Audio By Carbonatix
It’s always been easy to mistake Gov’t Mule for a travel-size version of the Allman Brothers Band. Formed in 1994 by ABB regulars Warren Haynes and Allen Woody, Gov’t Mule featured some of the same personnel as its larger, more famous cousin and hails from the same Southern blues-rock sound mass. The band also quickly adopted one of ABB’s more notorious traits: a penchant for deadly mishap. In 2000, just after the triumphant release of the band’s Life Before Insanity album, Woody was found dead in his hotel room at the Marriot Courtyard in Queens, the victim of a probable drug overdose. So did Gov’t Mule fold? Hell, no! After all, if the Allmans were able to soldier on after the 1971 motorcycle death of founding guitarist Duane Allman and the 1972 death of bassist Berry Oakley, also by motorcycle, then Gov’t Mule would, indeed, be a poor offshoot if they called it quits after a single untimely exit. So now we find them 10 years later, playing as a four-piece, supporting their latest studio effort, By a Thread, with Allman-esque hairstyles but a bit more hard rock muscle.
