Connecting Southern music, history, & culture one story at a time
Duane Allman's vision continues to inspire
I’ve been thinking lately about how much Long Live the ABB has grown1—and how much of that is thanks to this incredible community that explores the crossroads of southern music, history, and culture here on this blog/newsletter.
Whether you’ve been reading since day one or just found your way here, your support—reading, sharing, and subscribing—helps keep the unending conversation alive.
Why I Do This
Long Live the ABB is where my passions as a historian, museum professional, writer, and fan intersect in an examination of Southern music, history, and culture. My medium is prose, my palette is the roots, branches, leaves, offshoots of Duane Allman and the Allman Brothers Band.
I’m proud of what I’ve built here at Long Live the ABB.
I enjoy sharing the Allman Brothers Band’s influence on Southern culture with y’all. I’m making sense of the world in my own peculiar way and I’m glad to have y’all here.
Here are two examples where I really feel like I hit the mark of what I’m striving for
🍄A strange coincidence I found researching “In Memory of Elizabeth Reed”2
Long Live the ABB thrives because of people who believe in the value of what it I’m offering. Paid subscriptions are a testament to the shared love of music that fuels this project. I read them as “Thank you, Bob. Your work hits home for me.” This feels good, because I’m still getting comfortable with the vulnerability it takes to do this. Rather than something tangible, I’m counting on the fact that Long Live the ABB brings at least $1.85 a week in value back to paid subscribers.
At least that was my M.O. until today.
This year, in addition to exclusive content and signed Play All Night bookplates…
I commissioned one-of-a-kind Long Live the ABB swag
FOUNDING MEMBERS will receive one of these amazing, hand-painted, limited-edition Long Live the ABB ornaments from Macon-based artist Peter Nogas @PsychodelikPete. I’ve admired his stuff for years, and am super stoked about how great all of this has turned out so far.
For December only, I’m making 6 of these limited-edition (10) pieces available to Founding Members of Long Live the ABB.
Paid subscribers, I haven’t forgotten y’all.
All paid subscribers (Founding Members included) will get a download of the cover to Play All Night! Duane Allman and the Journey to Fillmore East reimagined by Brett Underhill, @PorkchopBobStudio. Brett made four versions of the cover, one featuring the famous Fillmore East light show.
I’ve been a HUGE fan of Brett’s work since I came across his animation of “Statesboro Blues” featuring various eras of the Allman Brothers Band.3 It was a really compelling piece of digital art about my favorite band that I just loved. It really carried the Long Live the ABB spirit—a celebration of the entirety of the band’s history.
His designs and Pete’s, are all available at the Long Live the ABB Merch Store. Here’s a sample.
UPGRADE TODAY
All paid subscribers get…
First access to all paid content
Play All Night signed bookplate and Long Live the ABB swag
Downloadable alternate Play All Night cover to print & frame or use as desktop wallpaper.
Founding Members get…
ALL OF THE ABOVE
ONE limited-edition, hand-painted Long Live the ABB/Psychodelik Pete ornament
A signed copy of Play All Night! Duane Allman and the Journey to Fillmore East
Don’t want to subscribe but still want to support?
Throw a little in the tip jar.
Why this matters
Because history matters. Because storytelling matters. Because music matters. These are the crossroads I explore here as a writer and interpreter.
My approach has always been, “I find this interesting; maybe you will too.” Whether it’s discussing an Allman Brothers Band charity gig in my hometown of Stuart, Florida or exploring the Southern Gothic connections in the Allman Brothers’ music at a conference in Dublin, my goal is to share stories that resonate.
My ulterior motive is that you will find new ways to look at the world around you and share those with others. It’s an outcome I rarely, if ever, directly see. But I know it’s happening because that’s how I operate when I come across people with interesting ideas.
Curating an experience4
Ultimately I am curating an experience around the exploration of the ways Southern music, history, & culture intersects in myriad ways.
From collaborations with Allman Brothers-inspired artists like Brett and Pete to the research and thought that goes into every post, I aim to bring a level of care and creativity to Long Live the ABB that matches the music I love. I don’t see these exclusive offers as perks—they’re extensions of the story, crafted with the same love for the band and its legacy that drives everything I do.
Merch!
Want more? Check out the Long Live the ABB merch store. Here’s a sampling—including the artwork here and several of my own photographs from over the years. (Click image for Redbubble store.)
With appreciation
Your subscription, paid or otherwise, means the world and I’m glad to have you here.
Where she died is tangential to the ABB story:
Here’s that video again if you skipped it above
I can hear some of my museum colleagues gasping in horror that I used the precious “curate” term in a non-museum setting.
Bob, you're really growing this project. Well done. Nice SWAG. Glad we got you to Roots. Was it some kind of Universal artistic foreshadowing that they chose the Bon Mausoleum at Rose Hill for that first back cover ?