Favorite road trip
When he is not touring, Allman would take his Vette or Shelby from Savannah to Jacksonville. "Pretty much my butt needs a rest after that," he laughs. Part of the drive consists of taking A1A, routes 301 and 92.
"There's another good route, you can just go A1A all the way down by the ocean," he adds. "It's kind of like the Pacific Coast Highway but not quite as twisty and turny. You can watch the ocean pretty much all the way, it goes from New York to Miami. It was the old gangster route. You go through all them towns and you have stop lights and stuff. But hey, if you've got plenty of time, what the hell? I'm a cruiser anyway, if I drive someplace, hell, I'll be asleep in 30 minutes."
U.S. Automakers
Like many who support U.S. automakers, Allman wants more bang for his buck. "I would like to see a person get more what they pay for.," he says. "We buy a car and put out $80,000 dollars. It should be made right."
He feels they're made hastily and thinks car companies can take a page from the entertainment industry - treat customers who pay top dollar as VIP. "They're getting like Lego toys or something," he laughs. "They pull this out and pull that out. I know I can take my dash off. If they're going to have a VIP section for car buyers - I want a well made car."
If Allman could have his druthers, he would like some more differences between car models. "Maybe make them a little different, have a little more variety because nobody likes to see themselves coming down the street. That's why as soon as I get a car, I change the wheels, I change the grille, of course I change the exhaust, of course you already ordered everything you can on it," he laughs.
ABB and Gregg Allman solo gigs
Allman Brothers Band celebrate their 40th anniversary in 2009 and they are in the midst of planning their longest tour in years. Allman promises this year he will be at their annual Beacon Theater concerts, which kicks off the anniversary tour. The band envisions an additional 60 concerts in the U.S. through out the year and will be joined onstage by some of their favorite musicians. "I can't let it out of the hat yet. You wouldn't want to miss it," Allman says of the tour.
He and the band have been busy, in addition to touring, the band just accepted Billboard Magazine's 2008 Legends of Live award and Allman's song "Melissa" was featured on TV ads for ATT/Cingular in recent years. Before touring with the band, Allman will embark on his own solo tour of 11 dates in the Northeast starting Dec. 27, 2008 in Westbury, NY and ending Jan. 10 in Salamanca, NY. For more info see greggallman.com