Allman Betts Band Brings Their Influences, Creativity to P’ville Music Fest
News Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
For those attending this Saturday’s 17th Pleasantville Music Festival, if Main Stage performer The Allman Betts Band conjures up memories of 1970s rock for some, that wouldn’t be off base.
One of the most anticipated acts at this year’s festival, the band’s co-founders are Devon Allman and Duane Betts, sons of Allman Brothers mainstays Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts. Add in five other accomplished band members, including Alex Orbison, the son of singer-songwriter Roy Orbison and one of the group’s two drummers, and bassist Justin Corgan, the son of The Smashing Pumpkins’ Billy Corgan, and you have an impressive ensemble with a pedigree to match.
At one time, the band also included Berry Duane Oakley, the son of the late Allman Brothers Band member of the same name.
Chances are you’ll hear a couple of old Allman Brothers numbers during their set this weekend, but the Allman Betts Band is no cover band making a name for themselves off their dads’ accomplishments. Less than two years after they formed in late 2018, the band released two albums, “Down to the River” and “Bless Your Heart.”
Now they are back touring this summer and they’re having a fun time reconnecting with audiences whether it be at historic theaters throughout the U.S. or at outdoor festivals like on Saturday.
In an interview last week with The Examiner, Devon Allman, the group’s guitarist, described their music as “Americana with teeth,” that surely has some influences from their fathers’ heyday – including the use of two drummers – but they bring much more than that to the stage.
“It’s just a reflection of our record collection, a reflection of our depth of hearing those tunes, and when you’re a music fan – I like thrash metal, but I love 1940s jazz, I love Ethiopian jazz and I love reggae, but I love some ‘80s pop,” Allman said. “So I think that’s a very common thread within the Allman Betts Band, too, is that everybody is quite a listener and a music fan.”
Allman credits the strong ensemble cast for a lot of their sound. Alongside himself, Betts, Orbison and Corgan, there’s John Lum, a multi-genre drummer who’s been with the group from the start, and Allman called “the most consummate musician that I’ve ever worked with.” John Ginty is on keyboards – “one of the best Hammond B3 (organ) players” – and Johnny Stachela, one of the most prolific slide guitarists in the game today.
For Allman, his love affair of music started at three years old, listening to a wide range of music, a lot of it from his mother’s collection. The radio was also a major influence. He first took up violin, but realized at about 13 years old the guitar was a sexier instrument that would more easily attract girls.
In 1989, while in high school, he went on an Allman Brothers reunion tour, where Betts joined his father on the road as well and they became fast friends, even though Duane was still in middle school at the time.
“Our families make music, we just always considered each other family,” said Allman, who’s also a songwriter and record producer. “So it was kind of a matter of time before we kind of synced up our energies and our abilities to do a fling together. The timing was finally right and it felt very second nature, because like I said, we’re like family. (But) the thing that you don’t know is whether you will have chemistry, true chemistry, and we did.”
Allman said that at least 75 percent of the band’s live performances consist of their original music, but they make sure to leave a portion of the set to create some “flashback moments” that helps audiences harken back to a simpler time and place.
“What we’ve always tried to do is a really delicate balance between playing our music and tipping our hats to our dads because they’re not out there to do it for themselves,” Allman said. “My dad’s gone; Dickey (Betts) is retired.”
The Allman Betts Band is scheduled to be the festival’s penultimate set on the Main Stage.
For more information about the band, visit www.allmanbettsband.com.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
