Warren Haynes Announces Dreams & Songs: A Symphonic Journey, Shares Expansive Live Version of "Raven Black Night"

Warren Haynes Announces Dreams & Songs: A Symphonic Journey, Shares Expansive Live Version of "Raven Black Night"

Warren Haynes has announced the release of his long-awaited live orchestral album, Dreams & Songs: A Symphonic Journey, arriving September 18 via Evil Teen Records in the U.S. and Provogue / Artone Label Group in Europe.

Alongside the announcement, the GRAMMY-winning vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, producer and Gov't Mule frontman has unveiled "Raven Black Night (Live)," the latest preview of the 16-track collection. Originally appearing on Gov't Mule's 1998 album Dose, the song has been completely reimagined with sweeping orchestral arrangements, transforming the intimate original into a cinematic live performance.

"I had come up with this arrangement that went from 'Raven Black Night' into 'Silent Scream Pt. 2' and back into 'Raven Black Night'," Haynes explains. "The way those two pieces married together is really cool, and the orchestra embraced that challenge beautifully. The orchestration feels like it completes the composition. The original recording was stripped back, with no drums and no bass, while this version is full-bodied and fully orchestrated. It takes the song somewhere entirely new."

Co-produced by Haynes and Don Was, Dreams & Songs: A Symphonic Journey was recorded in 2019 at Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Haynes' hometown of Asheville. The performance featured the 64-piece Asheville Symphony Orchestra alongside an all-star band including Oteil Burbridge (bass), John Medeski (keys), Jeff Sipe (drums), Greg Osby (saxophone), with backing vocalists Edwin McCain and Jasmine Muhammad.

Mixed by acclaimed engineer Bob Clearmountain, the album revisits music spanning Haynes' three-decade career, including songs from Gov't Mule, The Allman Brothers Band, Grateful Dead and his solo catalogue, all reworked with newly commissioned orchestral arrangements.

To bring the project to life, Haynes enlisted an impressive roster of arrangers, including David Campbell, Jim Gray, Tom Matta, Vince Mendoza, Sean O'Loughlin and Chris Walden.
"Raven Black Night (Live)" follows the previously released orchestral versions of the Shakedown Street classic "Shakedown Street" and the Gov't Mule favourite "Banks of the Deep End," offering another glimpse of the ambitious live collection.

Since debuting in Asheville in 2019, Haynes' Dreams & Songs Symphonic Experience has become one of the standout events on the live music calendar, with performances at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and stops in New Orleans, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati. The production returns in 2027 for two nights at Schermerhorn Symphony Center on March 11 and 12.
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Before then, Haynes will spend the remainder of 2026 on the road with Gov't Mule. The band's Kicking In Your Stall Tour launches on July 22, featuring 23 U.S. dates, including nine co-headlining shows with Joe Bonamassa. This autumn, Gov't Mule will also team up with Ziggy Marley for the Dreaming The Same Dream Tour, a 16-date co-headlining run featuring special guest DJ sets from YOLA, beginning September 23 in New York City and concluding October 17 in Dallas.
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 Track Listing:
1. Dreams & Songs (Part 1)
2. Dreams
3. Banks Of The Deep End
4. Spots of Time
5. Broken Promised Land
6. Thorazine Shuffle
7. It Makes No Difference
8. Terrapin Station > Slipknot! > Terrapin Station
9. Raven Black Night > Silent Scream > Raven Black Night
10. Just Another Rider
11. Black Peter
12. Instrumental Illness
13. One
14. Shakedown Street
15. Whipping Post
16. Dreams & Songs (Reprise)

Website:
warrenhaynes.net


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