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Hank Azaria says that learning to sing Bruce Springsteen songs to front his EZ Street Band is “by far the hardest I’ve worked to do any vocal for anything,” even if it is “a genuine joy” for the bona fide Boss fan.
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Still, that’s saying something for a guy who’s won six Primetime Emmy Awards (four of them for voicing numerous characters on The Simpsons, including Moe Szyslak and Chief Wiggum) and has a lengthy resume of film, television, theater and video game roles.
Nevertheless, Azaria assures Billboard that he’s “extremely all-in” on the EZ Street Band. The band hits New York City’s Brooklyn Bowl on Nov. 8 and heads to the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, N.J., on Nov. 15, with more dates to come through 2025. He’s using proceeds from the shows to fund his 4 Through 9 Foundation for social justice, education and recovery causes.
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“I tell stories about myself, as Bruce, on the night,” says Azaria via Zoom, adopting Springsteen’s voice with an earnest, intense expression on his face. “Some of them are what a song means to me. Some of them are just kind of repeating the way Bruce introduced the songs. Some of them are the back stories of how the songs were written that I found fascinating. It creates this evening of theater, of trying to be the best Springsteen band we can be and trying to mimic his vocal and the E Street Band sound as closely as we can. But I’ve never worked harder to prepare for any role I’ve ever done than I did for this.”
Azaria, who’s played a handful of EZ Street Band shows so far — starting with his 60th birthday party at City Winery in New York in April — is hoping there will be an audience for his take on Springsteen. And United Talent Agency, which is booking the shows, is sure of it. “It’s a masterclass of homage,” says UTA’s Ryan Edmundson. “Hank and the band’s devotion to their craft is evident on stage. Their faithful portrayal of the real-life icon Bruce Springsteen honors his legacy in a way we have never seen before. We’re thrilled to introduce the band’s unique artistry to larger audiences.” Glee veteran Michael Novick is managing Azaria’s EZ Street concerns, while his publicist, Seth Cohen, spent nearly a decade as Springsteen’s day-to-day representative with Shorefire Media.
Azaria, who’s met Springsteen twice over the years (more on that later), also received some tacit approval from the man himself.
“A few weeks ago, I got a text from a buddy of mine who’s a dentist in New York,” he says. “He says, ‘Please, please, please, ASAP, send me your favorite video of your band.’ I sent him a video of us doing ‘Thunder Road.’ Later that night he calls me and said Patti Scialfa [Springsteen’s wife and an E Street Band member] was in my dentist chair. I’m like, ‘Omigod, if I’d have known that I assure you I wouldn’t have sent the video.’
“He said he played it for Patti and apparently she loved it. And later that night I got another text saying Patti played it for Bruce and they loved it. They took it for how it’s meant, which was a loving tribute.”
Springsteen and company have an off night when Azaria and the EZ Street Band play the Stone Pony, by the way. But the actor doesn’t need more to get him excited about that particular show. “I can’t wait — it is the mothership,” he says. “Look, I think what carries me through any kind of nerves is this so genuinely comes from this joy of sharing this. I’ve earned my stripes as a Bruce fan.”
Growin’ Up
That devotion dates back to Azaria’s youth, including seeing Springsteen for the first time when The River tour played New York’s Madison Square Garden during 1980. “When I grew up, he was like an uncle — that’s how much I connected to him,” Azaria remembers. “His music and his (in-concert) talks got me through some very hard times as a teenager. I’d say he, almost more than anybody else, encouraged me to try to be a creative person. That was his message to me, for real.”
Azaria got to tell Springsteen about that, too, although neither meeting with Springsteen went quite as he hoped or planned.
While playing “Growin’ Up” during the EZ Street Band shows, Azaria tells the story of when Springsteen came backstage to see him during his Tony Award-nominated run in Monty Python’s Spamalot on Broadway.
“There’s a knock on my door and Bruce is standing there, alone,” Azaria recalls. “I almost had a heart attack. I absolutely lost my mind, to a point. He was very sweet and connected and present. He kinda gave me his review of the show, which he really enjoyed, in detail. We chatted long enough for me to tell him what his music meant to be, but it came out about nine octaves higher than my regular voice and very rushed, kind of screaming at him, as a fan boy. He was very sweet about it, but it was ridiculous.”
The same thing happened, he says, when he attended a Springsteen on Broadway performance and was part of the backstage meet and greet. “Before he could even say hello I started (makes babbling noises). He was very sweet again but kinda patted me on the shoulder and got out of there, and I don’t blame him. My wife just turned to me and said, ‘What is wrong with you?!’ My friend calls it Bruce Juice. It kind of overtakes you.”
Born to Run
The inspiration for the EZ Street Band, Azaria says, was his impending 60th birthday, which “bothered me a bit.” He came up with the idea as “a distraction,” working with keyboardist Adam Kromelow, his son’s former piano teacher, as musical director and studying a wealth of live recordings to familiarize himself with Springsteen’s vocal mannerisms and nuances. “I find that raspy sound he has easier to imitate, and that’s what I’ve always imitated, but (Springsteen) has a lot more than that,” notes Azaria, whose natural singing voice is deeper than Springsteen’s. After employing his well-practiced “homegrown mimicry process” he bought in vocal coach (the EZ Street Band’s Hannah Juliano) to bring him closer to the mark.
“I’m such a singing neophyte that I didn’t realize that these songs were unattainable for me,” acknowledges Azaria, who was had to overcome an anxiety that almost scotched the birthday party performance — where E Street Band drummer Max Weinberg joined the group for a couple of songs. “I started out four or five steps below Bruce; I’ve now kind of, through singing training and practice, worked up to almost at his key, just a step or two below. And the closer you are to his key the more authentic you sound. It’s been a very steep learning curve.”
With the eight-member EZ Street Band, however, he’s found some kindred spirits.
“They are kids in this band,” Azaria says. “They didn’t grow up with this music; only the bass player (Jeff Koch) knew any of it ’cause his dad was a huge fan. They’re all professional musicians, and now they do play it as if they did grow up with it ’cause they’re so good. And one of the joys of this is how much they’re discovering Bruce’s music, and they love it now. They love playing it even more than hearing it. They report to me as musicians how much fun these songs are to play.”
Since the birthday party Azaria and the EZ Streeters have also performed outside of a New York Mets game at CitiField and also at (Le) Poisson Rouge in New York. The repertoire is growing: “Darkness on the Edge of Town,” “Candy’s Room,” “The Price You Pay” and “Jersey Girl” are slated to be played this month, and Azaria voices a desire to take on “The River” and “Atlantic City.” But don’t expect to see the EZ Street Band match the multi-hour extravaganzas that are Springsteen and the E Street Band’s routine.
“We’ll never get there, I promise you that,” Azaria says with a laugh. “An hour 20 (minutes), an hour 30. We’ll never get to two and a half (hours), I don’t think. But it’s getting better and better, and it’s such a joy. People ask me, ‘Do you feel like a rock star up there? Are you living out a rock star fantasy?’ On a certain level I am, but what I much more feel like is what I am, which is a lucky Bruce fan who’s gotten to go up there and share his version of Bruce love with everybody else — with the ability to mimic it better than most have.”
Bruce Springsteen reacted to Tuesday’s presidential election results in the best way he knows how: by singing a song about freedom, hope, love and loss. “This is a fighting prayer for my country,” Springsteen told the crowd at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto as he and the E Street Band launched into the 2007 song “Long Walk Home” from 2007’s Magic album.
With that, the band tore into the mid-tempo rocker whose lyrics felt especially timely in light of Springsteen’s vocal, emphatic support of Vice President Kamala Harris’ losing campaign against former and now future President Donald Trump. “Last night I stood at your doorstep/ Trying to figure out what went wrong,” he sang on the song with the poignant refrain: “It’s gonna be a long walk home/ Hey pretty darling, don’t wait up for me/ Gonna be a long walk home.”
Though he didn’t comment further on the relevance of the song’s themes, their plainspoken poetry did the talking for him. “My father said ‘Son, we’re lucky in this town/ It’s a beautiful place to be born/ It just wraps its arms around you/ Nobody crowds you and nobody goes it alone,’” he sang, followed by another verse layered with Springsteen’s signature dream of a better tomorrow and faith in the resilience of the American spirit: “Your flag flyin’ over the courthouse/ Means certain things are set in stone/ Who we are, what we’ll do and what we won’t.”
Springsteen had been all-in for Harris, throwing his weight behind the 11th-hour candidacy by filming the moving “Hope and Dreams” campaign video in which he said, “This election is about a group of folks who want to fundamentally undermine our American way of life. Donald Trump does not understand this country, its history, or what it means to be deeply American. I want a president who reveres the Constitution, who wants to protect and guide our great democracy, who believes in the rule of law and the peaceful transfer of power, who will fight for women’s rights and a woman’s right to choose, and who wants to create a middle class economy that serves all our citizens.”
The comments came from an Oct. 28 Harris rally where Springsteen shared the stage with John Legend and former President Barack Obama. That appearance in Philadelphia came just days after The Boss joined a Harris rally in Georgia, where he told supporters that she was “running to be the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump is running to be an American tyrant.”
Springsteen was one of dozens of musicians, actors and other artists who threw in with the Harris campaign’s attempt to stop twice impeached Trump from being just the second man to serve non-consecutive White House terms, as well as the first convicted felon to ascend to the nation’s highest office.
Watch a fan video of the performance here.
Oasis continue to expand their anticipated 2025 reunion tour. The Gallagher brothers announced the latest dates on their long-awaited get together on Tuesday (Nov. 5), adding five South American stadium shows for next fall. Singer Liam and guitarist/songwriter Noel Gallagher will touch down in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Nov. 15 for the first of two […]
Barry Keoghan stars in the music video for Fontaines D.C.’s new single “Bug,” which was directed by Andrea Arnold. It follows the Irish actor’s music video debut for Sabrina Carpenter’s Billboard Hot 100-topping hit “Please Please Please” earlier this year.
The track is the fifth single to be released from Fontaines D.C.’s fourth LP, Romance, which arrived in August via XL Recordings. The accompanying clip includes footage from Arnold’s soon-to-be-released film, Bird, which also stars Franz Rogowski and the Dublin band’s own Carlos O’Connell, among others.
Speaking about the video, which has been billed as a “short form reimagination” of Bird, O’Connell said in a press release, “Andrea Arnold was kind enough to cut up a sequence to our tune ‘Bug’ featuring Barry Keoghan playing the character Bug in her new movie Bird.”
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He added: “In my eyes, the character Bug, the tattoo ‘Bug’s Life,’ Andrea’s essential and romantic worlds, and the line ‘Changed my name to “Promise you, Yea”,’ when put all together make convincing needless and conviction undeniable. Big thanks to Andrea Arnold for letting us in so close to her visionary universe. She’ll be remembered how we remember Bacon or Goya.”
Bird marks the fifth feature-length film from the Academy Award and BAFTA-winning director Arnold, whose past work includes credits on HBO’s Big Little Lies and 2016’s American Honey. The film also stars Nykiya Adams and newcomer Jason Buda, and is slated for release on Nov 8. Fontaines D.C.’s music will feature prominently in its soundtrack, alongside tracks from Coldplay, Blur and The Verve.
“I’ve loved the Fontaines since I first heard them. Some music just sits in your bones like it always belonged, like you know it already, like it’s part of you,” explained Arnold in the release. “It’s why I asked to use ‘Too Real’ and ‘A Hero’s Death’ for my Bird film. Their music felt like it belonged there, in my world.”
Upon the release of Romance, Fontaines D.C. achieved its fourth consecutive top 10 studio album on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, while it landed at No. 97 in the U.S. – their highest entry to date on the Billboard 200. The band are currently on tour across Europe in support of the record, and will head to Japan, Australia, South America and North America in early 2025.
Speaking to Billboard earlier this year, frontman Grian Chatten discussed the creative leap the band took on Romance, which expands its sound to include elements of nu-metal, pop and string-laden ballads. “I think change was just generally a very enticing thing for us. We wanted to really indulge in something new, and we didn’t want to risk it being only a half-step,” he said. “We always think that we’re pushing the boat out, or taking some new turn, with each record. And I think probably the reality is that it was a lot less of a turn than we thought. But this time, I feel good about it being a full f–kin’ turn.”
Watch the music video for “Bug” below:
Lady Gaga gave her closing argument for electing Kamala Harris President on Monday night (Nov. 4) at an epic rally for the Vice President who is vying to become the nation’s first female commander-in-chief. The singer took the stage in Philadelphia on the eve of Tuesday’s (Nov. 5) election day with a crucial message about the nation’s future and a poignant song choice to drive that point home.
“For more than half of this country’s life, women didn’t have a voice,” Gaga, seat at a piano, said after performing Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” in her introductory performance before Harris took the stage just before midnight at the star-studded last rally of her historic campaign. “Yet we raised children. We held our families together. We supported men as they made the decisions. But tomorrow, women will be a part of making this decision,” Gaga continued at the event where she later performed her hit “Edge of Glory” for the 30,000 supporters gathered in the cold at the base of the famous Rocky steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
“Today I am holding in my heart all the tough, tenacious women who made me who I am. I cast my vote for someone who will be a president for all Americans,” Gaga said while speaking to voters in the all-important swing state that could hold the key to victory for Harris — or for rival Donald Trump. “And now, Pennsylvania, it’s your turn. The country is depending on you. So tomorrow make sure all your voices are heard. Come on, let’s go!” she added before introducing Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff.
The “Vote For Freedom” event hosted by DJ Cassidy — who famously also was behind the decks for the musical DNC roll call this summer — also included the Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am performing his new song for Harris, “YES SHE CAN,” as the Democratic candidate asked the gathered crowd, “Are we ready to vote? Are we ready to win?” The roster of guests stumping for Harris also included DJ Jazzy Jeff, Fat Joe and Oprah Winfrey, as well as Ricky Martin, Jazmine Sullivan, Andra Day, DJ D-Nice, the Roots, while twice impeached former President Trump made his final pitch in Pittsburgh.
Sullivan made it personal during a cover of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On,” telling the crowd, “they’re trying to take away our reproductive freedom. What’ goin’ right now?” In the wake of announcing his support for Harris after a recent Trump rally in New York where a warm-up comedian referred to Puerto Rico as a “floating island of garbage,” P.R. native Martin fronted a big band for a run through his signature song “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” He also had a poignant message for voters: “Kamala Harris is for us,” he said. “She’s for unity, she’s for all Americans.”
Martin was introduced by Fat Joe, who said he came to represent Puerto Ricans as well. “Kamala Harris is for us. She’s for unity, she’s for all Americans – Black, white, big, small, Latino, you name it,” he said. “She’s for us. One thing I won’t do is sell my soul for anybody. If I’m out here telling you she’s the one, it’s because I know she’s the one.”
With parallel satellite gatherings in the swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, Nevada, Arizona and N. Carolina, the hourslong livestream also had Harris jumping over to Pittsburgh, where Katy Perry played a set of hits, while James Taylor entertained the crowd in Raleigh, N.C. with, naturally, “Carolina On My Mind” as well as “Something in the Way She Moves”; Fantasia, Sugarland and Remi Wolf were also on hand in Raleigh. Jon Bon Jovi beamed in from Michigan to perform the Bon Jovi classic “Living on a Prayer” with The War and Treaty, as well as teaming up for their new song, “The People’s House.”
In addition, 2 Chainz, Keyshia Cole, Anthony Hamilton and Ciara took the stage in Atlanta.
Christina Aguilera was the headliner at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas — along with regional Mexican band Los Tigres Del Norte and dance duo Sofi Tukker — telling the crowd, “Tonight, I’m here in honor of the people who have fought to give us the privilege to be heard. Let’s raise our voices and vote for freedom,” before performing her 2002 single “Fighter,” according to USA Today. Xtina also gave the crowd her power ballad “Beautiful” and her Pitbull collab, “Feel This Moment.”
Before exiting to her campaign’s theme song, Beyoncé’s “Freedom,” Harris told the enthusiastic crowd, “We started this fight 107 days ago. And it has not been a fight against something, but a fight for something. It’s about our love for our country, and our faith in a future that we will build together with energy and joy … Generations of Americans have led the fight for freedom. And now the baton is in our hands.”
Watch highlights from Monday night’s events here and check out footage of Gaga’s “Edge of Glory” at Harris campaign event below, as well as performances from Aguilera and Perry.
.@ladygaga endorses Kamala Harris: “Today, I’m holding in my heart all the tough, tenacious women who made me who I am. I cast my vote for someone who will be a president for all Americans. Tomorrow, let’s make sure all your voices are heard” pic.twitter.com/utTBhpIHIU— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) November 5, 2024
.@KatyPerry endorses Kamala Harris: “Four years ago, I became a mother… She is the reason I am voting for Kamala Harris. I know she will protect my daughter’s future and your children’s future” pic.twitter.com/P0hVeUnUuz— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) November 5, 2024
Miami and New Jersey come together as global superstar Pitbull joins forces with Bon Jovi again for a new remix of the band’s classic “It’s My Life,” Billboard Español can announce. The collaboration, titled “Now Or Never,” will be released on Nov. 14, the same day of the 2024 Latin Grammys. Explore See latest videos, […]
As marketing strategies go, The Cure aligning their long-awaited comeback record with the spookiest week of the year is proving to be a devilishly wicked one. In the build-up to the Friday (Nov. 1) release of Songs of a Lost World, the group’s first LP in 16 years, the band played an intimate set in London for the BBC, which aired on Halloween Eve on TV and radio. Their release day show at east London’s Troxy on Friday evening featured a performance of the new album in full and a further amount of greatest hits and fan favorites.
The goth icons’ show at the stunning Art deco building was not adorned with candle-lit pumpkins and fake spiders, but it was fittingly dark and ghoulish. The wares on the merch table came in one color only: black.
Even frontman Robert Smith knew he ought to cut through the gloom on a day of celebration like this. Prior to the show’s start and during the intermission, sound effects of a deluge of rain played out on the PA. “I’m begging you to not have the thunderclap just before we come back on stage again,” he joked with his team during one their return to stage following an intermission.
The 16-year wait since 2008’s 4:13 Dream has been the longest in the band’s history, but this has not been an entirely dormant period. The group have toured extensively, headlined Glastonbury Festival in 2019 and embarked on an accompanying promotional tour — notably their Shows of a Lost World run in 2023 — before the album was completed and released. There was even time for collaborations with Chvrches and Gorillaz, and a scrap with Ticketmaster (which our Bob won.)
The tune largely remains the same, but Songs of a Lost World confronts new challenges. Smith has said the songs on this record were influenced by the death of his brother and the collective loss through the pandemic. Keyboardist Roger O’Donnell was diagnosed with cancer, and bassist Simon Gallup, the longest-tenured member after Smith, briefly left the band in 2021 saying he was “fed up of betrayal” before returning months later. Life is fragile, but The Cure’s presence has remained a constant, even as they approach their 50th anniversary in 2028.
The record has been heavily delayed by Smith’s own admission. He is a perfectionist, but the best kind: everything that comes out is exact and impactful. Words are not wasted, nor are the enormity of the productions that envelope them. It’s been worth the wait.
This momentous release day show – which was live-streamed on YouTube – proved to be a celebration of a band still very much at the top of their game, and may go down as one of their most memorable of their storied career.
A Brooding Opener
The pioneering alternative band’s 14th album is an unapologetically gloomy meditation on mortality. Read Billboard’s preliminary ranking and review.
As I Lay Dying’s longtime guitarist Phil Sgrosso has departed the San Diego metalcore band, just days after guitarist Ken Susi, bassist Ryan Neff and drummer Nick Pierce also announced their exit.
The guitarist took to social media to share a statement detailing why he’s choosing to split from As I Lay Dying, leaving just controversial frontman Tim Lambesis in the lineup. Lambesis spent nearly three years in prison after he was arrested for soliciting an undercover agent to murder his then-wife, Meggan Lambesis. Tim gave the agent $1,000 in cash and instructions on how to kill her, including her photo, address, security-gate code and dates he would be with their children to give him an alibi, prosecutors said.
“Thank you for your patience as I took time to gather my thoughts before speaking on the current state of As I Lay Dying,” Grosso began his statement. “With recent events, including the departure of band members and the cancellation of our European tour ahead of a new album release, it’s clear we’re in a difficult and serious situation.”
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He added the the band “no longer offers a healthy or safe environment for anyone involved—whether creatively, personally, or professionally,” and after “witnessing some concerning patterns of behavior,” Grosso “realized that I can no longer, in good conscience, enable further actions that could negatively affect anyone working within this space.”
He continued, “For these reasons, I feel it’s in my best interest to completely distance myself, both creatively and personally, from As I Lay Dying.”
Grosso added that the door to As I Lay Dying isn’t totally shut, and that if the band puts in the “right adjustments and restructuring, our music can continue to thrive and explore new possibilities in a healthier environment.”
Read his full statement here.
On Friday (Oct. 25), Susi, Neff and Pierce shared individual statements detailing their own departures, which you can read more about here. The band’s touring manager, Alex Kendrick, also announced his exit.
The group’s eighth album, Through Storms Ahead, is still set for release on Nov. 15.
Warren Haynes has — characteristically — a lot on his plate these days, including this week’s release of his new solo album Million Voices Whisper. But his eye is also firmly on his home state of North Carolina and his hometown of Asheville, which was ravaged by Hurricane Helene last month and is still in the throes of rebuilding and recovery.
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Haynes tells Billboard that his family is safe and has largely returned to Asheville, though his brother’s record store, like so many businesses, suffered debilitating damage. He won’t be able to host his annual Christmas Jam concert there this year, but he’ll be part of Soulshine, which will take place Nov. 24 at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Haynes’ band will be joined by the Dave Matthews Band, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats and Goose, as well as guests such as Phish’s Trey Anastasio, Mavis Staples, Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, Robert Randolph, Trombone Shorty, Joe Russo and more. Tickets are on sale Friday (Nov. 1) with a pre-sale for Haynes’ fan club on Thursday (Oct. 31). Proceeds will go to relief efforts in both North Carolina and Florida, which was subsequently hit by Hurricane Milton.
“The object now is ty try to raise as much money as possible,” Haynes says. “It was terrible to watch. I was on tour and was watching CNN and saw them panning the River Arts District, which is where my brother’s store is; they panned as far as the building next door to it, and it was underwater. I was like, ‘Sh-t my brother’s store is right there,’ but at that time I couldn’t reach anybody, and they couldn’t reach me. But I was lucky enough to be able to talk to them in the beginning, and he assured me that everybody was okay. After that it was just really frustrating not knowing and watching the news and hoping. Now I just want to do whatever I can to help everybody.”
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Haynes will be bringing some new music to Soulshine. Million Voices Whisper is the guitarist’s first solo outing since 2015’s Ashes & Dust (a collaboration with Railroad Earth) and sports 11 tracks, with four more songs on the deluxe edition. It was produced by Haynes and features a reunion with Allman Brothers Band cohort Derek Trucks on four tracks, as well as Lukas Nelson and Jamey Johnson on “Day of Reckoning” — which includes a second version on the deluxe edition that opens with the trio harmonizing on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s “Find the Cost of Freedom.” He also co-wrote “Smooth Sailing” with Stax legend Booker T. Jones.
The set also marks the recording debut of the latest Warren Haynes Band lineup, which features John Medeski on keyboards, bassist Kevin Scott from Haynes’ Gov’t Mule and Dirty Dozen Brass Band drummer Terrence Higgins.
“In the beginning of the process all the songs kinda had a Muscle Shoals sort of feel,” recalls Haynes, referencing the Alabama home of the legendary FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound studios where dozens of soul and rock classics were recorded. “So it started out to be that kind of record, but then, as I continued writing they all started drifting into their own directions but still seemed to hang together. Once I have a group of songs that seem to work together, that usually tells me it’s time to make a record.”
Million Voices Whisper‘s starting point, however, was “Real Real Love,” a song Haynes began writing with Gregg Allman before his death in 2017. “I had a copy of his lyric, which was incomplete, so I finished the lyric, and to my knowledge there was no music or demo or recording of it,” Haynes says. “So I wrote music for it but I wrote it in a way that would reflect as much of the way (Allman) would have written it as I could.” Once that was done Haynes reached out to Trucks in order to bring the Allman Brothers flavor to the recording. That led to a writing session at Trucks’ farm near Macon, Ga., which yielded the Million Voices Whisper tracks “These Changes, “Hall of Future Saints” and “Back Where I Started,” all of which Trucks played on.
“It was great, the first time the two of us had collaborated in the studio like that in a long time,” says Haynes, adding that there may be more to hear from the duo in the future — including, of course, the Soulshine benefit. “There’s definitely talk about it. We’ll see where it all goes. I think I can speak for both of us when I say we really enjoy it when it happens, and writing for those three days and then being together in the studio for my record was a blast. There’s just something uncanny about the way the two of us work together. It’s comes about very easily.”
The Haynes-Trucks tandem, meanwhile, is also represented on the new release of the Allman Brothers’ final concert from Oct. 28, 2014 at the Beacon Theatre in New York. “That was a fantastic show,” Haynes says of the epic 29-song performance. “I have amazing memories of everybody really rising to the occasion and us going out on a high note. And the new mix sounds really great. I’m glad people are getting to hear it.”
Haynes is looking to play some shows with his band to support Million Voices Whisper, including more Dream and Songs Symphonic Experience dates with orchestras — and the release of a Don Was-produced album that was recorded with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra prior to the pandemic. For now, however, Haynes has a solo in-store appearance set for Nov. 2 at Looney Tunes in West Babylon, N.Y., with his band and Gov’t Mule set to play at the Island Exodus 15 festival during January in Jamaica.He’s also leaning into a big 2025 with Gov’t Mule, which will mark the 30th anniversary of the group’s debut album. The celebration, he says, will include “a bunch of cool, special shows” as well as releasing unheard material from the band’s archives.
Rather than feeling pulled by those different concerns, however, Haynes feels inspired. “I look at it as an opportunity to keep from getting stagnated,” he explains. “Doing all these different things keeps me motivated and inspired. I feel like if I only did one thing all the time I’d get sick of it and burned out much more easily. This way, with my solo stuff, the Mule, everything else, it keeps me really excited and really engaged.”