Named for original Allman Brothers Band guitarists Duane Allman (1946-1971) and his own father, Forrest Richard “Dickey” Betts (1943-2024), 47-year-old singer, guitarist and songwriter Duane Betts (www.duanebetts.com) has practically had expectations to live up to since his birth.
That event occured in Sarasota in 1978, at a time when the ABB was one of the top touring acts in the world. And Betts’ career and life have come full circle in recent years. He has property in that same area that he and his wife plan to build upon. There’s also the 2023 release of his debut full-length album Wild & Precious Life (Royal Potato Family); being present for his father’s death in Osprey, Fla., last year, and hosting and performing throughout the In Memory of Dickey Betts all-star concert at Macon City Auditorium in Georgia — streamed live on nugs.net — this Feb. 28.
“That evening was really special,” Betts says by phone from his home in Jackson Hole, Wyo., “even though there was a lot of stress leading up to it. I was making sure that everything went smoothly and was taken care of, and worrying about every little nuance, which I probably shouldn’t have done. I had my hands in a lot of different things beforehand. But once it was time to play the music, the part that’s fun, I realized that I couldn’t go wrong with the people that were on stage with me.”
Betts and his band Palmetto Motel appear at the Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton on May 16. The quintet is rounded out by guitarist/vocalist Johnny Stachela, keyboardist Max Butler, bassist/vocalist Pedro Arevalo, and drummer Vince Fossett Jr. Wild & Precious Life features Stachela, keyboardist John Ginty, bassist Berry Duane Oakley (son of original ABB bassist Berry Oakley), and Tedeschi Trucks Band drummer Tyler Greenwell. Ginty, Greenwell, Stachela and Arevalo were all heavily involved at the In Memory of Dickey Betts show.
“Johnny is like my right-hand man,” Betts says, “and I played with Pedro for many years in Dickey Betts & Great Southern. I definitely wanted to include them both in that evening’s festivities.”
The memorable February tribute was named for one of the late Betts’ compositional ABB classics, the instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” a marathon version of which was played. Many of that band’s alumni eventually performed, including keyboardist Chuck Leavell, guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes, guitarist Derek Trucks and bassist Oteil Burbridge, as well as the sons of late founding vocalist/keyboardist Gregg Allman (singer/guitarist Devon Allman) and late bassist Lamar Williams (vocalist Lamar Williams Jr.).
The Tedeschi Trucks Band’s frontwoman, singing guitarist Susan Tedeschi; former Wet Willie vocalist Jimmy Hall, and Blackberry Smoke singer/guitarist Charlie Starr were among others who appeared. Highlights included the ABB classics “Hot ‘Lanta,” “Southbound,” “Melissa,” “Nobody Knows,” “Jessica,” “Nobody Left To Run With,” “Seven Turns,” “Back Where It All Begins,” “Soulshine,” “Blue Sky,” “Revival,” and Betts channeling his father to sing and solo on an encore of the hit “Ramblin’ Man.”
Nearly all were written or co-written by the late Betts, one of the great American songwriters in popular music history. A Dickey Betts Memorial Endowed Scholarship through the Berklee College of Music in Boston was announced during the concert.
“There were definitely some pickers up there that night,” says Betts. “I was comfortable doing my own thing. When you play with someone like Derek, you kind of don’t want to get into thinking about how good they are. That’s where feel I can lean into my dad’s space, because I have a kind of license to go there genetically, like I did on ‘Blue Sky.’”
Trucks and Haynes delivered with fire, on slide guitar and otherwise, while Betts, Stachela, Starr and Tedeschi alternated between supportive rhythmic roles and intermittent, statement-making solos.
A teenaged Betts sat in with the ABB in the 1990s, and he worked with several different bands while also playing on and off with his dad and Great Southern from 2006 to the pivotal year of 2018. That’s when he released his solo debut EP Sketches of American Music, and co-founded the Allman Betts Band, a legacy act with two album releases since, with Devon Allman.
Aside from his father’s long shadow as a player and composer, Betts pays homage to a wide range of influential guitar forerunners that explains why he has his own sound — a mix of blues, country, bluegrass, jazz/fusion, classic rock, and even grunge.
“The three Kings: Albert, B.B. and Freddie,” he says of his influences, “Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix; Roy Buchanan, Mark Knopfler and Jerry Garcia. And Duane Allman. As a kid, I was listening to The Smiths, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Miles Davis, but also Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins, and Alice in Chains.”
With a new album, Isle of Hope, set for release in 2025 on a label to be determined, Betts is currently rounding out the tour cycle for the critically acclaimed Wild & Precious Life. That album was recorded at husband-and-wife Trucks and Tedeschi’s Swamp Raga Studio in Jacksonville. And Trucks, nephew of late founding ABB drummer Butch Trucks, not only plays signature twin guitar harmonies with Betts on one of its highlights, “Stare at the Sun,” but he also inspired its title with a compliment to Betts’ father.
“Your dad is one of those players who’s not afraid to stare directly into the sun,” Trucks said.
“I loved that line,” says Betts. “I was already working on a new song, and Derek’s sentiment gave the song a center.”
Between the dates booked with Palmetto Motel and a month-long summer run with the Allman Betts Band, Betts’ tour itinerary has him on the road through October on his website. And, he says, well beyond.
“I try to stay pretty busy,” says Betts. “The dates aren’t consistent and constant yet, but they’re still getting filled in, so they might be relatively soon. This is kind of an in-between connector tour after a long run of ‘Wild & Precious Life’ dates, and the continuation will be to support ‘Isle of Hope’ when it comes out later this year.”
Behold the return of the ramblin’ man.
If You Go
Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel appear at the Funky Biscuit, 303 S.E. Mizner Blvd., Boca Raton.
When: 9 p.m. May 16
Tickets: $40-$65
Info: 561-395-2929, funkybiscuit.com