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Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Inc. SUNDAY TELEGRAM (Massachusetts) October 12, 2003 Sunday HEADLINE: Back to the band; Warren Hayes reinvents Gov't Mule BYLINE: Scott McLennan After a couple years of being a history student, guitarist Warren Haynes is now ready to tackle the future. ''I'm excited about being in a band again,'' said Haynes, who is retooling his group Gov't Mule for a second act. Not that Haynes has been idle since the first incarnation of Gov't Mule was halted by the death of founding-member bass player Allen Woody in 2000. In fact, the guitarist has probably never been busier. He rejoined the Allman Brothers Band, kept his seat in the Phil Lesh and Friends ensemble and turned Gov't Mule into an all-star supergroup that cranked out a couple of fine CDs and mounted an extraordinary concert this past spring in New Orleans. While all that activity accented Haynes' incomparable playing skills, the guitarist said it is ''liberating to focus on being in this band again.'' Haynes and Gov't Mule drummer Matt Abts recently welcomed bass player Andy Hess into the fold as the full-time replacement for Woody. Hess was a member of the Black Crowes' final lineup. Gov't Mule also brought in keyboard player Danny Louis to the combo that had long been a trio. Haynes said the sound is broader, funkier and even more intricate. Fans can judge for themselves when Gov't Mule's ''rebirth'' tour arrives to the Orpheum Theater in Boston on Friday. Black Crowes singer Chris Robinson and his band, New Earth Mud, are opening the show, and odds are good both groups will be collaborating at some point in the evening. CHEMISTRY ''Andy really fits so well both musically and in terms of chemistry. Chemistry is what makes a band a unit,'' said Haynes. During the making of the two ''Deep End'' CDs, each of which featured numerous guest artists on bass, some participants knew they were taking part in an open audition. While everyone who played on the projects was technically great, Haynes said the search for a full-timer meant looking for someone who also had the personality to handle Gov't Mule's challenging ride. Since its inception in 1994, while Haynes and Woody were in the Allman Brothers Band, Gov't Mule staked a claim for being musically out there. The band came out of the box with a sound that was equal parts rich and raw, something that was steeped in tradition but nonetheless progressive. Some tunes were impossibly dense, heavy and long while others were frenetically pliant (nothing is ever comparatively short). Attending a Gov't Mule concert presented the possibilities of hearing anything from Black Sabbath's ''War Pigs'' to Mongo Santamaria's ''Afro Blues'' (two songs Gov't Mule included on one of its live albums). In 1997 Haynes and Woody broke from the Allmans to focus all their energies with Abts on Gov't Mule. The band's music pulled a healthy cult following, but before it really broke into mainstream consciousness, Woody died shortly after the release of the album ''Life Before Insanity.'' A MASSIVE SOUND Abts- a drummer on a par with Ginger Baker and Mitch Mitchell when it comes to holding together a small combo with a massive sound- and Haynes kept alive the Gov't Mule name with a couple tours featuring guest artists (Widespread Panic's Dave Schools joined Gov't Mule for its last Worcester show staged in early 2002), and the duo crafted the ''Deep End'' projects. The ''Deep End'' discs were celebrations of the groove, as legendary bass players such as Jack Casady, Jack Bruce, Chris Squire, George Porter Jr., Jason Newsted, Les Claypool, Phil Lesh, Mike Gordon, John Entwistle, Bootsy Collins, Flea and Larry Graham recorded tracks for the projects. On Tuesday, Gov't Mule released ''The Deepest End,'' a CD-DVD documentation of Gov't Mule's May 3 concert at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans. Many of the guest bassists from the recording projects sat in with the band. ''The DVD is great because it captures the whole scene at the Saenger. A lot of those people were meeting each other for the first time, and they all had so much respect for each others' work. It was huge to soak up that vibe. It was an occasion that will stand out in my mind forever,'' Haynes said. The concert captured on ''The Deepest End'' completes the process by which Gov't Mule mourned the death and celebrated the life of Woody. Looking ahead, Haynes sees Gov't Mule getting back to its core mission of creating something sturdy in a world that too often celebrates the gaudy. ''I know we have a great challenge ahead, but for me it's what I've done my whole life,'' Hayenes said. The guitarist readily conceded that Gov't Mule's blues-rock fusion, broad dynamics and propensity for jamming are the sorts of attributes that don't translate into broad popular appeal. ''But I think enough people feel the same as me. Somewhere along the line the thing about musicians changed. Instead of wanting to be great at their craft, too many wanted to become famous,'' Haynes said. Haynes certainly could ride a wave of popularity all the way to the bank by simply recasting old hits by the Allmans or the Grateful Dead (the staple of Lesh's concerts), and occasionally penning songs for others (Haynes wrote Garth Brooks' 1991 hit ''Two of a Kind'' and his ''Soulshine'' did wonders for the Allmans in the '90s). But through his work and in conversation, Haynes is clearly set on pushing his talents to places only the most stouthearted and stubborn will venture. Scott McLennan can be reached at tgmusic1@yahoo.com.