Guest Book

Great review by Post-Dispatch. And here's another interesting piece by the same paper. By Kevin C. Johnson POST-DISPATCH POP MUSIC CRITIC Any interview with singer-guitarist Devon Allman comes with three inevitable questions: What's it like being the son of Southern rock legend Gregg Allman; has he ever met Cher, who was married to his father; and why does he live in St. Louis? Let's take the last one first. Raised by his mother in Corpus Christi, Texas, Allman moved to St. Louis in the late '80s because his stepfather was a pilot for TWA, which was based here. After high school, Allman lived in Nashville and Memphis, Tenn., and spent time on the road with the Allman Brothers Band before returning to St. Louis. Today, he lives in St. Charles with his wife, Susie, and 5-year-old son Orion. "I can't imagine having my family anywhere else," says Allman, 30. "Family has to come first, though I love to make music." Allman, who was in the '90s band Dark Horses, formed Honeytribe in 2000, conceiving it as a supergroup of sorts of players from different area acts that together created a genre-blending sound. The band dissolved in 2001 before reuniting earlier this year with a streamlined version featuring the original core: guitarist David G. Kalz, bassist George Potsos, keyboardist Jack Kirkner and drummer Marko. Honeytribe is working on its first CD, which Allman describes as timeless. "Now that Honeytribe is back together, we're pushing for this to be a 20-year career," he says. Allman says he finally came to terms with accepting his musical heritage. "For so many years, I was just trying to sound anything (but like) the Brothers. I had a hard time with that. But it's taken my maturing to realize it 's a part of me," Allman says. "The fact of the matter is, when I open my mouth and sing from the heart, I sound like my old man. I'm finally OK with that." We caught up with Allman a few days before his band's opening gig for the Allman Brothers Band at UMB Bank Pavilion, scheduled for Friday night. Q. How has your father influenced you? A. I've been most interested in what got him into music. Here was my father, this white kid from Florida . . . going to the wrong side of the tracks, peeking in juke joints with blues bands. That's powerful. What led him to that? These people are baring their souls in the music. That completely resonated with me. He inspired me in other ways. The guy has completely cleaned his act up. He's been clean and sober for so many years. In my eyes, he's the comeback of the century. I used to worry daily about the guy. Now's he's my biggest hero. Q. What's it like going out on the road with your father? A. We would go out the day after Christmas and that was our thing. It's just a time for us to hang out. He might come jam with us or I might jam with him. And his band treats us good." Q. Would you ever consider being a part of the Allman Brothers Band? Is that in the plan? A. I would never say never. Is it a dream of mine to be in that band? I don't know. But it is a dream to make sure the music lives on, so there's probably a fine line there. And if the sons of the other Brothers (who are mostly musicians as well) inherited the music and the fans, it would be an unprecentended thing in rock history. If they retired in five years, that would be awesome. I would like to be a part of that, not for my own gain but to keep the music history alive." Q. Ever meet Jakob Dylan or Sean Lennon? A. No, but I have a lot of friends in Los Angeles who are second generation. I know Roy Orbison's boy, all the Allman Brothers' kids, and the guys from the Doors' kids. There's a kinship. We go out and drink beers and play guitars. It's a low-key thing. I was hanging out with Elijah Blue (Devon's half brother), Orbison's son, and Robby Krieger's kids at a concert, and they asked Elijah and I to jam together, which we'd never done on stage. They introduced us as 'Ladies and gentlemen, the Allman Brothers.'" Q. OK, have you ever met Cher? A. I've stayed in her home. She's an amazing lady. When I tell people that, they're like, 'Yeah, sure.' She's more of my brother's mom than she is, 'Oh my God, it's Cher.' I've sat in her kitchen and had coffee. She's a super, down-to-earth woman.