Orion Allman sits comfortably backstage, his hand tapping along to the thumping music emanating from the speakers. The sound is crisp and clear, echoing around the room. The crowd screams in response to the start of a new song. He’s been to concerts before, but this is different. He isn’t out in the throng of people like a normal person, he is backstage listening to his grandpa’s music. Gregg Allman of The Allman Brothers Band plays a riff on his guitar and the crowd roars again. As the song continues, he starts getting lost in the sounds he grew up with.

“I got a different outlook on concerts and the music scene in general from an early age,” Orion said. “It’s definitely a cool experience growing up like that.”

The Allman Brothers Band’s era began in 1969 and lived well into the 2000s. Many band members had left and others had joined since the start, but Gregg Allman was always a constant. Even though a lot of things changed for the band, the sound of the group still managed to make them one of the greatest rock bands of all time, according to Rolling Stone.

“They’re really catchy, honestly,” junior Riley Kampff said. “If you hear it, you know who they are and growing up listening to them with my parents, I always got this comfortable tone from them like a mellow rock. There’s really no genre for them. They’re just really unique.”

Many people, like Kampff, have said they’ve been impacted by The Allman Brothers and their music. Orion’s dad, Devon Allman who is a touring musician in Europe right now, is a major example. But even though Orion’s grandpa is in the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame, Orion doesn’t feel like he is any different.

“I definitely feel a little strange that he’s done that much, and he’s related to me,” Orion said. “But I also just see him as a family member rather than a musician.”

Gregg Allman is just a grandpa to Orion, but he’s still famous to everyone else. Having Orion’s father also be famous gives their family extra liberties like special treatment at music stores and free concert tickets, according to Devon Allman, but he still tries to keep Orion’s life as normal as possible like going to a regular public school for example.

“I could have easily put him in private school, but I wanted him to be able to attend school with neighbors and others he grew up with,” Devon Allman said via email. “Having a solid foundation in your childhood is important later in life. A building, after all, is only as strong as its foundation.”

Even though the Allman Brother’s fame is widespread and their name is well known, most students don’t know who they are because of the band’s age, but many teachers recognize the name and ask about it.

“I was afraid to approach him and tell him I was a fan of his dad and his grandpa,” Mim Eaton, PLTW Computer Science Application teacher, said. “And [when I told him] he kind of went ‘You’re kidding,’ and then somebody said, ‘She knows your secret.’”