Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Allman Brothers Band Members & Friends Announce Tour Dates

Les Brers, featuring key Allman Brothers Band members and friends, has announced a new string of concerts for August and September.  They have only performed a handful of dates in 2016 so far, including two benefit shows in their adopted hometown of Macon, GA and at the ABB's Wanee Festival.

The pedigreed group (the name is inspired by the ABB instrumental jam "Les Brers in A-Minor" from the Eat A Peach album) consists of founding ABB drummers Butch Trucks  and Jaimoe, plus longtime members Oteil Burbridge (bass) and Marc Quinones (percussion), former ABB guitarist Jack Pearson, frequent ABB guest Bruce Katz on keyboards, and singer Lamar Williams, Jr. (son of the former ABB bassist). Guitarist Pat Bergeson (Chet Atkins, Lyle Lovett, Suzy Bogguss) completes the lineup.

The new dates begin at the Allman Brothers Band-curated Peach Festival on August 11 in Scranton, PA and run through mid-September (full itinerary below).

In an April interview with Billboard Magazine's Gary Graff, Butch Trucks said, "Nobody is playing music like this, like the Allman Brothers, and there's still a lot of fans out there, so that's what we're doing with Les Brers.  We're taking this stuff and getting loose with it and improvising and really having a good time. And I think once the word gets around there's still a lot of people out there that want to hear this kind of music -- and whether there is or not, we're having a ball playing it, so if we can draw a big crowd that's great, but if we don't we're still gonna play it."

The band will perform an eclectic selection of music familiar to fans of the Allman Brothers Band, whose unique improvisational style, great songwriting and heavy touring made them one of the most acclaimed bands in American rock history.  They are members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, earned a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Of the Macon shows, which benefitted the Allman Brothers Band's Big House Museum, Trucks said, "I knew that Les Brers was going to be good but DAMN!!!! We did stuff I wouldn't have believed. So great to really jam and jam with people who have the guts to leap off the cliff and soar with the eagles or, as happened once last night, hit the ground, pick ourselves up and go somewhere we've never been before."

Here are the confirmed Les Brers tour dates, with more northeast U.S. dates to follow in October:

8/11 - Peach Festival - Scranton, PA
9/7 - Playhouse - Ridgefield, CT
9/8 - Casino Ballroom - Hampton Beach, NH
9/9 - House of Blues - Boston, MA
9/10 - Paramount Theatre - Rutland, VT

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