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Headline: Moonlighting with the Mule Allman Brothers guitarist Warren Haynes likes to explore different styles with Gov't Mule By Jon Ferguson Lancaster (Pa.) Intelligencer Journal Guitarist Warren Haynes juggles schedules as well as anyone in the business. Haynes splits his time between Gov't Mule, a group he founded in 1995, and the Allman Brothers Band, the venerable musical institution he first joined in 1989. The guitarist - who also sings for both bands, writes for both bands and produces albums for both bands - said said he has never walked onstage for an Allman Brothers gig only to find out it's a Gov't Mule show. "It's an opportunity for me to utilize two different sides of my musical personality, which I think most musicians would agree is a healthy thing," he said. "If musicians have a complaint about their jobs, it would be that a lot of times we feel like we're trapped in one situation. "Most musicians like to express themselves in a lot of different ways." Haynes, 48, currently is touring with Gov't Mule, which includes drummer Matt Abts, bassist Andy Hess and keyboardist Danny Louis, and will make a stop Thursday night at the Forum in Harrisburg. The band is touring behind the hard-rocking album "High & Mighty," which it released last year. Haynes got his big break when country outlaw David Allan Coe asked him in 1980 to play guitar in his band. He played with Coe for four years and later worked with Dickey Betts and Gregg Allman when those two original members of the Allman Brothers were working on solo albums when the band was on hiatus. When they decided to reform the Allman Brothers in 1989, they asked Haynes to join. He and bassist Allen Woody, also in the Allman Brothers, formed Gov't Mule as a side project. They left the Allman Brothers in 1997 to pursue Gov't Mule full-time. "Leaving an institution like the Allman Brothers is not an easy thing to do," Haynes said. "When the time came, it was the right thing to do and I would never have looked back had not Woody passed away in 2000. After he passed away, the future of Gov't Mule was up in the air and the Allman Brothers had coincidentally fired Dickey Betts." Haynes rejoined the Allman Brothers, which eventually hired guitarist Derek Trucks (the nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks) to be his foil. As an aside, it's interesting to note that four guitarists who have played with the Allman Brothers are considered among the top 100 guitarists of all-time by Rolling Stone magazine. Duane Allman is No. 2; Haynes is No. 23; Betts is No. 58 and Trucks is No. 81. After rejoining the Allman Brothers, Haynes decided to keep Gov't Mule going, but as a quartet instead of a trio. Haynes said he uses completely different guitars and amps when he switches between the two bands. He said he uses absolutely no effects when he plays with the Allman Brothers. He noted that both bands are rooted in jazz, blues, rock, folk and psychedelic music but Gov't Mule pays nodding attention to current musical trends. "Gov't Mule is influenced by music that came after 1969, which is when the Allman Brothers started," he said. Perhaps Haynes' greatest contribution to the legacy of the Allman Brothers is shepherding the band through the recording of "Hittin' the Note," a 2003 album that is best thing the band had done in the studio since "Brothers and Sisters," which was released 30 years earlier. "To have this particular lineup playing music that we created as a band instead of learning to play what someone else had done was important," Haynes said. "I think we're all very proud of that record." He said there are no solid plans to record another studio album but that there is some new material "floating around." Though he doesn't like to look too far ahead, Haynes said he can't foresee any reason why he would leave either the Allman Brothers or Gov't Mule. "At some point, when the Allman Brothers decide they don't want to tour anymore, I'd like to think Gov't Mule will keep going for years to come. They're both things that are very dear to my heart and I'm very fortunate to have in my life."