Duane Betts enlists fellow Allman Brothers kin Derek Trucks to provide a stellar slide guitar solo on “Stare At The Sun”, the latest preview of his forthcoming solo debut, Wild & Precious Life, due out July 14th.
With deceivingly simple lyrics evoking a struggle that seems vaguely religious in nature, “Stare At The Sun” was inspired by Trucks’ description of Betts’ father, guitar player Dickey Betts, as “a player that’s not afraid to stare directly at the sun.” The song starts out calm and slowly builds intensity, crescendoing like a typical Allman Brothers jam before ultimately reaching a climax at the end of a sweet then incendiary slide guitar solo from the unmistakable Trucks. Its predictable arc makes the track no less moving, and Betts’ voice—both his literal singing voice and his musical voice, honed over two-plus decades performing as a sideman and bandleader in various projects—gives the song a unique character, like a new but familiar planet in the ever-expanding Allman Brothers universe.
“Stare At The Sun” follows the album’s lead single, “Waiting on a Song”, and will appear on Wild & Precious Life alongside collaborations with Marcus King and Nicki Bluhm in addition to Trucks. The album was recorded live to tape over two weeks in Trucks and his wife Susan Tedeschi’s Swamp Raga studio.
Betts and his band Palmetto Motel will hit the road in support of Wild & Precious Life this summer. In addition to previously announced tour dates and festival appearances surrounding the album’s release in July, the band has added eight co-bill shows with Maggie Rose in June. That run will also include the band’s debut at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN. Click below for a full list of tour dates, and for more information and tickets, visit Betts’ website.
Duane Betts – “Stare At The Sun” (ft. Derek Trucks)
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