Celebrated guitar player releases intimate, soulful album of stripped down versions of songs from his 2024 release.
Warren Haynes is a noted guitar player, vocalist, songwriter, producer and Grammy winner, whose long, long career has covered such genres as southern rock, blues, and americana. Haynes’ work has encompassed the Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule, David Allan Coe, The Dead, the Warren Haynes Band and as a solo artist, as well as being a respected and in demand session musician. He has performed and recorded with a wide range of artists, including Dave Matthews Band, Phil Lesh & Friends, Peter Frampton, Chris Stapleton, Coheed and Cambria, Dave Grohl, Carlos Santana, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton.
Early in his career, Haynes spent time crafting his songwriting skills, which led to Garth Brooks recording a song, ‘Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House‘ for his “No Fences” album; the song was co-written by Haynes, Dennis Robbins, and Bobby Boyd. The song was released as a single in 1991, reaching number 1 on the Billboard US Hot Country Songs chart.
Haynes was awarded a Grammy at the 38th Awards in 1996, for Best Rock Instrumental Performance, with the Allman Brothers Band for the song ‘Jessica‘.
As a highly respected guitarist, Haynes was recently honoured by Gibson Guitars with the introduction of a Signature guitar to his configuration, when it launched the Warren Haynes Les Paul Standard in distinctive ’60’s’ cherry red finish.
“The Whisper Sessions” is, generally speaking, a collection of stripped-down versions of songs from Haynes’ previous solo release from November 2024, “Million Voices Whisper“, which was his first solo release since “Ashes & Dust“, almost a decade earlier. “The Whisper Sessions” is a digital-only release, therefore banging down the door of your local record store is unlikely to give you the opportunity to grab a physical copy of the record. The self-produced record features Haynes’ longtime Allman Brothers Band bandmate Derek Trucks on three songs.
Opener ‘Back Where I Started‘ is a song that featured only on the deluxe version of “Million Voices Whisper“, here we get acoustic guitar and Haynes’ voice sounding very soulful (as it does throughout the album); the song was co-written by Trucks and Haynes. ‘Till The Sun Comes Shining Through‘ is a slide guitar-based ballad; it was co-written by Haynes, Matt Dragstrem and Rhett Atkins (country star Thomas Rhett’s Dad). ‘From Here On Out‘ is one of the more uptempo songs on the LP; it’s a really good listen; you could easily think that you’re listening to Jason Isbell.
On ‘You Ain’t Above Me‘ Haynes produces a stunning, passionate vocal performance, doing full justice to lyrics such as “You Ain’t Above Me, And I ain’t gonna let you tear me down no more“. ‘Real, Real Love‘ was co-written by Haynes and Gregg Allman and features Trucks; it’s one of the record’s highlights, with the additional (slide) guitar embellishments and short slide guitar solo making a real difference, here.
‘These Changes‘ again features Trucks and we again see the benefit of the extra guitar. The instrumental spot, with the two guitar maestros trading licks for the final two minutes or so of the song, is a joy to behold. Of this, Haynes says “(It) was not in the original arrangement as we wrote it – it just came about organically once we started recording the song. It was a great opportunity for the two of us to rekindle our chemistry that we’ve had for a long time”. Listening to it, you can imagine the grins on the faces of the two protagonists as they played.
The final track on the album is a delightful extended cover of the Allman Brothers Band’s ‘Melissa‘. Written by Gregg Allman and Steve Alaimo, the song originally appeared on the Allman Brothers Band’s 1972 “Eat a Peach” LP. Again, there’s fantastic interplay between the guitars of Haynes and Trucks. (according to the chat between the players at the end of the track, this was recorded in one take).
Of the LP, Haynes says “We didn’t plan to release stripped-down versions of the songs from “Million Voices Whisper”, it just kind of happened organically.” The versions of the songs on “The Whisper Sessions” consist generally of just voice and acoustic or electric guitar accompaniment, which puts the focus on Haynes’ voice; thankfully his voice is up there with his guitar playing as an expressive instrument. That said, the songs that shine brightest on this release are those on which Hayne is accompanied by Trucks; the renditions just come across better with two guitars instead of one.
For those familiar with most of these songs from last year’s “Million Voices Whisper“, the simpler, more intimate presentations on “The Whisper Sessions” versions are different enough to make this release worthwhile, however it’s certain that some people have a definite preference for the full blown versions that feature on “Million Voices Whisper“; at the end of the day, it’s nice to have the choice.
