The music of Southbound is all you love about the Allman Brothers Band: dynamic jazz exploration, guitar harmonies inspired by bluegrass fiddle melodies, soulful songwriting and of course, the blues.

Southbound has made it it’s goal to keep playing this music and to keep it in the hearts and ears of those who are always looking for more in their live concert experience.

Founded by guitarist/vocalist James Biehn in 2008, Southbound is a six-piece musical outfit whose sole intention is to recreate as closely as possible the music and spirit of the Allman Brothers Band.

In addition to extensively studying the Allmans’ music as well as the music of those who influenced them, Biehn got his own college education in 2013 when he attended the Roots Rock Revival camp led by Butch Trucks, (the founding Allman Brothers Band drummer) and Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge. After the initial year of camp, Biehn was asked to join the camp staff and coordinate jams while jamming with many luminaries of the jam band world at Roots Rock Revival.

Friends of Byron is a committee of music aficionados dedicated to supporting the world famous Byron’s in Pomeroy. It has been described as the “hipness capital of the world” by former Allman Brothers Band keyboardist Bruce Katz, who has played at Byron’s multiple time.

This benefit concert will help Byron Stuart defray the costs of finishing his new location at 111 S. Main St. in Pomeroy, where a new green room for the artists that play there on Sundays will be built and new signs will be put on the front of the building.

Tickets are available at Eventbrite.com and will be available at the door at 6 p.m. May 17.

About Byron’s

The popular music venue known as Byron’s got started in 1996 when Byron Stuart bought a bar in tiny downtown Pomeroy.

“I just wanted to have a bar i would like to go to,” he once told The Messenger.

He lavishly decorated the establishment with Grateful Dead memorabilia. Then he began hosting live music every Sunday evening. The shows attracted nationally-known performers and a devoted following of music fans.

Stuart received the Spirit Award from the Iowa Rock and Roll Music Association.

The Midwest music mecca was threatened, however, when the Pomeroy city officials became concerned about the condition of the building. They requested an engineering study of it, which Stuart could not afford, and appeared ready to condemn it.

Friends of Byron was formed to raise money to pay for moving the bar to another location. The first concert was held in March 2024.

The bar has since moved to a new location at 111 S. main St. in Pomeroy.

If You Go:

What: Concert by Southbound – A Tribute to the Allman Brothers Band

When: 7 p.m. May 17

Where: Historic Phillips Auditorium, 1015 Fifth Ave. N.