Guitarist and singer-songwriter Duane Betts cut his teeth sitting-in regularly as a teen with Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees The Allman Brothers Band. A Sarasota, Florida native, Betts relocated to Southern California and led Malibu rock outfits such as Backbone69 and Whitestarr, then ascended to a near-decade stint playing guitar alongside his father, Dickey Betts, in his group, Great Southern. Whether as a touring guitarist for folk-rockers Dawes or sharing the stage with luminaries from Jack Johnson and G. Love to Kid Rock and Phil Lesh, Betts became a consummate musician, honing his craft, and issuing his first solo effort in 2017.
After a brief, but celebrated stint with Jamtown- a supergroup featuring Love, Donovan Frankenreiter, and Cisco Adler- Betts took his own six-string stories- impassioned songs portraying a life and a history steeped in blues, rock, and country music tradition- and released his long-awaited recording debut: Sketches of American Music.
With venerable guitar, timeworn vocals and enlightened, seasoned songwriting- enlisting the guiding pen of respected songsmith Stoll Vaughan and veterans Steve Cropper (Booker T. & the M.G.’s) and Marc Ford (Black Crowes) for a production hand on sessions in Nashville and Los Angeles- Betts delivered Sketches in April of 2018.
In support, Betts released two videos for the EP’s singles- “Taking Time” and “Downtown Runaround- and undertook a year-long world tour with the Devon Allman Project. Betts also reunited with dad Dickey and his Band for a round of summer 2018 tour dates before officially announcing at year’s end the formation of The Allman Betts Band.