Warren Haynes Shares the Most Important Lesson He Learned from His Friendship with the Late Phil Lesh (Exclusive)

Many younger fans know Warren Haynes as the frontman of the jam band Gov’t Mule. However, his musical resume is long and impressive. For instance, he spent years playing guitar for the Allman Brother Band. He also played with David Allan Coe, The Dickey Betts Band, and much more. He was also in the most iconic iteration of Phil Lesh and Friends.

Lesh, a founding member of the Grateful Dead and a major player in the jam band world passed away earlier this month. In a recent interview with American Songwriter, Haynes reflected on his time in Lesh’s band, The Phil Lesh Quintet, and shared the biggest lesson he learned from his late friend.

[RELATED: 4 Unforgettable Grateful Dead Songs Co-Written by Phil Lesh]

The Lesson Warren Haynes Learned from Phil Lesh

“I learned so much from Phil but one of the main takeaways would be how to not put pressure on the music to be anything other than what it is,” Warren Haynes said.  “He was totally about living for the moment and playing for the moment. When things went south it was just as much fun for him as when the band was soaring,” he recalled.

“I think his view on that and his approach and probably everyone in the Grateful Dead, for that matter, would share the view that it’s the journey that takes you there. The only way to get the magical results is to put yourself out there completely and let the music take over,” he explained. “That means sometimes it’s going to get lost and you’ve got to rediscover it,” Haynes added.

“I just learned so much about not being judgmental about what music has to be from Phil. He was the most open-minded musician I’ve ever worked with.”

Haynes on His Time with the Phil Lesh Quintet

“I have so many great memories of playing with Phil, working with Phil, hanging out,” Warren Haynes said when asked about Lesh. “We did so much together and I learned so much from our relationship. I have extremely fond memories of The Phil Lesh Quintet which was myself and Jimmy Herring, John Molo, and Rob Barraco, and Phil,” he recalled.

“That band had the luxury of staying together for a long time. We actually did tours together which I don’t think any other versions of Phil Lesh and Friends were able to do. It really built this musical chemistry as well as a personal chemistry which was fantastic,” Haynes said. They were also the only iteration of Phil Lesh and Friends to release an album. They dropped There and Back Again in 2002.

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