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Yeah, 31-year-old Devon Allman’s banking on the family name. He’s also got the family sound, right down to the B-3 organ, the flourishes of Latin percussion, and a warm vocal timbre similar to his dad Greg’s, with a handful less gravel. There’s been no harder time to achieve recognition in the music business, so who can blame him? Especially since this debut album, which follows an EP earlier this year, is a skillful slab of blues rock. Plus, Allman has found his own path as a guitarist, with a sweet and burly tone that serves his rhythm-and-slide attack well on tunes like the anti-slacker stab “Heaven Has No Mercy.” One of the highlights is a gentle version of Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” that covers the original’s architecture as well as a four-piece can. The slow tempo also encourages Allman to stretch his singing; the result is his most subtle and affecting vocal performance. There are a few clinkers, like the Southern punker “Why You Wanna Bring Me Down.” But even that tune has a saving grace: a slide-guitar attack that’s a tribute to his late Uncle Duane’s searing style.
Devon Allman’s Honeytribe | Harpers Ferry, 156 Brighton Ave, Allston | November 17 | 617.254.9743
