Gov't Mule

At heart a classic hard-rock band with a strong blues core, Gov't Mule favor heavy bottom rhythms and grand-gesture riffs predominantly built around the prodigious guitar talent of Warren Haynes. While that nominally puts Mule in league with the likes of Zeppelin and Bad Company, the quartet is actually a multidimensional outfit that thrives on improvisation and a crucial mix of the aforementioned rock and blues, plus infestations of jazz, reggae, and R&B, as befits a band that emerged as an offshoot of the second-generation Allman Brothers, in the guise of Haynes (who played Duane Allman's role), and the late bassist Allen Woody. Mule's latest project, Mighty High(ATO), is a dub/reggae album featuring radically remixed versions of Mule tunes from their last album (High & Mighty), plus an assortment of covers of the Band, Stones, and Otis Redding, with key assistance from Toots Hibbert, Michael Franti, and Willi Williams. Opening will be Vermont's Grace Potter, whose fine voice suggests a cross of Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, and Edie Brickell; and the Nocturnals, who favor expansive, rootsy rock 'n' roll suggestive of Tom Petty and the Band.
Wed., Oct. 31, 6 p.m., 2007