Guitarist and singer-songwriter Duane Betts will issue his debut solo album, Wild & Precious Life, through the venerable Royal Potato Family label on July 14. Betts will support the 10-track effort — which features lead single “Waiting On A Song” and special guests including Derek Trucks, Marcus King and Nicki Bluhm — with a spring/summer tour.
Duane Betts is the son of The Allman Brothers Band co-founding guitarist Dickey Betts. The 44-year-old musician toured with his father for nearly a decade as a member of Dickey Betts & Great Southern. Duane also spent time on the road with Dawes and The Allman Betts Band. He co-founded the latter with Devon Allman and put out Allman Betts Band albums in 2019 and 2020 after releasing an EP of originals entitled Sketches of American Music in 2018.
Work on the material that would be included on Wild & Precious Life began in 2020 when Betts was at his homes in Florida and Jackson, Wyoming while live music was paused due to the pandemic. His 2019 marriage and road to sobriety were among the topics that were infused into his songwriting.
It was a chance meeting with Derek Trucks and his wife and musical partner, Susan Tedeschi, that kicked the process into high gear. Duane spoke with the pair while attending a birthday party in the Florida Keys. “I told them I wanted to make a solo album and really capture that old school Florida vibe,” explained Duane, “and Susan said I should just use their studio.” Betts put together a band consisting of guitarist Johnny Stachela, bassist Berry Duane Oakley, keyboardist John Ginty and TTB drummer Tyler “Falcon” Greenwell to accompany him to Derek and Susan’s Swamp Raga Studio facility in Jacksonville. Sessions lasted a few weeks and saw the ensemble record to analog tape during live-in-the-recording-studio performances.
Duane Betts will bring his band, Palmetto Motel on the road this spring and summer for a series of headlining tour dates and festival appearances. Up first is a performance at New Orleans’ Chickie Wah Wah during Jazz Fest on April 30. A handful of festival plays will be followed by a two-week East Coast jaunt spanning July 14 – 29 that includes stops in Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, New York, Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey. In August, Betts and company head to Colorado and Ohio.
Tickets for Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel’s new headlining dates went on sale today.
