Musical veterans band together as Once An Outlaw
The five members of Once An Outlaw have a long history in Southern rock. Macon, Georgia, native Chris Hicks played guitar with the Marshall Tucker Band for many years. Chris Anderson, born in Florida and raised in Spartanburg, South Carolina, spent time in the Outlaws, as did bass player Jeff Howell — who also toured with English blues rockers Foghat.
A.J. Vallee was mentored by Blackfoot drummer Jakson Spires and played in the Southern Rock All-Stars before joining guitarist Chuck Farrell in the Allman Brothers centric band The Peacheaters, called “the greatest tribute act in America” by Outlaws founding member Henry Paul.
“They capture the spirit and passion of the Allmans, and that ain’t easy,” he said.
With all that shared experience, however, it took time and fate to make them a band.
“We’ve all enjoyed being a small part of their legacies, and being able to go out and play these songs for people,” Hicks said of his membership in the Southern rock brethren, during a recent interview that included Anderson and Farrell. “Even though we’ve all been in these bands at different times, we’ve never really played together that much.”
Hicks was set to hit the road with Marshall Tucker this summer in support of Charlie Daniels’ Fire On The Mountain anniversary tour, but those plans were dealt a one-two blow — Daniels’ death and Covid-19. So when Farrell rang up Anderson with an offer for him and Hicks to head north and play a few shows, both were ready.
They left Nashville, where both currently live, in mid-August, arriving for an abbreviated Bike Week in Laconia. Five sold-out socially distanced shows “went really great,” Anderson said. “We had a ball. … People really seemed to enjoy it.”
Their sets featured a mixture of hits from the many groups they’ve played in, songs like “Green Grass and High Tides,” “Hurry Sundown,” “Can’t You See,” “Heard It In a Love Song,” “Take the Highway,” ”Slow Ride,” “Fool for the City,” “Tell Mama” and others.
Hicks was happy to leave hot and humid Tennessee to play for a live audience after months of down time.
“People are just ready to get out and see some music,” he said. “They’ve been quarantined for so long, you know there’s a lot of energy on both sides.”
He also relished an opportunity to jam with Anderson, whose resume includes Grinderswitch, Bad Company and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
“I’m not saying this to promote the show,” he said. “Chris Anderson has always been one of my favorite guitar players. You have to see him play to know what I’m talking about — it’s just a natural, very heartfelt thing.”
Unlike Hicks and Anderson, Farrell and Vallee are native New Englanders, and Howell hails from upstate New York. But geography doesn’t matter, Farrell said.
“It’s in you,” he said, adding he loves that “there’s no brain hemorrhaging with this music; you just go out and do it,” he said. “It’s a language — in the front it’s three guys playing guitar, with a great rhythm section and everyone having a good time.”
A native of the Allmans’ home base, Hicks discovered the harmony guitar and jam ethics of the genre at a very young age and was captivated. He was also taken with the freewheeling spirit evoked by the music and its players.
“In 1968, my great uncle told me, ‘The hippies have moved in down the street; let’s go look and see what they’re doing.’”
The Allman Brothers Band lived at nearby Idlewild South Farm, a commune that gave their first album its title.
“It’s right outside of Macon, which grows the best mushrooms in the world. That’s why they made their logo like that, they like them so much,” Hicks recalled. “The first thing I saw was a beautiful blonde girl naked riding a horse on the side of the road. I said, ‘You know what. this is gonna be pretty cool.’ It only got better from there.”
Featured Photo: Once An Outlaw. Courtesy photo.
Once An Outlaw
When: Saturday, Sept. 12, 1:30 p.m. (Gates at Noon)
Where: Alpine Grove, 19 S. Depot St., Hollis
Tickets: $25 and up at alivenkickingprod.simpletix.com
The Bob Wolfman Band opens
