The dirty blond hair is the same, the body posture is also the same, and there are touches in the voice that have a similar genetic connection, but Devon Allman has toiled long and hard to establish his own musical identity, separate from his mega-famous dad, Gregg Allman.

In 2011, his musical fate changed. Royal Southern Brotherhood was formed during JazzFest in New Orleans. It combined the vocal and musical talents of Devon, Mike Zito, and the legendary Cyril Neville with the veteran rhythm section of Charlie Wooton and Yonrico Scott. Since that genesis, the band has become one of the major new attractions on the music scene. RSB tours non-stop and has just released its second studio record along with a live Songs From The Road, all on Ruf Records.

After touring the world as a fiery guitarist and soulful vocalist in Royal Southern Brotherhood, Devon is still committed to performing dates with his own band. But with a renewed intensity.

For Ragged & Dirty, Devon left his Southern comfort zone, hired a crack Chicago band, and enlisted the producing and writing talents of Grammy winning producer Tom Hambridge (Buddy Guy, George Thorogood, Johnny Winter, James Cotton, Joe Louis Walker).

Though Hambridge wrote four tunes and Devon picked three to cover, it’s his original tunes that speak to his artistic journey. To hear Devon’s vocal range, listen to the CD closer, “Leave The City.” With only Hambridge keepin’ the sparse beat, Devon strips down and shows off his pleading, Allman-esque voice and stirring resonator guitar in this move to country blues simplicity.

But there is so much more to this record amid those genetic touches. Luther Allison’s “Ragged & Dirty” is a funk meets blues that provides Devon’s hot-shot Chicago studio band of bassist Felton Crews (Charlie Musselwhite and others), guitarist Giles Corey (Billy Branch), and keyboard ace Marty Sammon (Buddy Guy) along with Nashville’s Hambridge on drums room to show-off.