“Dreaming Out Loud”

Warren Haynes wove this Gov’t Mule song from the inspiring words of great American voices, among them Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights leader John Lewis. He wanted different singers to take different parts, the way Sly and the Family Stone did, so he called on two friends: New Orleans soul singer Ivan Neville and Ruthie Foster, who had sung on a Mule album back in 2006. Released in April 2023 as the first single from Peace…Like a River, it was played live for the first time on May 5 at the Orpheum Theater in New Orleans. The album was made at the same sessions as the band’s blues record, Heavy Load Blues, in separate rooms.