Trucks and Caesar’s Together
The Allman Brothers Band may be finished (or maybe not), but Butch Trucks, a founding member and one of its two percussionists, is rocking on. Now at his house in France, Mr. Trucks will arrive in the United States next Thursday and head directly to Amagansett and the Stephen Talkhouse. At 8 p.m., he will perform with Great Caesar’s Ghost, a South Fork band that plays a wealth of the Allmans’ extensive catalog as well as original songs and other music that, in its hands, falls under the “jamband” rubric.
Great Caesar’s Ghost’s recently released “Dragonfly,” a two-CD collection that demonstrates some remarkable musicianship, as heard on covers of the Allmans’ “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed” and “Black Hearted Woman” and songs by the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, the Rolling Stones, Allen Toussaint, and Miles Davis. The album has been played on radio stations throughout the U.S. as well as SiriusXM satellite radio, and has found an audience in Germany.
“Those guys are good!” Mr. Trucks said last week of Great Caesar’s Ghost. “They can play. I haven’t heard many bands that can cover the Allmans well.”
He was initially exposed to Great Caesar’s Ghost through a mutual friend who lived near him in Palm Beach, Fla. “It went on for a year or two,” he said. “My friend kept saying, ‘You’ve really got to check these guys out,’ but the Allmans were working a lot, and I wasn’t there much. Finally, we did a show together.” That performance, in August 2011, was captured on the two-CD “Live With Butch Trucks.”
The band, formed in 2004, had already enjoyed a boost by virtue of a pairing with another well-known musician, one that also yielded a concert recording: “Live at Berkner Hall With G.E. Smith.” “We were fortunate that one of the first gigs we did with G.E. was recorded and turned into an album,” the band’s founder, Larry Schmid, said. “G.E. certainly helped the band, he was super nice,” he said of the guitarist, who lives in Amagansett. “Things happened in a hurry.”
Mr. Schmid, who owns Applewild Farm in Bridgehampton, plays and sings alongside Peter (Bosco) Michne, also on guitar and vocals. The band also includes Ed DiCapuo on drums, Keith Hill on keys, and Klyph Black, a well-known South Fork musician who recently joined, on bass.
“Dragonfly” is the first release since the loss of Ray Penney, another of the band’s guitarists, who died in 2012. “When Ray passed, we never really considered having another guitar player,” Mr. Schmid said. “Ray was a great slide guitar player. I’d always dabbled with slide, and for the last two years I’ve really immersed myself in all things slide, to the best of my ability.”
“It’s the same band, but it’s a different band,” Mr. Schmid said of the altered lineup. “We’re so happy to play with Klyph, he brings a lot of knowledge. He certainly knows how to jam.” He hopes that Mr. Trucks will continue to perform with them on select dates. “I think he enjoys the band, the musicianship,” he said. “He said, ‘You guys get what’s going on,’ which is a nice thing to hear.”
The Allmans’ influence on Great Caesar’s Ghost is clear, from the hard-driving and psychedelic riffs to the abrupt time-signature changes and jams that can stretch to 20 minutes or more. “We came along with something brand new,” Mr. Trucks said of the Allman Brothers Band. “We took what Cream did, grabbed some Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Herbie Hancock, and started jamming, but changing time signatures, constantly changing instead of pounding away on one chord. Not only did we open the door to a whole new way of playing, but we were the first band from the South that really started going anywhere, and by ’72 were the No. 1 band in the country.”
From Amagansett, Mr. Trucks will head to the Peach Music Festival in Scranton, Pa., where several of his former bandmates, including Gregg Allman, will also perform, and from there to the Roots Rock Revival, a rock ’n’ roll intensive in Big Indian, N.Y., where he will serve as a player and mentor. He will conclude with an Aug. 21 performance at the Paramount Theater in Huntington with his Freight Train Band. Dates in Florida will follow next month.
“Playing music is an addiction,” Mr. Trucks said, “and right now I need a fix. I’m gonna get a good heavy one for about two solid weeks.”
Tickets to Great Caesar’s Ghost with Butch Trucks cost $40 and $55.