Not everyone who has a famous parent is super eager to talk about it, especially with someone they’ve never met, and especially when being interviewed. But Devon Allman, son of Gregg Allman, was happy to bring the subject up himself.
The elder Allman was a founding member of the legendary and groundbreaking Allman Brothers Band, along with his younger brother Duane and others. Gregg Allman passed away in 2017, and Devon Allman has continued to honor his father’s musical legacy with his many bands and projects.
“The band will spin off into a bit of a jam here and there, and elongate some songs, and throw some solos around,” said Allman. “We will still nod to my dad's music and play a song or two because he's not here to do it, you know? And that reminder stings, because it's like, 'man, I wish he was.' And since he isn't, I do feel it's my duty to chuck one in the set every once in a while, and give people that kind of ticket back to their youth, to the nostalgia.”
It’s a statement that could apply to any number of Allman’s projects. He currently leads both the Devon Allman Project and the Allman Betts Band, the latter specifically to carry on the tradition of the Allman Brothers Band. This time though the band Allman is referring to is Devon Allman’s Blues Summit, named after the album Allman released in 2025. They’ll be playing at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines on Tuesday night.
The Blues Summit is a collection of “heavy hitters” of the blues from over the decades, most of whom also appeared on the album of the same name. Jimmy Hall, of the band Wet Willie (who opened for the Allman Brothers many times “back in the day”), will be on hand for lead vocals on several songs. Another major contributor to the record, guitarist Larry McCray, will also be at the Hoyt Sherman show, as will vocalist Laka Soul.
When we spoke, I mentioned to Allman that I thought it was cool the way he was so generous and willing to hand off “the spotlight” of his own record, and tour, to other musicians. But he doesn’t see it that way.
“I guess ultimately it's kind of my gang, but it's not really my record. It's ‘all of our’ record,” said Allman. “We all did some stuff on this. “Jimmy Hall sings three songs — and sings his ass off. You know, he's in his mid-70s. Larry McRae has a song on there that's killer. Larry wrote, I think, four of the cuts with me. So it really takes a village. I would never consider this my record solely. It's definitely a gang record. And I'm really grateful that I got to collaborate with all these great people.”
Between The Blues Summit, The Devon Allman Project and Allman Betts Band, Allman will be on-and-off the road through August, and probably beyond then. If it sounds like he’s overextending himself with the sheer number of bands he’s in, it’s kind of the way he prefers it.
“I think about every two to three years, I just kind of get bored and want to shake it up and want to play with different cats — learn different tricks and change up the scenery,” said Allman “These bands that play together for 20 and 30 and 40 years and do the same songs and stuff, God bless them. I want to create new stuff with new people. So Blues Summit was a way to kind of take the blueprint that we have for the Allman Betts Family Revival, which is a coast-to-coast tour at the end of the year that celebrates our father's catalogs with big names.”
The steady touring, of course, is well in line with how the Allman Brothers Band made its name in the first place (in fact, Devon is a world record-holder when it comes to touring). It also shows how much interest there is in the sound the Allmans created all those years ago. As shown by the success of Tedeschi Trucks Band, Gov’t Mule and even Widespread Panic and others, it’s a sound that simply doesn’t go out of style.
“I think when you're talking about song-based bands like the Allman Brothers, or like the Rolling Stones, or like the Grateful Dead, there's a timelessness and a haunting quality to a lot of those songs,” said Allman. “It's just from the heart, real stories — just honest stuff, and I think that'll always just have a place. I think it's always going to live and breathe because of its honesty, because of its ability to stick with you and haunt you. I mean, there's Stones songs that I hear on the radio that I've heard 5,000 times. I would never, ever reach out and turn the knob down when ‘Gimme Shelter’ comes on. You just don't get sick of songs that move you.”
Tickets are still available for the Devon Allman’s Blues Summit show on Tuesday night, and Devon Allman’s music is available for purchase on his website.
