starting my art career and shared some band art I made on the blue site. From that, I got my first commission for a dTb charity show (thanks again @sully ). dTb reached out and asked me to turn that art into a T-Shirt. Since then I've done animations and art for the ABB's Fillmore boxed set and TTB merch and a music video. Was able to bring it full circle this past Feb when Sully and I were able to go to the Dickey Betts tribute show and I was able to show him around Macon as much as I could (I'm no TanDan). So much of that is thanks to this site and the community it built - thank you Rowland and Lana!

Congratulations and THANK YOU!

Amazing architecture, quality maintenance, and beautiful community

Couldn't ask for much more

Hey there sweet family, this is the email from Butch dated April 17, 1995 that kicked Hittin' the Web into gear. By May we were up and running. 🙂
"Rowland,
I've been talking to Bert Holman and Kirk West about the Web site and we're
all really into this thing. We would like to get involved to the extent we can. Let me know your mailing address and other pertinent information. We want to be able to feed this sight as much "inside" information as possible. We could throw in some pieces of new material, tour info, or whatever. We do need to get a dialogue going with you, Bert and Kirk as soon as possible to expedite this.
Later,
Butch"
Take care and know tha you are loved, Lana

Happy 30th!  Found this site, met a couple of madcaps, helped host a couple Left Coast parties at the Beacon, met a few band members and generally had a great time.  So many wonderful people!  Always with a good word or a show in the mail.  Tan Dan took me on a tour of Macon thru a damn VHS tape!  ( Rory on ).  Thank you Lana and Rowland.  Job well done…

Gee, where to start ... found this site right before Dickey was let go - certainly made it interesting for a while.  Funny, my nickname in college was Sang.  When I got married, my wife didn't like that too much, so she had all my friends calling me Mike.  When I went to sign up on this site, I tried MikeV but it was already taken.  So I tried Sang and that worked - not knowing that I would meet a ton of people here that would only know me as Sang. 

I think my first ABB show was 1979 - with Henry Paul Band as the backup.  I have lost count, but think I saw the ABB 70 times, along with many shows of Gregg solo, Dickey solo, Govt Mule, DTB, Tedeschi Trucks and Jaimoe's Jasssz Band.

I read everybody talking about the Beacon - so I went for 5 years, including the Clapton shows, Little Milton, etc.  Met so many people at the Sweeties and Left Coast parties there - and at Yogi's.  Colin (Harvey) and I still talk about the night we saw the ABB at the Beacon, Lefty Collins and No Mercy at BB King's after show (Devon played a couple with them), and then closed down Yogi's at 4 am - an EPIC night.

Of course I saw them everytime they came to Chicago - with some great pre-parties at the Berghoff stand up bar.  Also saw them at Milwaukee SummerFest a couple of times, saw them in Pittsburgh for BOBOfest, Omaha and at Red Rocks.

Starting in 2008 I went to Wanee 10 years in a row - what a great time that was every year. I flew the first few years, but then started driving down and would make a stop in Macon to eat at the H&H.  One time I ran into PoetJohn there and he gave me a tour of some of the Macon high points.  Big shout-out to all the people from Helen's Hilton that made Wanee such a great experience! I wish I had a list of all the bands I saw there.

I also went to GABBAFEST the year Lefty's band played - and got the tour from TanDan and Bluedad.  I drove Lefty's band down to Gadsden one year for the Jam for Duane - others on the bill were Col. Bruce's Quark Alliance and Jack Pearson.

I have met so many people from this site over the years, and still get to see some of the Chicago area people.  My wife tells people I am a member of the ABB cult ... 😎 

I also have a full cabinet of live shows (mostly ABB, Govt Mule, DTB) all due to the people from this site and the old B&P (blanks and postage) process.  For a while I also converted some old cassettes to CD's for people to trade. 

All this was made possible through this site and the hard work of Lana and Rowland.  This site was Myspace and Facebook to us (before they came around).  Joining the MT thread was one of the best things I have done - think I have met in person just about everybody that has posted there.

Thanks again Lana and Rowland for keeping us all connected!

My first interaction with HTW was back in the late 90's when it was just a Guest Book. That was so cool though because I was surprised how many people were still into the Brothers.

From there the site expanded and the enhancements lead to me being able to interact with people from all around the globe and to developing some of the best friendships in my lifetime! It enabled me to meet up with like minded ABB fans whenever I was able to attend shows, didn't matter where... Kansas City, Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh and many more. I still attend shows with two friends that I first met here.

So many unforgettable friends I had the amazing experience to meet including Bobo and Captain Skipper (I'll only mention those two because if I tried to name everyone I'd miss so many that ABBsolutely should be included! Not a day goes by that I don't miss both Bobo and Skip.)

But I will also mention the two that made all of this possible, Rowland & Lana!!! I've had the extreme pleasure to have met you both! I cannot possibly thank the two of you enough! What a tremendous impact this site has had on so many countless people through the years.

Happy Anniversary Hittin' The Web!

Don't trust any website under 30!

Love! 

Lots of good times!  I was late to the ABB party but well worth it and a big part of it is ABB.Com!

One of my favorite memories was the 35th anniversary show at the Beacon.  I had time to kill so I logged on.  There was a thread for the show and the posts/updates made it as if I was almost there.  The power of the internet!

Lots of Friday afternoon/evenings after work chilling here chatting up all things music, ABB, partying etc.  May we keep the vibe alive.

The road goes on forever

So many memories! The first time I had regular access to the Internet, the first thing I searched for was Duane Allman. Real fans to be found back then, real sharing, not a ton of ads. Then I found hitting the web and what would become Duane Allman info, the great discog site. 

2 Extra Special Remembrances here, one for a kind hearted lady who dubbed VHS of the original band, I'd only ever seen photos and I was just mesmerized by Fillmore and Love Valley. I wish I could remember her name. 

Another for Jules Fotheringham, a Duane fanatic and a good player in his own right. I  sent him a copy of One More Try. He couldn't get it in England for some reason. 

I used to frequent the taper zone more often and I remember getting my first Capn Skipper remaster. And so again, there I was so thrilled to be in radio land. With the music. 

And to whoever sent me a disc of all the available Duane shows. Damn that was fine!

Never met anyone from the site tho I wish all you old timers well. Without the passion, this would not have continued

It's just kinda sad now, same 12 people post alla time

Special thanks to Lana and Rowland, for all the comfort and company and good times. Thanks for being here for the band and the fans. ♥️

Joined after seeing the ABB in Syracuse in 1999.

Wott a run we had over the years.

Created the KCJimmy Lounge in the Trades section after several late night sessions of "chat" with Capt. Skipper and KCJimmy.

Did a shitload of trades once I got the hang of it.

I still donate to the GABBA auction though I've finished giving away the Hugh Duty music collection.

Looking forward to photographing Warren Haynes in a couple weeks.

He's headlining the Syracuse BluesFest and I'm credentialed by the festival for the pit. 

Third year for me, shot Little Feat last year and Buddy Guy with Samantha Fish the year before.

Met so many amazing people at shows, first CanPeach Neil Hobson and Karen Bomberry at the Syracuse BluesFest when Dickey Betts & Great Southern headlined.

BoboFest I & II in Pixberg, Wott a time we had in our pink flamingo shirts!

My first Beacon Weekend in 2006, Sweeties party with Butch Trucks. 

Miracle ticket for 10/22/14.

So many great memories. 

Peach!

@sang BoboFest!

Been hangin' around this joint for over 20 years and have made so many wonderful friends from all over the world.  I love this place!

The website really made my life better in ways beyond music, but of course for Allman Brothers Band, related and non-related bands, the knowledge and information shared everywhere here was very appealing.  Was definitely a "home" where I would come to catch up on music that interested me most, get exposed to new music and acquire live shows through vines and trades, talk sports and engage on current event topics and exchange perspectives with other members in the WP.  For 15+ years of my life there was no other website I would rather visit and to this day I don't find myself doing the things I used to do here or that used to take place here.  I miss how things once were and I am happy to have been here.