Duane Betts at the Raccoon Motel -- September 10.
Saturday, September 10, 6 p.m.
Raccoon Motel, 315 East Second Street, Davenport IA
Lauded by Blues Rock Review for 2018's Sketches of American Music, which the outlet deemed "an excellent debut album," singer/songwriter, guitarist, and Allman Betts Band member Duane Betts headlines a September 10 solo concert at Davenport's Raccoon Motel, his gifts leading All About Jazz to rave that "contemporary rock and blues may be in the hands of someone who not only appreciates its value, but may also have the talent(s) to do it justice."
Born in Sarasota, Florida, in 1978, Betts is the son of Allman Brothers Band member and co-founder Dickey Betts, and was named for Duane Allman, Dickey's bandmate who was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1971. Betts learned to play drums as a youth, switched to guitar at age 12, and four years later, he appeared onstage as a guest with the Allman Brothers Band at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheatre in Vail, Colorado. Later that summer, he also played with the band during its appearance at the Woodstock '94 music festival. In 2005, Dickey asked Betts to join Great Southern, formed in the wake of Dickey's 2000 parting with the Allman Brothers Band. Duane subsequently toured both nationally and internationally with the group, appearing on the CD/DVD Dickey Betts & Great Southern: Rockpalast 30 Years of Southern Rock 1978–2008, and the artist formed Brethren of the Coast in 2014, a group that was the opening artist on Dickey's final tour before his (first) retirement.
Betts officially became a touring member of folk-rock band Dawes in May 2015. Though he did not take part in the recording sessions that led to the group's 2015 album All Your Favorite Bands, he performed with the band for the entire touring cycle of the record, including appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman, at the Bonnaroo Festival, and at Lollapalooza Berlin. In 2017, Betts formed Duane Betts & the Pistoleers as a quartet performing his solo repertoire and covers of blues and rock classics and included guitarist Johnny Stachela. Two years later, an appearance at the Fillmore in San Francisco celebrating the late Gregg Allman's 70th birthday coincided with the announcement of a 2018 World Tour with Betts as a supporting artist and guest of the Devon Allman Project with Gregg's son Devon. In December of that year, Betts and Devon Allman announced the formation of the Allman Betts Band and recorded the group's debut album Down to the River at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. Not long after, Betts released his debut EP Sketches of American Music, and in May of 2018, Dickey came out of retirement to debut his new band - with Duane Betts returning on guitar - at a concert in Macon, Georgia.
Duane Betts plays his Davenport engagement on September 10, admission to the 6 p.m. concert is $20, and more information and tickets are available by visiting TheRaccoonMotel.com.
