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Dickey Betts’ son Duane Betts in a now officially a member of Dawes’ touring band. In a recent interview with Relix/Jambands.com, Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith confirmed that the guitarist, who has played with his father’s band Great Southern for many years, is now a part of the team. Though he was not a part of the recording sessions that led to the group’s new album All Your Favorite Bands, he has taken the stage with the group during all of their most recent shows, including last month’s performance on the The Late Show with David Letterman.

On the subject of Betts’ status in the band, Goldsmith said:

Well, he’s on the stage with us. He didn’t play on the record. He kind of came into it after that. He’s been a friend for a long time. But yeah, when we’re onstage and I say, “Hey, we’re Dawes, thanks for coming,” and he’s standing on the stage, you know? I mean, who knows what the future holds – we don’t wanna put that kind of pressure on him or anything. But right now, yeah, he’s in the band.

Goldsmith also added:

Well, we’ve been friends for a long time, and he’s incredibly musical, but he’s also very, very tasteful. And I know that’s what everybody says about the guitar player they like, but with him—like, there was one show where, afterwords, Duane and I were standing next to each other, talking with some fans, and one guy came up to him and was like, “Man, you were so great, you were just shredding.” And he kind of like laughed and shook his head and said, “If I was shredding, then something was wrong.” And I really thought that was a cool comment for him to make, because it really spoke to the fact that he doesn’t play flashy, he doesn’t play to show you any tricks that he knows or how to wow you with dexterity or something. He plays very fluidly and very melodically and very expressively, and even when you watch him play, he’s got this look on his face, like holding his breath almost, and he’s singing this line for you through his guitar.

The places he gets into with his guitar, it’s truly compelling, because it really feels like a guy singing and speaking in a way that a great soul singer might or something. And I think that he understands that musical language so deeply, from the world that he grew up in. I think that you can put him in front of any amplifier and he’s gonna be able to cook it up in a way that’s gonna sound great. And he’ll be able to talk to me about how to fill out the tone—some things I don’t even understand what he’s talking about, but it’s another testament to how in deep connection he is with that language of music, and guitar playing particularly. He also recognizes that Dawes has been a band for a long time as this four-piece, and he’s figured out a way – rather than to shift our course – he’s able to recognize what it is we do and just make us sound better, rather than making us a different band.

So it’s been really incredible to have him up there. And because he has that unique voice on his instrument, it’s allowed us to play a lot more, actually. You know, before, when there’s just this one guy singing and this one guy playing all the guitar solos, then after two hours or so, it’s like, okay, I think I get it, I think I’m done. Where as with Duane and this new voice – we’ve only played a couple full – length shows with him so far, because things are about to get rolling – but when we did, we would get to about two-and-a-half hours or something and be like, “this could just keep rolling.” And people don’t seem tired, and we’re not tired. So I think his presence has really given us a lot of new life and a lot of exciting possibilities for what we can do this summer.