by | April 6, 2026
The Allman Betts Band Is Taking a Page Out of the Family Songbook
Devon Allman and Duane Betts forge a new musical life while paying homage to their famous fathers’ legacies.
On a snowy winter night in Pennsylvania, Devon Allman and Duane Betts are settling into their pre-show rituals, which, these days, involve a little “meditative prayer to ask for the power to let everybody shut the world off for a couple hours” and maybe a couple of Diet Cokes. Three nights into a coast-to-coast run, the longtime collaborators—and sons of Allman Brothers Band founders Gregg Allman and Dickey Betts—have just kicked off the annual Allman Betts Family Revival tour, where the set list shifts nightly and the two sons of rock royalty pay homage to a family legacy. When they’re not celebrating their fathers’ songbook, the pair channel that same chemistry into their own project, The Allman Betts Band. Together, they’ve produced two albums of original music for the band and stoked the fires of their solo careers. The two rockers sat down with Flamingo during their Revival tour to talk about honoring the past, Floridian inspiration and who’s shaping the future sound of Southern rock.
What was your first time meeting like?
Devon Allman: It was 1989. The reunion tour for the box set that they had put out. I got into the tour, and my dad said, “Hey, go throw your stuff on the bus. Dickey’s son’s on the bus.” We met, and Duane had headphones on. I asked him what he was listening to, and he said, “Testament,” which is a pretty hardcore thrash band. I think I was 17. He was 11 or something. And then I asked him if it was the “Practice What You Preach” record. And he kind of, perked up, like, “Maybe this guy’s alright.”
Duane Betts: Some of the other kids were out (on tour), Berry Oakley Jr. and Seth Trucks, Melody Trucks, Vaylor (Trucks) would be around, sometimes Brittany Oakley. You know, it was a family thing. But we all knew that we were tied together by something that was greater than us. You know that our fathers had started well before we were an apple in their eye.
The Allman Brothers Band carries a legacy. How much does that weigh on you?
DB: The nagging anchor! If you can imagine, like the heaviest weight ever dragging you down—that’s what it’s like! OK, honestly, that’s not true. I’m just joking. It can be a weight, but it’s a weight you’re happy to carry. You’re like, yeah, I’m gonna carry this weight. I can do it.
DA: You realize, too, that the songs are the boss, right? As rock and roll has aged through the years, bands have lost members, or you have some bands out that don’t even have any original members. Folks out there that love the music want to hear those songs … if I can just play the song in its correct spirit, then it kind of takes the weight of the other down, but it also kind of makes it even heavier, because you really want to do the song justice.
Why does the Revival tour matter so much?
DB: For these three weeks a year, we focus solely on this catalog and celebrate the songbook. Every year, I look forward to this tour, and there’s nobody I would rather be on stage with doing it than Devon.
What are you hoping the fans take away from your performance?
DA: You know, hopefully these songs will take them back. It’s neat to see folks in their 60s and 70s feeling like they’re in their 20s again. It’s heavy because there’s times I’m singing “Melissa,” and I really wish I was sitting in the chairs off the side of the stage watching my dad sing “Melissa,” you know, but also I’m proud to sing it for him, because he can’t be here. It’s bittersweet.
You realize, too, the songs are the boss.
—Devon Allman
When you guys are together out on the road, for the Revival tour or your own Allman Betts tour, are you working on new music?
DA: The question that comes up is the Allman Betts next record. And it’s been five years now since we did that. And I think we’re both at a point where I think that will come when it’s just an open, natural thing. We’ve got other projects that we do. We got solo records we’re concentrating on. There’s going to be a day, and it could be next week or next year, where Duane writes one and goes, “Well, man, this is an Allman Betts song,” or where I write one and go, “Hey, man, listen to this.” When those days come, it’s great.
How do you write a song like “Airboats & Cocaine,” which seems undeniably inspired by Florida?
DB: It’s a great song. I’ve been on airboats—and I’m sober nine years—but I did a lot of cocaine. I never did cocaine on an airboat. But, um, no—in all seriousness, I grew up in Sarasota. I’m a fourth-generation Floridian. I used to go down to Islamorada every year and go fishing. And my dad, we’d drive through the Everglades, and we’d go to Lake Okeechobee and go out on airboats. I have all the Florida stuff. I’ve got it in spades.
What new musicians are picking up the Southern rock mantel?
DA: I think we have a great influx of newer, younger artists. (Christone) “Kingfish” (Ingram)—good friend of ours. Marcus King—good friend of ours. I mean, these folks are already well established. But they’re younger, and they’re killing the genre of blues, blues-rock, Southern rock, Americana—you know, organic rock and roll, right. Sierra Ferrell—we love her, she’s fantastic.
DB: The Red Clay Strays. They’re old friends of mine. I played a couple gigs with them, just sat in with them when they were playing beach bars in Gulf Shores, Ala.
DA: The future of Southern rock—or however you want to term it—it’s already here, and it’s in great hands.
What does 2026 look like for you?
DA: Japan and Hawaii. We’re going to do some solo work, and then obviously, we’ll have Revival at the end of the year. The last couple years, we’ve done a June Allman Betts run.
DB: We have plenty on our table. I have a record that’ll be coming out. Devon’s working on a new one.
For more interviews with Florida musicians, click here.
About the Author
As an editor and journalist, Jamie has covered travel and culture around the world. Her work has appeared in national and international publications. She spent much of her professional life abroad and worked in newsrooms from The Moscow Times to The Times of London. She holds degrees from Florida State and Georgetown. She founded Flamingo in 2015.
