Warren Haynes: "I Don't Think the Vitality of Great Rock Music Will Ever Fade Away"

I'm not really sure why so many interviewers are asking about the "state of rock and roll" right now, but at the very least, it makes for some entertaining insights and opinions from the rock community.

In a new interview with Billboard, Warren Haynes was asked what he thought about the current state of rock music. A couple of excerpts follow.

"There's no shortage of ticket sales for classic rock bands, but the marketplace is just so cram-packed with product that it's hard for a lot of things to find air," said Haynes. "Unfortunately, as much as I hate to say it, in the case of rock music, the bar is very high. If you're going to be a rock 'n' roll band you've got to compare yourself to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, the Who, the Stones, the Allmans, the Gratfeul Dead, and that's a high bar to contend with. I hear a lot of really cool young music that I hope will cause a new wave of excitement but I don't know that I hear a lot of stuff that competes with the greatest rock music ever made."

As for the lasting influence of classic rock, Haynes relates his person experience with young fans still getting into the classics.

"There's a lot of young people, 13- or 14-year-olds even, that will come up to me after a Gov't Mule show and say, 'tonight's my first Gov't Mule show,' and we'll start talking and I'll realize they've just discovered Pink Floyd or Hendrix," he said, "and that music is affecting them the way it did us when we were kids, it's still that strong. I don't think the vitality of great rock music will every fade away, it will only get stronger. But in return it makes it harder for young bands to reach that bar."

You can read more here.