Duane Betts Roared into Syracuse With New Album & Attitude

Duane Betts rocked Syracuse at Funk N Waffles on March 20 in support of his new record Wild & Precious Life.

By the time Duane Betts began working on Wild & Precious Life — his triumphant debut solo album — he’d already spent two decades creating his version of guitar-slinging, story-driven American rock & roll.

“It felt like the right time to make something entirely my own vision,” he says. “This is a record that guitar players will love, but at its core, it’s really a song record. It’s an album about who I am, where I come from, and what I believe in.”

The years leading up to Wild & Precious Life‘s creation were a whirlwind. Duane cut his teeth with the bands Backbone69 and Whitestarr, then spent the better part of ten years playing guitar alongside his father — legendary Allman Brothers co-founder Dickey Betts — as a member of Dickey Betts & Great Southern. He’d also travel the world as a touring member of Dawes before releasing an EP of his own songs, Sketches of American Music, in 2018. As the decade drew to a close, Duane co-founded The Allman Betts Band, releasing two records in 2019 and 2020.

Even so, the need to create a full-length solo album; one that was a nod to his musical roots while simultaneously pushing ahead into new territory, continued to gnaw at him. “I wanted to make a record which would really capture that old school Florida vibe,” says the Sarasota native. Following his instincts, Duane assembled his dream team of musicians — including guitarist Johnny Stachela, bassist Berry Duane Oakley, keyboardist John Ginty, and drummer Tyler Greenwell. He took up his old friends Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks on an offer to record at their Swamp Raga Studio in Jacksonville. Wild & Precious Life was recorded to two-inch analog tape during a series of live-in-the-recording-studio performances in 2022.

“We set up as a band, tracked everything live, and kept whichever takes had the magic,” says Duane, who co-produced the album with Stachela and Ginty. The band welcomed several guests into the fold too, finding room for Marcus King (who swaps guitar solos with Duane on “Cold Dark World”), Nicki Bluhm (whose haunting harmonies run throughout the country-flavored “Colors Fade”), and Derek Trucks (who contributes searing guitar leads to the album highlight “Stare at the Sun”). Bobby Tis handled the album’s engineering duties, while seven-time Grammy winner Jim Scott mixed.

Betts continues his tour with a show in Patchogue tonight with Blackberry Smoke before heading down under for a run of shows. He’ll return to this neck of the woods in June. On June 12 he performs with Palmetto Motel at the Center for the Arts of Homer and with the same lineup at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock on June 14. Tickets are on sale now. Click here for more dates and ticketing information.

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