Concerts

CANCELLED: Relive Allman Brothers glory while still looking forward with Allman Betts in Beverly

Devon Allman and Duane Betts come to The Cabot March 19.

Devon Allman and Duane Betts of The Allman Betts Band perform in Nashville, Tennessee last summer. Jason Kempin/Getty Images

By Blake Maddux

2 minutes to read

Editor’s note: This show has been replaced by a double bill with the Devon Allman Project and Samantha Fish Band.

Devon Allman and Duane Betts are well aware that nothing short of changing their names and surgically altering their faces would convince anyone that they weren’t sired by the men whose first names were Gregg and Dickey and who were the primary creative forces behind The Allman Brothers Band.

But even going to those lengths would probably still require them to significantly modify the music they make together. The Allman and Betts sons aren’t out to thanklessly duplicate the patented Southern rock sound of their dear old dads, but they wisely avail themselves of their musical DNA (see the 12-minute instrumental “Savannah’s Dream”). And they are not – repeat, NOT – a tribute act.

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Following the 2016 death of his mother (Shelley Jefts) and that of his father the following year, Devon Allman hit the road with The Devon Allman Project in 2018. Accompanying them as the opening act was Duane Betts. Unsurprisingly, perhaps inevitably, the two clicked and decided to join forces. Upon doing so, they called upon Berry Duane Oakley, the son of the Allman Brothers Band’s original bassist. (Duane Allman and the elder Oakley were each killed in motorcycle accidents within 13 months of each other in 1971 and 1972.)

Allman Betts is – like the Allman Brothers – a septet that includes guitars, bass, keyboards (which Devon – unlike his dad – does not play), and two percussionists. The progeny proudly honor their legacy via live performances of selected Allman Brothers favorites and by headlining the Allman Family Revival, which recently played the Orpheum Theatre along with Eric Gales, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Joanne Taylor Shaw, G. Love, Donavon Frankenreiter, and Blackberry Smoke. 

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However, their setlists focus on the band’s original material, which is drawn from 2019’s “Down to the River” and 2020’s double LP “Bless Your Heart.” Both of these albums were recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios and produced by Matt Ross-Spang, whose other clients include Jason Isbell, Lori McKenna, John Prine, Iron & Wine, The Mountain Goats, Drive-By Truckers, Margo Price, and Eli “Paperboy” Reed.

Fans of all ages can experience the glory of the old days, share in the excitement of present ones, and look forward to those that lie ahead by taking in The Allman Betts Band at The Cabot on March 19.

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