It’s fair to say that vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Duane Betts has emerged from, while occasionally dipping a foot back into, the long shadow cast by his father, the late Allman Brothers Band founding member Dickey Betts (1943-2024).
On Feb. 28, the 47-year-old proved it by hosting and performing throughout the “In Memory of Dickey Betts” all-star memorial concert at the Macon City Auditorium in Georgia. Streamed live on nugs.net, the three-hour event showcased Betts’ ability to hold his own among Allman alumni (keyboardist Chuck Leavell, guitarists Warren Haynes and Derek Trucks, bassist Oteil Burbridge), plus lead singers from the Tedeschi Trucks Band (Susan Tedeschi) and Blackberry Smoke (Charlie Starr), among others.
Before a full house at the Funky Biscuit in Boca Raton on May 16, Betts and his band Palmetto Motel (with guitarist/vocalist Johnny Stachela, keyboardist Max Butler, bassist/vocalist Pedro Arevalo and drummer Vince Fossett Jr.) delivered performances of material from Betts’ 2023 debut album Wild & Precious Life that stepped out of the shadows. There were also occasional steps back to pay homage to the iconic songwriting of his dad over the course of two hours.
An early highlight was Betts’ original composition “Colors Fade” from Wild & Precious Life. The swinging, country-tinged number featured Butler switching from Hammond organ (on which he was an understated force all evening) to piano, Stachela’s assertive slide guitar playing, and some signature Allmans-approved twin guitar harmonies with Betts near the end. His father practically created the harmonic effect with a series of the band’s other great guitarists including Duane Allman, Dan Toler, Jack Pearson, and Haynes.
“Taking Time,” from Betts’ 2018 debut EP Sketches of American Music, likewise proved infectious. After a strong solo by Betts, the up-tempo rocker got more and more up-tempo via a purposeful speed-up. Yet something was missing near the coda.
“Does anyone have any tape?” Betts asked afterward. “Our drummer broke his kick drum head.” Thankfully, the staff quickly complied, and Fossett comically held up a long strip of tape over his head when Betts made band introductions during his repairs.
Other Wild & Precious Life gems included Betts’ spacious, patterned soloing on the loping “Saints to Sinners” and the closing encore “Waiting on a Song,” on which he somehow found ways to blend turbo-charged country and jam band elements. All of which points toward more stylistic blends on Betts’ forthcoming sophomore full-length album, Isle of Hope.
The band leader’s cover song selections over the evening included both the predictable and their polar opposites. The animated Arevalo sang lead on Billy Joe Shaver’s country stomper “Honky Tonk Heroes,” which was also highlighted by Stachela’s slide guitar. Both musicians also played major roles in the “In Memory of Dickey Betts” memorial concert in February. Even less predictable was a rendition of “Impossible Germany” by Chicago-spawned indie rockers Wilco. Betts’ lead vocal and guitar harmonies had him playing the role of that group’s frontman, Jeff Tweedy, with Stachela appearing as the ever-creative Wilco guitarist Nels Cline.
Yet the predictable covers, unsurprisingly, proved to be crowd favorites, especially with the Allmans having retired 11 years ago. The late Betts’ singalong “Back Where It All Begins” was the unofficial title track to the Allmans’ 1994 album Where It All Begins, and his son’s rendition had patrons sway-dancing in the Funky Biscuit’s aisles. Betts’ singing and soloing did justice to the classic track, as did the versatile Stachela, whose impressive solo didn’t include his slide playing.
Stachela also repeated that feat on the showstopper, a lengthy reading of the late Betts’ instrumental “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed,” from the Allmans’ 1970 sophomore effort Idlewild South. Its effective space intro led to Betts and Stachela soloing and harmonizing like the original Allmans guitarists; Butler getting a rare chance to play a statement-making solo on Hammond organ, and the rhythm section taking the spotlight.
Fossett played a drum solo that extended the original break of the Allmans’ twin drummers, Butch Trucks and lone surviving member Jaimoe Johanny Johanson, and went from simmer to boil in the process. And Arevalo followed with a bass solo that included him accompanying himself after he’d created an underlying bass pattern with a looping pedal.
With this level of creativity, versatility and pedigree, Betts and Palmetto Motel could be on the way toward accompanying the rare air of the Allmans’ 45-year flight through blues, jazz, Southern rock, country, and jam band air space. All it’ll take is its leader keeping one foot in the shadows and putting the other foot forward.