Matt Abts, longtime drummer for the band Gov’t Mule, took
the band’s 2011 hiatus as an opportunity to explore new collaborations, and the
Planet of the Abts [POA] was born. Abts is joined in Planet of the Abts by Mule
bassist Jorgen Carlsson and guitarist T Bone Andersson, both of whom had met as
session musicians in LA, long before Carlsson joined Mule in 2008. Having
recently circled New England during the last months of 2011, the electric rock
trio appeared on stage and on their self-titled debut (produced by Steve
Holyrod and released independently through Hitthenote.com) as being a thrashingly
good trio, in the tradition of Cream. The 2011 POA tour began with a brief west
coast run, a handful of dates in the northeast, and ended with the group
reuniting with Mule bandmates, as well as guests including Bela Fleck and Del
McCoury, at Warren Haynes’ annual Christmas Jam fundraiser/festival in
Asheville, North Carolina on December 10.
In some ways, POA bridges the gap between the Allman
Brothers-inflected jam band sound of Gov’t Mule (originally a side project of
Allman alums Warren Haynes and Allen Woody) and the strategic power blues
settings of John Mayall and Led Zeppelin.
At the very least, POA has been an excellent use of the hiatus from tiring Mule
tours during 2011. In an interview, Abts said he couldn’t have imagined getting
“POA off the ground between Mule tour,” and the result—onstage and in the studio—of
Abts’ efforts are clear. POA’s original material on their release (songs like
“Trying to Be Myself” and “Dressed Up Looking Fine”) make clear the three
members’ attention to detail; their recording (an analog one, made at a studio
co-owned by Holyrod and Carlsson) offers far more diligent musicianship across what
were originally conceived of as more loose, space-cadet moments. At POA’s fastest,
they resemble a grungier, more complicated version of the electric blues,
padded by an appropriate and interesting variety of musical introductions and
conclusions, more thoughtful than the worst moments of the Grateful Dead, and
constructed with more care than the best moments of Lynyrd Skynyrd. There is no
sloppy noodling, and there are no extended and aimless jams on Abts’ Planet,
but rather an ever-present progress in the simplest of three-chord songs. POA
is a trio that moves quickly on its six collective feet; there is much
communication between the members at work in the music. The scant lyrics of
ever-serious introspection, and the abundance of soaring guitar notes, hover
above the thunderous and solid rhythm section.
Abts is a wise and seasoned leader of this new musical
Planet, and shows his leadership in running an outfit that proves itself
flexible and fluent. Bassist Jorgen Carlsson played informally with Gov’t Mule
since the untimely passing of founding member and bassist Allen Woody in 2000,
and became the band’s steady bassist in 2008. He and Abts had a keen
relationship, one built of careful and flowing riffs and fills; Abts appears
ever at ease, and the trio smiled a lot at each other during both shows. T Bone
Andersson’s guitar work was mysterious
and elusive in its origin, never shying away from the sudden and the brash, and
expressive on his axe, and through a multitude of amps. Singing lyrics to
“Circus” in performance, Andersson appeared emboldened, knowing well the simple
tune and its nuances. Carlsson joined in on vocals on occasion; Abts, from
behind the drum set, shouted verses to the band’s lone and choice cover that
appears on the album, and shone in concert--the Rolling Stones’ “Off The Hook.”
Performances included interesting and technically accurate Hendrix covers,
including “Spanish Castle Magic,” the Doors’ “Light My Fire,” and T Rex’s
“Children of the Revolution.”
Abts, Carlsson, and T Bone carried audiences to new
prog-rock heights during the first weeks of December 2011, including two gigs
in Massachusetts (Blue Ocean Music Hall in Salisbury Beach was Abts’ favorite
venue of their northeast tour), two nights in Vermont, and an appearance as
part of Levon Helm’s weekly Saturday night Ramble, in Woodstock, New York,
before heading south for dates in the New York metro area. Following Warren
Haynes’ annual fundraiser in North Carolina, Gov’t Mule returns to ring in the
New Year with their triumphant return across a pair of shows at the Beacon
Theater in New York City. Across the short 2011 tour, POA were joined by Mule
keyboardist Danny Louis at the New Ocean Music Hall, appeared with the Levon
Helm Band in upstate New York, and catered with ease to unique crowds across
two Vermont venues: the seated, contemplative listening room that is the Tupelo
Music Hall in White River Junction, and the jam-band-aficionados attending the
show at the cavernous South Burlington venue Higher Ground. Abts’ relationship
with Vermont and New England runs deeply, being “one of the first markets we
[Gov’t Mule] ever played,” he said, adding that Mule has played Higher Ground
in Burlington over twenty-five times. A small drum manufacturer in Putney,
Vermont produces Abts’ custom signature djembe; his relationship with
Everyone’s Drumming began when, in celebration of the birth of his son,
original Mule bassist Allen Woody gave Abts one of Nathaniel Hall’s handmade
African ashikos, upon which was carved “a mother, father, and baby,” Abts
explained. While his work with Gov’t Mule and other side projects have
established him as one of the steadiest and most prolific drummers in live rock
performance, Abts maintained that his “approach to the drum set” comes from study
of the open and raucous sound of percussionists in the big band era, namely,
Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich. Abts responded favorably to a suggestion that his
next solo project be to form a jazz band, in the style of his percussion
heroes; for now, his rhythmic Planet represents his keen ability to coordinate
and invent new musical collaborations.
