Warren Haynes

Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American musician, singer and songwriter.

He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule.

Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey Betts Band.

Haynes also is known for his associations with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead, including touring with Phil Lesh and Friends and the Dead.

In addition, Haynes founded and manages Evil Teen Records.

Haynes spent his formative years in Asheville, North Carolina, where he was born, and lived with his two older brothers and his father, Edward Haynes.

He began playing guitar at age 11.

His primary guitar is a Gibson Les Paul '58 Reissue electric guitar.

His choice of a '58 is most likely because of Duane Allman's famed '58 Les Paul and the tone he achieved with that, rather than the more commonly used '59 Les Paul model, popularized by guitarists such as Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.

Haynes has referred to himself as a "Gibson man", often playing Gibson Firebird and Gibson ES-335 models as well as the Les Paul models.

This was acknowledged by the American guitar maker Gibson which has included a limited edition Warren Haynes signature Les Paul in its product line; built according to Haynes' specifications and modeled on his '58 Les Paul.

Haynes is married to Stefani Scamardo, a DJ for Sirius Radio and the long-time manager of Gov't Mule.

Warren Haynes joined David Allan Coe's touring and recording band in 1980 when he was 20 years old.

He remained with Coe's band for four years.

Shortly after, Haynes got a gig with The Nighthawks, while continuing to play with local musicians and doing session guitar and vocal work.

One notable achievement of this period is a song he co-wrote with Dennis Robbins and Bobby Boyd that would later be cut by country musician Garth Brooks, titled "Two of a Kind, Workin' on a Full House", which was released on the album No Fences and remained the number 1 single on Billboard's Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart for twenty weeks.

Around 1987, Haynes got a call to perform backup vocals on a studio album by Dickey Betts, along with Dennis Robbins.

Betts, who had concentrated on his solo career following the breakup of The Allman Brothers Band, decided to add Haynes to his band as his guitarist after the session.

With Matt Abts on drums and Johnny Neel on keyboards, the now formed Dickey Betts Band released the 1988 album Pattern Disruptive.

In the same year, Haynes also co-wrote the title track for Gregg Allman's solo album Just Before the Bullets Fly.

In 1989, The Allman Brothers Band decided to reunite, and Betts recruited Haynes to join the band.

Also joining were Neel on keyboards and Allen Woody on bass guitar.

Haynes has since played on four well-received studio albums, including the gold certified Where It All Begins (1994).

It was that same year when Haynes played to his largest audience ever with the Allman Brothers at Woodstock '94.

In 1994, Haynes formed Gov't Mule with Abts and Woody.

Haynes and Woody left the group in March 1997 to focus solely on their side project Gov't Mule.

Haynes and Woody initially split time between Gov't Mule and The Allman Brothers Band, but after The Allman Brothers' last show of their 1997 run at New York's Beacon Theatre on March 26, 1997, both left the band to focus on Gov't Mule full-time.

They released three albums and became known for their powerful live performances.

Some of these performances have been released as official live albums (Live at Roseland Ballroom, Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends and Mulennium; the latter two capture consecutive New Year's Eve shows).

Shortly after Woody's untimely death on August 26, 2000, Haynes began appearing with The Allman Brothers Band again alongside young guitar prodigy Derek Trucks.

He returned to the band as a full-time member shortly thereafter.

On August 26, 2000, Allen Woody died unexpectedly.

Following his death, a decision was made to finish the tour acoustically as the "Smile at Half-Mast" tour.

Gov't Mule released two studio albums (The Deep End, Volume 1 and The Deep End, Volume 2) and a live album/DVD (The Deepest End, Live in Concert) featuring many of Woody's favorite bass players.

In 2003, Andy Hess (bass) and Danny Louis (keyboard/organ) were added as permanent members to the group.

Late the following year, this lineup released their first studio effort, Deja Voodoo, which later included an EP of newly recorded material titled Mo Voodoo.

In a 2006 interview with Gibson.com's Backstage Pass Haynes explains his early influences:

"When I first started – chronologically speaking – Hendrix and Clapton and Johnny Winter were the first three people I got turned on to. That was the Cream era of Clapton. Then eventually, I heard the Allman Brothers and everybody else from that era that I stole something from (laughs). Of course, I would read interviews with all these people and find out who they listened to. And they all listened to B.B. King and Freddie King and Albert King and Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters and Elmore James, so I would go back and discover that stuff."

In 2011, they adopted a son, Hudson.

On January 8, 2014, Haynes and Trucks jointly announced their respective plans to leave the ABB by the end of 2014, following the conclusion of the band's celebration of its 45th anniversary, with the band subsequently announcing that they would disband at the same time.