Gov’t Mule founder Warren Haynes is obsessed.

He has been obsessed since he was 12 years-old and wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Unless you are obsessed with it, there’s no point in going into music,” Haynes proclaimed Monday from his hotel room in Columbia, Mo. “I’ve been playing a really long time. There’s never been periods where I’ve given up on it.”

Haynes can even say he survived the ’80s — a decade not particularly rich in the kind of blues- and soul-flavored rock he was cranking out.

“I’ve been lucky,” he said. “I’ve always had a gig. There are a lot of great musicians that haven’t had that chance. The ’80s were a rough time for a lot of musicians.”

Haynes’ survival of the ’80s comes from being a core musician in one of the longest-lasting rock bands in history — the Allman Brothers Band.

He played with the influential group for over nine years, until last April when he decided to make his side-project band a priority.

Since then, Gov’t Mule has grown into what Haynes describes as “a completely different animal.”

The project originally started three-and-a-half years ago when Haynes and Allman Brothers bassist Allen Woody agreed that the two would make a great team in a power trio setting.

Haynes introduced Woody to longtime friend and drummer Matt Abts and Gov’t Mule was born.

“The point of a power trio is to sound like more than three people — which is hard to do unless you have the perfect three guys,” Haynes explained. “I had this likening that [Woody and Abts] would be a really fierce rhythm section and I was right. There a was a natural chemistry from the beginning.”

The band released its critically acclaimed self-titled debut in 1995 and followed it with a rigorous tour, opening for such acts as the Counting Crows and the Allman Brothers Band. During the Allman Brothers tour, Haynes and Woody performed double duty, playing with both bands each night.

“It was a lot of fun — there were some great evenings of music,” Haynes said. “But it proved more valuable for the band to open for the Black Crows and Widespread Panic.

“The whole point to doing an opening slot is to get new people to hear you and the Allman Brothers’ crowd was already familiar with us,” he added.

In their years with the Allman Brothers Band, Haynes and Woody wrote half of the band’s new material, including such hits as “Soulshine” and “End of the Line.”

During this time, the musicians also learned about some important elements in the music industry.

“[We learned] you can cultivate a following — an audience — if you stay true to yourself and not depend on the trends,” Haynes said. “People will stick with you and the Allman Brothers are a testimony to that.”

And just as the Allman Brothers Band built its following by years of constant touring, Gov’t Mule has done the same.

A solid live performance is so important to the band, it recorded its latest record without using headphones or other studio tools.

“It’s all about capturing the moment,” Haynes said. “The bulk of the new record is just us playing with monitors. We only used a few overdubs. We would sit down and play three or four songs and just hope one was right on.”

As on the band’s debut, Gov’t Mule looked to producer Michael Barbiero, who has worked with Soundgarden, Guns ‘N Roses and Blues Traveler, to help record its latest album.

“There is a huge unspoken amount of respect between Michael and the band,” Haynes said. “It makes everyone feel comfortable in getting the right sounds out.”

As a producer himself, Haynes knows the importance of having an outside source in the studio. “You need a set of ears from someone who isn’t so close to the band,” he said. “A good producer will get you to do the things you didn’t know you could do.”

As one of rock’s only power trios, Gov’t Mule is often compared to Cream and the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Haynes, who was named Best Slide Guitarist by Guitar Player magazine in 1995 and 1996, has garnered comparisons to Jeff Beck and Hendrix.

Gov’t Mule will be playing at People’s Bar and Grill tonight at 9 p.m. Tickets to the show are $15 are available at all TicketMaster outlets.