Gov’t Mule New Bassist Band Welcomes Jorgen Carlsson

GOV’T MULE WELCOMES NEW BASS PLAYER
New Bassist Jorgen Carlsson To Debut on Fall Tour

The New Gov’t Mule by Jay Blakesberg

Balancing evocative songs and expressive improvisation, Gov’t Mule is a band rooted in both the personal and musical chemistry between its members. “It’s not one of those groups that can make a change overnight,” explains founding guitarist/vocalist Warren Haynes. It is only after six months of rehearsing, jamming, and hanging out with bassist Jorgen Carlsson that he has been added to the band as their new permanent bass player, replacing Andy Hess, who joined in 2003.

When founding bassist Allen Woody passed away in 2000, Haynes explains, “We were faced with the daunting task of replacing a one-of-a-kind musician, which I’m sure was intimidating for Andy, who did a wonderful job and brought his own personality into the music. Jorgen’s style is somewhere between Woody’s and Andy’s. He brings some of Woody’s aggressive spirit back although he is very much his own man.” Carlsson was born in Sweden and has been active as a session musician and studio owner since arriving in the U.S. in 1991.

Founded by Haynes, Woody, and drummer Matt Abts in 1994 as a power-trio, Gov’t Mule has, over the course of eight studio albums, several more live projects, and over 1300 concert performances, built both an extensive, evolving body of work and a devoted fan base. In addition, the band has sold 1.5 million downloads on its website mule.net, sold over one million albums, and received a Grammy nomination. Keyboardist Danny Louis joined as a full-time member in 2003. With Hess leaving to pursue other opportunities, Haynes sees the addition of Jorgen as connecting the past and future of Gov’t Mule: “Having worked with Jorgen over the last several months, we are very excited to explore some new directions while at the same time going back a little closer to our roots.”

On September 16, Gov’t Mule will release the double live DVD The Tale of Two Cities, which spans the entire preceding era of the band with Andy Hess on bass. It is composed of two complete shows filmed the first date of the fall 2004 Deja Voodoo tour and the last date of the winter 2006 High and Mighty tour.

Gov’t Mule’s Kinder Revolution fall tour begins on October 30 and runs through November 22, and includes performances on Halloween at the Orpheum Theater in Boston, two night stands at the Pantages Theater in Minneapolis and the Fillmore in San Francisco, shows at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia, the Chevrolet Theatre in Wallingford, CT, and more. Following the tour, Gov’t Mule will, for the seventh year in a row, celebrate the new year with a series of performances in New York City: two acoustic shows on December 27 and 28 at the Angel Orensanz Center in the Lower East Side, then two electric shows at the Hammerstein Ballroom on December 30 and 31, with the New Year’s Eve show featuring the traditional three sets.

Check out JamBase’s exclusive interview with Warren Haynes on JamBaseTV.