I had the great honor of performing at the Georgia Allman Brothers Band Association annual festival (GABBAfest) in Macon, Georgia. This year, the event was centered on a tribute to Dickey Betts. The entire event was simply amazing. There were many fine musicians who had played and toured with Dickey, as well as a fabulous house band, The Restless Natives.

I performed Ramblin’ Man at the concert dedicated to honoring Dickey Betts. How cool is that? I also had the chance to express my appreciation for Dickey’s talent and his profound influence on my life and my development as a musician. It would be an understatement to say he completely changed my musical and life trajectory – for the better!

There were so many people at GABBAfest. Here are just a few.

There have been more than a few bassists with the Great Southern Band. At GABBAfest, there were three of us there. In some ways, it reminded me of Spinal Tap (3 bassists). It’s rare to get together with other fine bassists!

Dustin McCook was the defacto director on stage. He is a fine young player and made it easy for all the guest musicians to sit in with Restless Natives and do their part.

Next, the keyboards. Here are Mike Kach from Great Southern and A Brothers Revival and Bruce Katz from Greg Allman and Friends, Butch Trucks Freight Train Band, and Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band.

There were quite a few authors at the festival this year. Alan Paul, (One Way Out, Brothers and Sisters), Willie Perkins (No Saints No Saviors, Diary of a Rock and Roll Tour Manager, and The Allman Brothers Band Classic Memorabilia), and Bob Beatty, (Play All Night).

Here are a few more pictures for the GABBAFest weekend.