Warren Haynes New Solo Album, Million Voices Whisper, Out Now
GRAMMY® Award-winning vocalist, songwriter, guitar legend, producer, and Gov’t Mule front man Warren Haynes has released his new solo album, Million Voices Whisper, via Fantasy Records. CLICK HERE to listen. Million Voices Whisper, Warren’s first solo album in almost a decade and fourth solo collection in his esteemed career catalog, was recorded at Power Station New England and produced by Haynes. The 11-song set of soulful blues-rock includes the lead single “This Life As We Know It,” which recently reached Top 15 on the Americana singles chart and Top 40 at Triple A radio, and the previously released single “Day of Reckoning” featuring Lukas Nelson and Jamey Johnson. Million Voices Whisper also features guest appearances from Haynes’s Allman Brothers Band compatriot Derek Trucks on multiple tracks including “Real Real Love,” a song whose lyrics were initially started by Gregg Allman that Haynes finished to honor his friend. CLICK HERE to watch a behind-the-song video from Warren and Derek for “Real Real Love.” Million Voices Whisper is out now digitally and on CD with a deluxe CD version also available including four bonus songs. Vinyl will ship on November 15th. CLICK HERE to order.
“This album is unlike any of my previous solo records, but also humbly honors a lot of my musical roots,” shares Haynes. “It’s an interesting combination of soul music, blues, rock, and my singer/songwriter side – hopefully something for everyone. I also did a lot of soul searching while writing the lyrics and found great appreciation in my life, so these songs mostly have a more positive attitude. We’ve all been through so much over the last few years. At times like these I feel it's important to look around you and within you and see the light instead of the darkness. Being in the studio with this new band of exceptional players, as well as my brothers Derek, Lukas, and Jamey, added to the joy and positivity surrounding the music. I’m really proud of this new album and hope it translates to the listener.”
Of “Real Real Love,” Haynes says, “This was a song that was started but never finished by Gregg Allman. He had showed it to me and we had talked about it, and I completed it after he died. I finished it in a way that’s reflective of the way Gregg wrote and then invited Derek Trucks to be part of the recording process, which really took it to the desired next level. I wanted to write it as if Gregg were singing it. Even in the way we approach the song as a band, and in the way I approach it as a singer, I had his presence in mind the entire time.”
Trucks adds, “I remember Warren calling me saying he had this lyric that he was working on with Gregg before he passed. Immediately that’s intriguing and feels like something you have to finish, and he wanted me to be part of it. The way we went about recording it with Warren singing and me playing fills immediately made me think about Duane and Gregg doing ‘Please Call Home’ and that feeling, so that is where my head was thinking about that and those guys.”
On Million Voices Whisper, Haynes sounds as energetic and focused as ever. Accompanying Warren are members of his current all-star band including John Medeski on keyboards, longtime drummer Terence Higgins (of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band), and Gov’t Mule bassist Kevin Scott. In addition to reuniting with his Last Waltz Tour co-stars Nelson and Johnson, the guest appearances from Trucks mark the first time the two longtime friends and former bandmates have been in the studio together since the final sunset of the ABB.
Buzzing throughout Million Voices Whisper is the question of how to make things better – in love, in life, in the world – led by Haynes’ soaring vocals and the poignancy of his six-string mastery on full display. The album opens with "These Changes," a co-write with Trucks, leading into “Go Down Swinging,” co-written with Johnson, which features a horn section and a Van Morrison vibe. There’s the soulful power ballad “Till The Sun Comes Shining Through” driven by Warren’s impassioned vocals and slide guitar skills. The expressive pipes of touring backup singer Saundra Williams are also heard on multiple tracks including “This Life As We Know It,” Warren’s universal message for embracing the positivity of change and looking forward through a new lens – one that starts within. “Day of Reckoning,” co-written with Nelson, is a forceful call for change nodding to the rebellious late ‘60s and early ‘70s. The track’s lyrics also supply the album’s title: “Million voices whisper, getting louder when they sing / Million spirits waiting on a day of reckoning.” Among the four bonus tracks on the deluxe CD version is a new version of the Trucks-Haynes composition “Back Where I Started” featuring Warren on lead vocals and slide guitar and the power trio of Haynes, Nelson and Johnson covering the CSNY classic “Find The Cost of Freedom” into an extended version of “Day of Reckoning.” Full track listing for Million Voices Whisper below.
CLICK HERE to watch “Warren Haynes – Live From The Power Station” featuring stripped-down, in-studio performances of a selection of new songs from Million Voices Whisper including “From Here On Out” and “Back Where I Started” as well as “Real Real Love” and a cover of Tammy Wynette’s “Till I Can Make It On My Own.”
Warren will celebrate the release of Million Voices Whisper tomorrow, Saturday, November 2nd, with a special in-store performance and signing at Looney Tunes Record Store in West Babylon, NY. The event will be livestreamed on Facebook. CLICK HERE for more information on how to attend.
Earlier this week, Haynes, a native of Asheville, and Dave Matthews Band announced “SOULSHINE,” a benefit concert to aid relief and recovery efforts in Western North Carolina and Florida in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Taking place Sunday, November 24th at Madison Square Garden, the all-star event – featuring performances from DMB, Warren Haynes Band, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, and Goose along with very special guests Trey Anastasio, Mavis Staples, Robert Randolph, Joe Russo, Trombone Shorty, Susan Tedeschi, and Derek Trucks – is now sold out. Net proceeds will benefit the SOULSHINE Concert Fund at the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, which will benefit Habitat for Humanity’s 2024 Hurricane Recovery fund and will also support a variety of non-profits on the ground in North Carolina and Florida. Visit SOULSHINEMSG.COM to learn more or make a donation.
Following “SOULSHINE,” Haynes will wrap the year with Gov’t Mule’s annual New Year’s Run – December 28th at College Street Music Hall in New Haven, Connecticut and December 30th and 31st at The Beacon Theatre in New York City – and then launch 2025 with his annual concert-cation experience Island Exodus 15 in Jamaica from January 19-23. Visit www.warrenhaynes.net for more information on all upcoming shows and look for more tour dates for 2025 to be announced soon.
Million Voices Whisper is a set of powerful, soulful tracks that combine the eloquent musicianship of a triple-threat blues-rocker with the glowing spirit of a vital creative artist at the peak of his powers. It is Warren Haynes’s best album yet.
