Grammy Award-winning vocalist, songwriter and guitar legend Warren Haynes is best known for his work with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the Southern rock jam band Gov't Mule. Along with Haynes, current members of Gov’t Mule are Matt Abts, Danny Louis and Jorgen Carlsson. Allen Woody, co-founder of the band, passed away in 2000 at the age of 44.

Gov’t Mule’s 12th studio album, Heavy Load Blues, dropped November 12, 2021, and the deluxe edition of the record was recently released digitally across all streaming platforms. The band’s first ever blues album, which debuted at number one on the Billboard Blues Albums chart upon its original release, encompasses an even mix of Haynes’ originals and revered covers.

In a brand new interview with Smashing Interviews Magazine, Haynes discussed his relationship with Heart vocalist Ann Wilson and their collaboration on her new solo album, Fierce Bliss.

Haynes discusses their collaboration in the following excerpt:

Smashing Interviews Magazine: I wanted to talk to you about Ann Wilson and your collaboration on her new solo album, Fierce Bliss. How did that come about?

Warren Haynes: I love Ann. We’ve known each other for several years now. It all started with the promoters at this event in Virginia called LOCKN’ which is a big outdoor festival. They like to pair groups and artists together and get people together that have never performed together before. It’s like one of their things, and it’s really cool. There’s been a lot of beautiful things that have happened on stage due to that kind of concept. So they called me one year and said, “Who do you want to perform with?” We started making a list of people that might be a cool combination. Somebody brought up Ann. I said, “Oh, yeah. That’s great. I love that idea. If she’s into it, let’s do it.”

So they called her, and she was into it. We just talked on the phone about what songs we could do together. We both love Led Zeppelin, so we did a few Led Zeppelin songs. We did one of her songs. We did a Janis Joplin song. We did a song that Gov’t Mule recorded that Ann had also recorded called “Mother Earth.” It just turned out great. So that was the beginning of a friendship and musical relationship. She invited me down to her place in Florida to play on her previous solo record. I played a Tom Petty song called “Luna,” and I played on her remake of this Lesley Gore song “You Don’t Own Me.”

Then Ann called about making this next solo record and said, “Let’s write something.” So we wrote two songs together for that record. They seemed like Gov’t Mule songs that needed Ann Wilson’s voice, so we went in the studio at Power Station while we were making Heavy Load Blues and that whole scene. She came up for that. We recorded those two songs in that studio, and then she joined us on stage for a live show. She’s come to Christmas Jam, my charity event in Asheville that I do. Ann’s just a really cool person and just a wonderful singer. Her voice is one of those voices that, as soon as she starts singing, you know who it is.

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About the authors:

Marc Parker is an American journalist, author, artist, a photographer and a computer scientist. He is the founder/publisher/editor-in-chief of Smashing Interviews Magazine. Marc Parker's social media: Twitter Facebook

Melissa Benefield Parker is an American journalist and author. She is the founder/publisher of Smashing Interviews Magazine. Melissa Benefield Parker's social media: Twitter Facebook