As we arrive at the two-year anniversary of the passing of Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts, his son is immersing himself in the grieving process on a new song. “Heartache” is opening track and second single from Duane Betts’ upcoming second solo album, Isle of Hope, due out June 12. Co-written with regular collaborator Stoll Vaughan and accompanied by an evocative video directed by Bobbi Rich, the moody and mournful song references the likes of Pink Floyd and George Harrison as Betts sings, “Until your eyes have lost their spark/And the room has gotten dark/I’ll wait, watch over you/Nothing I can do.” “‘Heartache’ is a deeply personal song to me,” Betts tells Billboard via Zoom from Los Angeles.

He and Vaughan wrote it in Florida, shortly after Dickey Betts passed away on April 18, 2024, at the age of 80. Duane Betts had played in his father’s band, Great Southern Sky, since 2005, while he and the late Gregg Allman’s son Devon Allman work together as the Allman Betts Band, staging annual Allman Betts Family Revival Tours late each year. “It’s haunting,” Betts says of “Heartache,” “but I think more than anything it’s a universal feeling that we all can relate to, losing somebody we love.

It goes to anyone who’s lost somebody that they love. Obviously when you lose someone like that, it’s this flood of emotion and you’re mourning, but there’s also a beauty and a relief that they’re in a better place and they’re not suffering anymore. “It’s tough being that vulnerable.

I was in a very emotional and vulnerable place, but I wasn’t in a depression. I have an unfair ‘advantage’ because I play music, and I’m up on stage every night. I feel like even if I’m not playing one of my dad’s songs, I keep him in my back pocket.

I know he’s right there with me, riding right with me. I’m just really grateful for the good memories and all the good times, especially the later years when we were both sober. He was able to see me pull my life together.

That was a great relief to me.” The video for “Heartache,” meanwhile, is shot on 8mm film to give it a grainy, home movie appearance, with photos of Betts and his father interspersed with scenes of him performing the song in beachfront areas around Malibu, one of the younger Betts’ homes while he was growing up. “I really like making videos when you have somebody at the helm you can trust, who you know has impeccable taste and is gonna do a great job,” Betts says of Rich, who was discovered by his wife. “I really wanted to (film) out on the West Coast, on the Pacific Ocean.

I wanted to get away from the old Florida vibe, ’cause I’ve done that. On the second day (of filming) the spirit was with us; it was iconic Southern California type of weather, and there were whales and dolphins and sea lions and hawks. All of nature was out, and it was so beautiful.” “Heartache” follows the rowdier “Down to Houston” in previewing Isle of Hope, which was produced by Dave Cobb over five days at his studio in Savannah, Ga.

The album takes its title from the actual Isle of Hope in that area, but Betts says he chose it to represent the feeling he wants the set to convey across its 10 songs. “I really want this record to offer a sanctuary…that music is a sanctuary, and this is your little piece of land to stand on,” he explains. “Everybody agrees these times are crazy, and everybody’s anxious.

Something my dad used to say when we’d go up on that stage every night for three hours was we want to give our listeners, our fans, a little reprieve from their outside trouble and daily stresses in life. We want to offer them a sanctuary, where they don’t have to think about that.” Unlike his solo debut, 2023’s Wild & Precious Life — which featured guest appearances by Derek Trucks, Marcus King and others — Betts stuck to a core band, which includes fellow guitarists J.D. Simo and Johnny Stachela.

“We tossed the idea (of guests) around,” Betts says. “I looked to (Cobb) for advice, and he said, ‘No, you need to come out by yourself and have great songs. That’s what you need to get you where you want to be.’ And, I mean, doing the record with Dave Cobb is kind of that big feature.

That’s a big deal.” Betts and his Palmetto Motel touring band have shows booked into October. There’s also an Allman Betts Family Revival concert on June 6 in Vail, Colo., with a run of those dates expected for the usual late November-December timeline. “That’s always something we look forward to, and we kinda just go wherever they take us,” Betts says. “Obviously I’m focused on my record, so I don’t want to do too much else to overlap that. (Isle of Hope) comes from a really deep and meaningful place for me, so I’m really looking forward to having people hear these songs.”