Devon Allman Pays Tribute to Late Dad Gregg with Reimagined Version of 'These Days' with Maggie Rose

Devon Allman still can't quite believe his life turned out this way.

"I lost mom [Shelley Kay Jefts] when she was 66 and dad [Gregg Allman] when he was 69. I lost them within five months of each other, and it was excruciating," says Allman, 50, to PEOPLE. "I've had grandparents that lived into their mid and late '90s, and you just always are hoping that you're going to get that. And then I turned around and I was 43 years old, and my parents were gone."

The Texas native pauses for a moment.

"Something happens cool with my career, and the first person I want to tell is my dad," says Allman of his legendary father, best known from his time with the Allman Brothers Band. "He'd be so proud, and he would relate, and he'd be into it, and I can't tell him. So, it's a massive adjustment emotionally to all of a sudden be the patriarch."

Nevertheless, with the role of the patriarch of the Allman name comes the responsibility to keep his father's legacy alive, which the accomplished singer/songwriter does brilliantly with his version of the classic song "These Days," premiering exclusively on PEOPLE.

Joined by the talented Maggie Rose and music extraordinaire Chuck Leavell on keys, Allman turns out a rendition of "These Days" that proves that the very best songs are timeless.

"You got to live it to be able to sing it," says Allman, who was raised by his mother and met his famous father for the first time when he was a teen.

"I had to get to a place in life where I felt like I had kind of earned my stripes enough to pull the song off," he explains, then pauses. "I think it hit me as something that was very haunting when I was in my 20s, but now that I'm 50, I know why…to really be able to resonate with some of the regret and maybe some of the guilt."

Pat Dunford at the Grand Ole Opry Maggie Rose and Devon Allman

Certainly, Allman has long heard the stories surrounding the song, especially the ones that came from the days his father and "These Days" writer Jackson Browne were roommates back before they made it.

"It's amazing to think of Jackson Browne being in his early 20s and to having the lyrical depth to be in that kind of head space at that age," remembers Allman of the original version of the song written when Browne was just a teen. "Dad remembered Jackson working on the song. He always had a different vision of how it should go."

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Gregg Allman ultimately recorded his own version of "These Days" on 1973's Laid Back, his first solo record.

"It's dad at his finest," Allman explains. "He changed some of the lyrical structure and arrangement structure around from Jackson's original. So, we really stayed true to Dad's version for this because it is a tribute to him."

And it only took one take for Allman and Rose to get it right.

"Literally, we played the song six times in a row, exactly the same," remembers Allman of the song that was recorded using a handful of his father's very own guitars. "And I think what you hear is number four. So yeah, it was a one-pass sort of thing."

Nevertheless, the re-imagined will now live on, as it will receive a treasured place on the setlist of the Allman Family Revival Tour, which will kick off Nov. 26, with Rose on the bill.

"As a songwriter, 'These Days' has always been one of those songs that simultaneously inspires and intimidates me, yet Devon's dad ran toward it and made me love it even more with his version of it on 'Laid Back,'" Rose, 34, tells PEOPLE. "I asked Devon if he wanted to collaborate with me on this song in anticipation of this amazing tour he invited me to join. He was excited to do it because he knew that we would be honoring a great song just like Gregg did."

She continues, "We met at Starstruck Studios in Nashville and sat face-to-face playing his pop's guitars making the song our own. It was such a cool moment where time stood still as we, once again, recorded a timeless song that deserves to be celebrated!"

Allman, for his part, was all for it.

"I've had my own career," Allman remarks. "I've won awards and I've put out 10 records and I've circled the globe on my own a bunch of times. But I think it's one of those things that if I play a show and don't play any of my dad's songs, that's not fair to the audience. They want to reconnect to that."