Warren Haynes Brings Gov't Mule to Vail's The Amp

Aspen —Warren Haynes isn’t just playing Vail. He’s proving that a blues-rock band can survive the pandemic by doing exactly what they were told not to do: working twice as hard, in two different rooms, at the same time.

Gov’t Mule rocks The Amp on Sunday as part of its “Kicking in Your Stall” tour. It’s the final stop for this leg of their summer circuit before they merge with Ziggy Marley for a run through mid-October. But the setlist tells a deeper story about resilience, studio logistics, and a guitarist who refused to sit still when the world shut down.

Haynes, the Grammy-winning frontman, says the tour has been fantastic so far. “We’ve been having a great time. The band sounds terrific,” he said.

The tour’s name comes from Muddy Waters’ “Long Distance Call.” Specifically, the last line: “The party said another mule kickin’ in your stall.” It’s a nod to being back in full force, but it also ties directly to their 2021 album, Heavy Load Blues. That record features a cover of the Waters tune and earned a Grammy nomination.

Here’s where it gets interesting for the folks who follow their music closely. Most bands record one album at a time. Gov’t Mule recorded two simultaneously. Heavy Load Blues came out in late 2021, while Peace…Like a River didn’t drop until June 2023. They were made at The Power Station New England in Connecticut, but they didn’t share equipment.

Haynes explains that the studio allowed them to set up their main gear in the largest room, just like making a normal Gov’t Mule record. Next door, a smaller connected space held the little amplifiers for the blues sessions. They worked on Peace…Like a River from noon to 9 p.m., took dinner, then walked next door for the blues set.

“I was writing more material than I’ve written in years and years and dying to record it,” Haynes said.

The idea for a blues record had been brewing, but the volume of new songs reached critical mass. “I would be into doing that, but I’ve written all these new songs that I envisioned being Gov’t Mule songs, so maybe we could do two albums at the same time,” he said.

The concept required the records to sound completely different. They stayed in a big house on the water in Connecticut, shuttling between home and studio. No one else was allowed in that circle.

Stand there long enough and you can hear the difference between the two albums if you listen for it. One is expansive, the other intimate. Both were born from the same creative urgency during the shutdowns.

The Amp in Vail is just one stop on a tour that started with a simple question: what if we didn’t have to choose? The band chose both. They chose the blues and the rock. They chose to stay sane by staying busy.

Haynes says they’ve been having a great time. The band sounds terrific. And for the locals watching from the parking lot or the front row, it’s a reminder that sometimes the best way forward is to kick in your stall and keep playing.