When Devon Allman and Duane Betts shared the stage in 2017 to honor Gregg Allman’s 70th birthday, just six months after his passing, it was more than a tribute — it was a reunion of two lifelong friends joined by music and legacy.
Their bond dates back to childhood, during the Allman Brothers Band’s famed 20th anniversary tour in 1989. As the sons of band co-founders Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts, they grew up steeped in Southern rock and blues traditions.
“It was so much soul food, you know, it felt good for everybody,” Allman told The Denver Gazette. “It really helped the mourning process to celebrate him, to just dive right into it.”
On Wednesday, the family legacy takes the stage at Denver’s Paramount Theatre with the Allman Betts Family Revival. The star-studded performance will feature musicians spanning blues, Americana, country and rock to celebrate the “timeless catalog of the legendary Allman Brothers Band.”
The twofold chemistry between Allman and Betts — on stage and in songwriting — is about more than family ties.
“Nobody’s daddy is going to make that happen for you,” Allman explained. “It’s whether or not the styles merge, whether or not the textures and tones complement each other’s.”
That chemistry gave rise to the Allman Betts Band in 2019, launching a world tour and a major record deal with BMG.
The Family Revival, featuring Allman, Betts, and their band, will also showcase an array of special guests, including vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Hall. Hall performed at the first Family Revival show at the historic Fillmore West.
“It just built up over the years, and adding more great shows and great artists,” Hall told The Denver Gazette.
Other performers include Larry McCray, Robert Randolph, Lindsay Lou, Anders Osborne and others. The show will also feature three drummers — a nod to the Allman Brothers’ signature of at least two on stage.
“I think the fact that we bring all of our guests really takes it to a new level of entertainment,” Allman said. “People get discovered out here, and people galvanize relationships.”
The performance will journey through two major decades in Allman Brothers history, with one set of 1970s classics and another of 1990s “Renaissance Era” songs.
“It’s a great trip through time. There’s a lot of energy,” Allman said. “If we’re going to get together and do this only three weeks out of the year, I want people to have a holy sht moment.”
Hall sees the Family Revival as his chance to channel the spirit and emotion of Gregg Allman while making each song his own. “Lately I’m singing ‘Whipping Post’ and I can just feel it in the room,” he said. “Yeah, people love that song.”
For Allman, the Allman Brothers Band is more than just a family legacy; it’s a sacred songbook that bridges generations. “I always put them up there in that category of Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin. I consider them in that upper echelon,” Allman said.
But what sets the Allman Brothers apart, he added, is the “haunting” quality of their music. Songs like “Melissa,” “Midnight Rider” and “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” leave an enduring mark.
“It’s not an earworm kind of catchy song. It’s a ‘make your hairs stand up on the back of your neck’ kind of way,” he said. “That’s the one thing that I’ll always say about the Allman Brothers catalog and why it stands on its own — and why it stacks up with all the other great ones.”
Consequently, Allman said, he and Betts view the Family Revival as both tribute and responsibility.
“Our dads are no longer with us, so there is a responsibility there to keep the music being made,” Allman said. “We are custodians of that songbook. We’re here to take care of it and to foster its being pushed into the next year and into the next year and the next year.”
Despite thriving solo careers of their own, three weeks of performing Allman Brothers classics are a unique experience. “We put out our own records. But, man, this music is special. The fan base is special,” Allman said. “Take three weeks out of the year and play only this music with our friends — it’s an honor.”
For Hall, it’s also a way to commemorate the start of his own music career as lead singer and harmonica player for the Southern rock band Wet Willie. He credits the Allman Brothers and their first album for inspiring his own band to grab their gear and drive to Macon, Georgia, in 1970.
“We decided that’s something we want to be around,” he recalled. “The fact that I toured with and knew Gregg and Dickey and had that little band with Dickey (Betts, Hall, Leavell and Trucks) — I’m just happy to be a part of this and to get up there and respect and pass on that music.”
Allman, too, had joined his dad’s band on stage many times.
“They always felt like the Jedi Council to me,” he joked, reflecting on playing alongside his father, as well as lead guitarists Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes. “I really felt like I did a concentrated learning session. This five-minute song was like worth six months of, you know, hashing things out on my own.”
While the Allman Betts Family Revival celebrates the legacy of the Allman Brothers Band, it also highlights its multigenerational dynamic — exemplified by lead guitarist Derek Trucks, the nephew of the band’s late drummer, Butch Trucks.
Now, both Allman’s and Hall’s sons will join their fathers on keyboards during the tour. “It just shows how you can pass the baton,” Hall said.
“We love our family, and I think it shows,” Allman reflected. “If we can make a 65-year-old man feel like he’s 22 again, mission accomplished. It’s really about the fans’ connection to the songbook. That’s ultimately what it’s about.”
