The Other Magazine sits down with Warren Haynes to discuss 1971’s legendary rock albums, the neuroscience of cannabis and creativity, and why getting high before improvising changed everything.
Nobody alive has played the Beacon Theatre more than Warren Haynes. The number hovers around 300 shows, spanning over three decades, with groups such as; The Allman Brothers Band, Gov’t Mule, Phil Lesh & Friends, and various other configurations. For more than 20 years, those shows have anchored New York’s New Year’s Eve at the Beacon. The venue holds close to 3,000 people, but it feels strangely intimate in a way that bigger rooms never do.
“I really love the Beacon as a venue,” Haynes tells me. “It’s kind of home away from home. I just walk on stage and start playing. We’re used to the way it sounds and the way it feels. It’s just your comfort zone.”
1971: The Greatest Year in Rock History
For longtime Mule fans, these New Year’s shows have become legendary for their special middle sets, where the band steps outside their own catalogue to explore a theme. This year’s theme tackles what might be the single best 12 months rock and roll ever had: 1971. The Rolling Stones dropped Sticky Fingers. Led Zeppelin released IV. The Who put out Who’s Next. The Doors gave us L.A. Woman. The Allman Brothers recorded Live at Fillmore East. And that’s barely scratching the surface.
“1971 is probably or arguably the greatest year in rock history for recordings,” Haynes says. “When you look at the list of things that came out in 1971, it’s mind-blowing. I started with a list that was about a hundred albums, and narrowed it down, and narrowed it down again. We’re still narrowing it down. We’re going to run out of time.”
Past themes have included the Dub Side reggae set with Toots Hibbert in 2006, the AC/DC tribute with Myles Kennedy in 2014, and the Doors celebration with Robby Krieger. Each one is a master class in taking other people’s music and making it their own.
Cannabis and Creativity
If there’s one thread running through Haynes’ entire musical journey, it’s cannabis. Unlike many musicians who’ve stayed quiet about their relationship with the plant, Haynes has been open about it for decades, even when it could have hurt his career.
“It’s a very enlightening substance,” Haynes explains. “A friend of mine used to say, when I smoke weed, I always have a song in my head. It could be somebody else’s song, it could be a song you haven’t written yet, it could be just some theme for improvisation. There’s just something very musical about it. It relaxes you and shuts off the filters to the extent where creativity flows.”
For someone whose career is built on improvisation, cannabis offers something crucial: freedom from overthinking. “Especially in the world of improv, it’s an amazing experience to improvise under the influence,” Haynes says. “It’s such a benign thing, comparatively speaking, that the fact we’ve had to wait until now to look at this as normal is just ridiculous.”
The science backs him up. Research shows cannabis stimulates the frontal lobe, enhances divergent thinking, and alters time perception in ways that benefit improvisation. Louis Armstrong and Dizzy Gillespie famously talked about fitting more “grace beats” between notes—experiencing time as stretched, allowing for more nuanced phrasing and unexpected rhythmic choices. “It’s definitely a perspective alteration,” Haynes confirms. “It allows you to think differently in a way where you feel less pressure on the music and more connected to it.”
From NORML to New York
Haynes’ openness about cannabis hasn’t always been safe. In the 1990s, when Gov’t Mule was finding its footing, being publicly pro-cannabis could tank a career. Yet, Haynes and the band appeared on both NORML’s Hempilation benefit albums, covering Steppenwolf’s “Don’t Step on the Grass, Sam”.
“That was the first official recording that Gov’t Mule ever did,” Haynes reveals. “It was our first time in the studio officially as a band. We’re actually going to release that as part of the re-release of our first record next year with a complete bonus disc of outtakes and studio rarities.”
What drove him to take that stand when so many others stayed quiet?
“I grew up in the ’60s and ’70s, and there was a time in the ’70s when it looked like marijuana might get legalized,” Haynes recalls. “As someone who prefers cannabis to all the other choices, it’s way too benign to have deserved the treatment it’s gotten through the years. As Gov’t Mule was definitely a band that embraced that whole culture, it just seemed the right thing to do to advocate for legalization.”
Nearly three decades later, New York has over 500 legal dispensaries. Westchester County alone, where Haynes has lived for decades, has 22 cannabis retailers. The landscape has transformed. “I always thought New York would be on the cutting edge,” Haynes admits. “I was pretty surprised it took as long as it did. But you know, no need to complain about spilt milk. We’re getting there.”
A Formative Show in Nashville, Georgia
One formative moment stands out from Gov’t Mule’s early years: a small private party in Nashville, Georgia (at Gregg Allman’s farm) hosted by cannabis growers.
“There was more weed than anybody could ever smoke in a million years,” Haynes recalls with a laugh. “Everybody was proud of their product, and everybody was like, ‘Try this. No, try this. No, try that.’ By the time we played, we were on another planet…in a good way. It was so relaxed. We were looking out at this little pond and 50 people watching us play, and we just opened up in a way that led us to a lot of new directions.”
That show is finally getting an official release, remixed and remastered. “It’s always circulated, but now it sounds really fantastic,” Haynes says.
Phil Lesh and Musical Fearlessness
Over the years, Haynes has performed dozens of shows with Phil Lesh & Friends, absorbing the Grateful Dead bassist’s radical philosophy about improvisation: never be afraid of where the moment might lead, even into “dangerous territory where the band is on the verge of falling apart.”
“Once I established a relationship with him [Phil Lesh], I realized my open-mindedness paled in comparison,” Haynes admits. “He was the most open-minded musician I’ve ever met in the way that the moment was all you cared about.”
For Lesh, the music wasn’t something the musicians created; it existed independently, and the band’s job was simply to get out of the way and let it flow. “In his mind, the music was God, and we just allow it to happen,” Haynes explains.
This “zone” that Phish bassist Mike Gordon described as losing the flow when you start thinking, is what every improvising musician chases. Haynes recalls a July 4th show with the Dead featuring a version of “Viola Lee Blues” with a seven- or possibly an eight-minute segment that was some of the greatest music he’s ever been part of. “It was just so unique and so connected.”
Cannabis and the Live Music Experience
With thousands of cannabis consumers preparing to attend Gov’t Mule’s New Year’s shows, I ask Haynes what advice he’d give about getting the most out of the live music experience.
He laughs. “I don’t know that I’m in a position to give advice. Less is more sometimes, but not always. They’re long shows, so pace yourself.”
Haynes’ own most memorable listening experiences happened under the influence. The first time he heard Tower of Power, just after partaking, completely blew his mind. Same with Steely Dan’s Aja and Led Zeppelin’s live “Dazed and Confused.”
“I still remember those moments,” he says. “They were so carved into my psyche in a totally beautiful way.”
What’s Next
31 years later, Gov’t Mule returns once again to its home stage at the Beacon Theatre. So what’s Warren Haynes most excited about?
“Right now at this moment in time, I’m most excited about tackling this group of songs from 1971,” he says. “By the time we get out of rehearsal and onto the stage, we’ll be about 70% prepared, which is a good number. You don’t want to be much more prepared than that.”
Seventy percent. Enough structure to provide a foundation, enough space for magic to happen. It’s the sweet spot where Gov’t Mule has lived for three decades.
That’s what December 30-31 at the Beacon Theatre promises: two nights diving deep into 1971’s embarrassment of musical riches. Two nights of Warren Haynes doing what he does better than almost anyone alive.
For the thousands of cannabis consumers who’ll fill the Beacon’s seats, program guides in hand, it’s a chance to experience what Haynes has been describing: the unique pleasure of hearing live improvisational music while under the influence. The time-stretching, the perspective shifts, the way everything seems more connected.
“Much more enjoyable,” Haynes says simply. “Even music that you’re going to enjoy one way or another, just kind of having that perspective alteration changes everything.”
Three hundred shows at the Beacon. Thirty-one years of Gov’t Mule. Decades pushing for legalization when it wasn’t safe to do so. And Haynes is still chasing the same thing he’s always chased: that moment when the thinking stops and the music takes over.
All we have to do is get out of the way and let it happen.
Gov’t Mule: New Year’s Eve 2025
December 30-31, 2025
Beacon Theatre, New York City
Theme: 1971—The Greatest Year in Rock History
Go to www.theothermagazines.com/mule for your exclusive promo code of 15% off tickets!
This article appears in The Other Magazine’s Winter 2025 issue and commemorative New Year’s Eve program guide, distributed at the Beacon Theatre shows.
