Balancing
evocative songs and expressive improvisation, Gov’t Mule is a band
rooted in both the personal and musical chemistry between its members.
“It’s not one of those groups that can make a change overnight,”
explains founding guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes. It is only after six
months of rehearsing, jamming, and hanging out with bassist Jorgen Carlsson that he has been added to the band as their new permanent bass
player, replacing Andy Hess, who joined in 2003.
When founding bassist Allen Woody passed away in 2000, Haynes explains,
“We were faced with the daunting task of replacing a one-of-a-kind
musician, which I'm sure was intimidating for Andy, who did a wonderful
job and brought his own personality into the music. Jorgen’s style is
somewhere between Woody's and Andy's. He brings some of Woody's
aggressive spirit back although he is very much his own man.” Carlsson
was born in Sweden and has been active as a session musician and studio
owner since arriving in the US in 1991.
Founded by Haynes, Woody, and drummer Matt Abts in 1994 as a
power-trio, Gov’t Mule has, over the course of eight studio albums,
several more live projects, and over 1300 concert performances, built
both an extensive, evolving body of work and a devoted fan base. In
addition, the band has sold 1.5 million downloads on its website
mule.net, sold over one million albums, and received a Grammy
nomination. Keyboardist Danny Louis joined as a full-time member in
2003. With Hess leaving to pursue other opportunities, Haynes sees the
addition of Jorgen as connecting the past and future of Gov’t Mule:
“Having worked with Jorgen over the last several months, we are very
excited to explore some new directions while at the same time going back
a little closer to our roots.”
On September 16th, Gov't Mule will release the double live DVD The
Tale of Two Cities, which spans the entire preceding era of the band
with Andy Hess on bass. It is composed of two complete shows filmed the
first date of the fall 2004 Deja Voodoo tour and the last date of the
winter 2006 High and Mighty tour.
Gov't Mule’s Kinder Revolution fall tour begins on October 30 and
runs through November 22nd, and includes performances on Halloween at
the Orpheum Theater in Boston, two night stands at the Pantages Theater
in Minneapolis and the Fillmore in San Francisco, shows at the Tower
Theatre in Philadelphia, the Chevrolet Theatre in Wallingford, CT, and
more. Following the tour, Gov’t Mule will, for the seventh year in a
row, celebrate the new year with a series of performances in New York
City: two acoustic shows on December 27th and 28th at the Angel Orensanz
Center in the Lower East Side, then two electric shows at the
Hammerstein Ballroom on December 30th and 31st, with the New Years’ Eve
show featuring the traditional three sets