Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks Are Leaving the Allman Brothers Band

Haynes and Trucks, who have been performing with Gregg Allman for the past 25 and 15 years, respectively, announced late Wednesday that this year will be their last with the iconic jam band.

“We are both preparing to dig even deeper into our various creative and musical endeavors, and as a result, 2014 will be our final year as part of the band,” they said in a statement.

The Allmans, celebrating their 45th anniversary this year, are scheduled to play the Fox Theatre in Atlanta on Friday night (it’s a tribute to Gregg); at the Beacon Theatre for 10 dates in March, as per their traditional NYC run; at the Wanee Festival in Live Oak, Fla., in April; and at the Montage Mountain Performing Arts Center in Scranton, Pa., for two shows in August.

Haynes and Trucks are a true highlight of the shows, often trading searing guitar licks or playing in tandem while interpreting the riffs first laid down by the late Duane Allman and then Dickey Betts, who was booted from the group in 2000.

Haynes fronts his own band, Gov’t Mule, and recently toured with an orchestra playing Jerry Garcia and Grateful Dead tunes. Trucks has his own Derek Trucks Band and is a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band with his wife, singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi.

Now Allman, 66, is faced with the daunting task of replacing the two rambling men — if he decides to keep things going at all.

Haynes noted that he joined the Allmans in 1989, at age 28, for a reunion tour.

“Based on the success of the tour and the uncanny chemistry between the original members and the new members,” he said, “we decided to continue and see where it all led. Now, here we are, 25 years later, and it has been an amazing experience.”

A former kid prodigy, Trucks noted that he got the call to join the Allmans while on tour with his own band at the age of 19. His uncle is Allmans’ drummer and founding member, Butch Trucks.

“It was out of the blue and felt surreal,” the slide specialist said. “I leaped at the chance. This was the music that I had cut my teeth on, and it was the distinctive sound of Duane’s guitar that inspired me to pick up the instrument in the first place.”

Source: Hollywood Reporter