The Gregg Allman Band performs at 7:30 p.m. Friday, July 24 at Harrah's Lake Tahoe. The publicist for Gregg Allman requested questions for this interview be limited to his solo tour. Obviously, Allman is dissatisfied by this month's profile by Rolling Stone.

Action: So you're not happy with the Rolling Stone article?

Allman: Not at all. A bunch of bull----! Let's just talk about music.

Q — How much time to you spend with your band and with the Allman Brothers?

A — Everybody in the Allman Brothers has their own band on the side and everybody in my band plays with other bands when I'm playing with the Brothers, so it a cluster ---, man. You have to think like a year ahead. But it works amazingly well. A lot better than you'd think.

Q — I was very impressed with your band at your last show at Tahoe a couple of years ago. That's a collection of all-stars.

A — These guys, I have so much fun with them. I went out to try to find musicians that were more accomplished than myself. That makes you have to reach, and since I've been with these guys I've learned so much. I learn something just about every day that I'm with them.

Q — What about the Allman Brothers?

A — This year is the Allman Brothers 40th anniversary, of course, so next year we'll be laying kind of low, except maybe the (New York club) Beacon. I think I'll have a lot more time for my band next year. I'm definitely going in studio in January with my band.

Q — What songs do the fans ask for?

A — They yell for Allman Brothers stuff and we play some songs that I wrote. They're always arranged different. We do “Whipping Post” totally different. I play guitar on “Whipping Post.” I guess the closest thing we do to an Allman Brothers rendition is, “Dreams.”

Q — Were you the one of the first to cover that Blind Willie McTell song, “Statesboro Blues.”

A — We kind of got it from Taj Mahal.

Q — Oh right, with Ry Cooder and the Rising Sons. Don't you live near Statesboro?

A — I'm about 25 minutes from Statesboro, right over there by Vidalia, where all those great onions are made.

Q — Oh yes, I know all about the Vidalia onions. We can get them here in Tahoe.

A — Their gone already. Last time I saw them I bought a bag of them and (the clerk) said “I hope you've got enough because this is the last we're getting.” Because they ship them all over the world. There's just three round pieces of ground that are I guess about half as big as a football field. Hinesville, one in Statesboro and one in Vidalia. It's like God just touched the ground and said, “Onions are gonna grow here.” It's kind of like Humboldt and refer.

Q — Is it true Little Milton is your favorite singer?

A — Little Milton is one of my favorites. Ray (Charles) and him and Otis (Redding).

Q — Do you call your music Southern rock?

A — Everybody's got to have a name for something. Southern rock is not something we came up with. Somebody in the business came up with it. One good thing it did, it gave us a slot in the record shop to put our records in so you could find us real easy. But that's almost died out now. But when we first got together and were really jamming someone would ask my brother what kind of music did y'all play and he would say, “It's blues, jazz, rock ‘n' roll fusion.” That's about the way it is. I don't know how colorful a name it is. We had a lot of different mentors.

Q — What new music do you like?

A — New. Hmmm. Well, I just got turned on to these guys called the Subdudes. I just got their first album that came out in '94. Man, they are kick ass. They've got three other ones they've put out and I've never really heard of them, but this girl that I know I was over to her house. I heard it and said “Man, what is that? It's big band, all black guys and, wow, they're incredible.

Q — I saw Derek (Trucks) play here recently, and I've heard many guitarists say how great he is. One (Harvey Reid) even said he might be the best guitar player on the planet. How does his style compare to Duane's?

A — I don't see how somebody could say, he's the best. Holy s---, there's Clapton, there's Hendrix, there's my brother. They're all good. They're all different. That's why they're good, because they got their own little ingenious thing. It's really hard to say he's the best guitar player on the planet. That's kind of a ridiculous statement, no offense to your friend. Derek is damned good. He amazingly plays a bit like my brother. But he grew up with it. He was in the family. It was not shoved down his throat, but it was always there and it attracted him and he went to it. The first time I played with him he was 9 years old. That's the age I was when I started playing but he was already giging at 9.

Q — What can we expect at the Tahoe show?

A — A delightful evening. Another romp-stomp, good one.

— Tim Parsons, Lake Tahoe Action