Feature

The Port City is abuzz with anticipation as they gear up for Gov’t Mule’s performance at the Saenger Nov.14, with Donavon Frankenreiter opening. Mule is touring in support of their latest and much-anticipated album “High and Mighty,” which was produced by Warren Haynes himself along with Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson. With “High and Mighty,” Haynes and the boys take on a more philosophical view of life through their music, and Mule fans won’t be disappointed. I recently chatted with Haynes concerning the creation of “High and Mighty.”

SC: Tell me about this “High and Mighty” tour you got going on.

WH: Well, we started out West a few weeks ago and took a short break. Now, we’ll be in Kansas City tomorrow. Then we’re working our way east and south. We’ll be doing a lot of stuff on the East Coast. It’s gonna go till mid December, then we’ll take a break and go back out next year.

SC: I’ve gotta say that you’re one of the busiest men in the business today. I’ve seen you with Gov’t Mule, Allman Brothers Band, Widespread and the list goes on. How do you do it and maintain your sanity?

WH: There’s nothing I’d rather be busy doing than playing music. It’s work, but it’s work that I love.

SC: Tell me a little about the new album.

WH: We’re psyched and really happy with the new album. It’s the second album with the new line-up, and the first one with a new producer. In some ways it was different for us. It’s very much Gov’t Mule. It’s just us exploring some new territories, but at the same time we’re keeping one foot in the tradition.

SC: How did you hook-up with Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson?

WH: We’ve been friends for a long time. We met those guys in ‘95, and we did a few tours together. Big Sugar is a really big band in Canada. When we were in Canada, we would open for them, and when we were in the States, they would open for us. We’ve had a long history together. We’ve been talking about doing a project together for quite some time, but for whatever reason took until now for it to happen. Gordie did an excellent job, and he brought a lot to the table.

SC: You’ve said that you were very improvisational with this album. How did that work out in the studio?

WH: We take the same kind of approach pretty much on every record. We all set up in a little room playing together. We’re not much on the modern approach to recording where people add their instruments one at a time. We’re much more excited about capturing the collective energy. So, even in the less improvisational songs, we’re still taking that sort of approach to playing music and capturing the interplay and chemistry of the band. One of the differences on the new record is that we recorded it at Willie Nelson’s studio in Austin. The room that we set up in was even smaller than normal, which we really enjoyed. It put us close together, and we got a nice, tight sound. It was a very cool working environment, and it translated well to tape.

SC: One thing that I really admire about this album is that some of the lyrics front out the obvious mediocrity of mainstream/popular music. What do you think is the remedy for this? Personally, I’d like to see Clear Channel go under, but what do you think would fix this?

WH: (Laughing) I think it’s up to us to insist on being force-fed commercially driven crap. Even the bands like Gov’t Mule, Widespread Panic and any other bands coming through an underground pipeline, those people discovered that music by putting forth some effort and searching out good music. They’re not being force-fed that music. I think they’re enough listeners out there and real fans of real music that we can keep the integrity-oriented stuff alive. In the long run, I think it will prevail anyway. All the hype-driven music falls by the wayside, and stuff that has a timeless quality seems to stick around. It’s a matter of convincing more and more people that the alternative exists.

SC: There are no real heroes in popular/mainstream music anymore.

WH: Yeah, it’s really tough to digest all the garbage that’s out there. Even if they discover someone who’s really talented, they’re gonna market them the wrong way. It’s up to the artist to kinda do the right thing. We’ve always been musicians who wanted to do this for their entire career. I’d like to be like John Lee Hooker and still be playing when I’m 80 years old. To me, having the notion of having some instantaneous success and going downhill is the wrong outlook.

SC: Speaking of that, “High and Mighty” seems to have this theme of the disillusionment with fame. It’s the whole thing of making it to the top and the top being not all it’s cracked up to be. What inspired this concept?

WH: I feel like I’ve been through a lot in the past few years, and I’ve been able to look back from a whole different perspective than I’ve had before and also look around at different people that are further down the road than myself. People go into any pipe dream thinking it’s going to be one thing. Even if it works out, then it’s never what you thought it was gonna be. There’s many ups and downs in every walk of life, but I tend to write about the ones close to my heart.

SC: Like I said before, you’re a pretty busy man. Are you going to stick with Gov’t Mule for awhile or do you have another project in mind?

WH: I’d really like for Gov’t Mule to continue growing and growing. I’d like to see us recording and performing for years to come.

Stephen Centanni is Lagniappe music editor. Contact him at scentanni@lagniappemobile.com.

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