Warren Haynes Previews ‘Dreams & Songs’ Symphonic Album With ‘Banks Of The Deep End’ & New Orleans Concert

By Scott Bernstein May 1, 2026 • 1:21 pm PDT

Warren Haynes is gearing up to release a new symphonic album titled Dreams & Songs. The Yesterday, the Gov’t Mule frontman shared the first taste of the forthcoming LP, “Banks Of The Deep End,” and played a symphonic concert alongside the Warren Haynes Band and Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra at the Orpheum Theater in New Orleans.

Haynes first debuted his Dreams & Songs symphonic experience in 2019 with a concert at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in his hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. The guitarist/vocalist was accompanied by the 64-piece Asheville Symphony Orchestra and a WHB ensemble consisting of bassist Oteil Burbridge, keyboardist John Medeski, saxophonist Greg Osby and drummer Jeff Sipe.

Additional Dreams & Songs concerts followed over the past few years and he’s lining up more, including March 2027 concerts in Nashville. Warren Haynes has been selecting material from songs from the guitarist’s Gov’t Mule, The Allman Brothers Band, The Dead and solo catalogs for symphonic interpretations.

While the release date for Dreams & Songs has yet to be revealed, “Banks Of The Deep End” is the first sample of the album. The song was originally recorded by Gov’t Mule for the 2001 album, The Deep End, Volume 1. Haynes unveiled a version recorded at the Dreams & Songs debut in Asheville.

“‘Banks of the Deep End’ is one of the songs that we probably play more than any other,” noted Haynes. “Although it doesn’t vary as much on a nightly basis as some of the other tunes, it somehow takes on its own personality just based on the song itself and the lyric and uniqueness of the chord structure and the melody. Playing it with a symphony emphasizes all the dramatic and dynamic changes that song presents, and it’s wonderful hearing it in that light.”

Watch Warren Haynes’ “Banks Of The Deep End (Live)” video below:

Conductor Rich Daniels from the Chicago City Lights Orchestra oversaw the Thursday night Dreams & Songs symphonic concert in New Orleans. Haynes, Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and the current WHB lineup fittingly opened with “Dreams And Songs” and then offered a wink by performing the Allman Brothers’ “Dreams.” Next came “Banks Of The Deep End” and Haynes solo number “Spots Of Time.” A “Broken Promised Land” mashup followed before the ensemble capped the first set with a “Terrapin Station” featuring “Slipknot!” within.

“Just Another Rider” and “This Life As We Know It,” two songs Warren wrote with Gregg Allman, got the orchestral treatment within the second and third sets. Set two also featured Mule’s “Thorazine Shuffle,” Grateful Dead tunes “Black Peter” and “Shakedown Street,” ABB standouts “Instrumental Illness” and “Whipping Post” and a “Dreams And Songs Reprise” finale.

The third and final set began with the Mule oldie “Tear Me Down” and the aforementioned “This Life As We Know It.” The latter was featured on Haynes’ Million Voices Whisper album, the same record that yielded the ensuing versions of “Terrified” and “Lies, Lies, Lies – Monkey Dance – Lies, Lies, Lies.” Steely Dan’s “Pretzel Logic,” the lone cover of the closing stanza, was then followed by “Invisible” to end the concert.

Warren Haynes returns to The Orpheum tonight with Gov’t Mule.