Tour Press - Derek Trucks Band - April 7

8/14/2019 Tour Press - Derek Trucks Band - April 7

1/13

Rolling Stone, April 16, 2009 15

DerekMccabe,2

WD Allt Bt

T G?

Fans have long won-

dered why its near-ly impossible to get

good seats to big shows and now theyre begin-ning to get some answers,as Ticketmasters attempt

to merge with Live Na-tion has brought congres-sional scrutiny to ticketing

and scalping issues in re-cent months. Top concert-industry sources conirmto Rolling Stone thatthe practice o skimmingthe best seats o the top othe pool and selling themat huge markups happens

at nearly all concerts.Even some artists aregoing public with their con-cerns. The venue, the pro-moter, the ticketing agencyand oten the artist camp(artist, management andagent) take tickets rom thepool o available seats andeed them directly to the re-seller, NIN rontman TrentReznor wrote on his blog re-cently. This is a very com-mon practice that happensmore oten than not.

In recent testimony toCongress, TicketmasterCEO Irving

Backstage before the eighth night o the All-man Brothers Bands re-

cent 15-night run o shows atNew Yorks Beacon Theatre,61-year-old drummer ButchTrucks can barely contain hisexcitement about tonights se-cret guest. Weve been try-ing to do this or 40 years! hesays, reerring to the rst time

the Allmans will share a stagewith Eric Clapton. Hes been borrowing our guitar playerssince the Layla record, saysGregg Allman with a chuckle.So he kinda owed us.

For two nights, Claptonjoined the band to tear throughtunes including Anyday, WhyDoes Love Got to Be So Sad?Little Wing and, o course,Layla. His unannounced (but

widely rumored) appearancehelped the Allmans celebrate

their 40th anniversary andhonor co-ounder and guitar-ist Duane Allman, who died ina motorcycle crash in 1971. To

be honest, one o the reasonswere doing this is that Duanedoesnt loom big enough, saysTrucks. Too many people donteven know who he is.

During the 15 nights, an as-tonishing list o old riends

joined the Allmans. Wetried to get everybody that my

brother had played with, saysGregg. Boz Scaggs played his

1969 classic Loan Me a Dime, which originally eatured oneo Duanes

How artists prot byscalping the top seatsto their own showsBy Steve Knopper

sxsW BreAkouTsOur picks: From Little Boots electro-pop to Deer Ticks hillbilly rock. Page 20

DMB in The sTuDioPeople who dont like us will like thisrecord, says Dave Matthews. Page 22

Q&A: kAren oYeah Yeah Yeahs singer on crying at theclub and cutting back on booze. Page 32

industry

Allma Bt adFd Ta nw YClapton, Sheryl Crow,

Phish help bandcelebrate 40 yearsBy David Browne

in memory of duane We tried to get everybody that my brotherhad played with, says Gregg Allman (top, at New Yorks BeaconTheatre). Clapton (above, with Derek Trucks) sat in for two nights.

[Cont. on 16] [Cont. on 18]


2/13

R&R

clockwisef

roMT

oplefT:kirkwesT;apr150/MosTwanTeD/ZUMapress;DerekMccabe

16 Rolling Stone, April 16, 2009

dummy

caption llabout picturein the boxhere this isthe space forthe caption.

greatest solos;Levon Helm sang The Weightand Ophelia, and Taj Mahal

brought the house down witha lead vocal on StatesboroBlues. Ater initially reject-ing the idea o inviting guitar-

ist Dickey Betts, who was redrom the band in 2000, the All-mans sent him an invitation;at press time, Betts participa-tion was still undetermined.I he does come, its not gonna

be easy, says Trucks. Theresa lot o bad blood. But or thesake o Duane, we decided we

would ask.Most nights began with a

photo montage o Duane anda rendition o Little Martha,rom the classic 1972 discEat a

Peach,centered around currentguitarists Warren Haynes andDerek Trucks. The Allmansalso made sure to invite young-er musicians who are breathing

lie into jam-band traditions,including Phishs Trey Anas-tasio and Page McConnell,

who elevated Southboundand In Memory o ElizabethReed. Ive been playing All-man Brothers songs more years

than I care to count, says Mc-Connell. Ater being in a banda number o years, you respectmore and more the longevityand stamina it takes to do whatthey do year ater year.

Sheryl Crow sang a verseo Midnight Rider (One othe quintessential great piec-es o songwriting, she says)and took the lead on versionso Blind Faiths Cant Find My

Way Home and Bob Dylans ItTakes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes aTrain to Cry. When she wasnt

onstage, Crow spent most o theshow in the audience. I walkedin, and there were clouds o

weed foating around the room,and everyone was standing ontheir eet rom the second theystarted playing, she says. I eltlike I was 16.

Working up all that materi-al about 100 songs over the

course o the run became asmuch a part o the nightly ritu-al as the shows themselves. The

band set up a separate practicespace at the Beacon or last-minute rehearsals. At Claptonsrehearsal which nished twohours beore the doors opened the guitarist told everyonethe story o how Derek and theDominos drummer Jim Gor-don came up with the songstimeless piano coda. Id heardabout some o that beore, but it

was great hearing it rom him,

says Haynes.The Beacon shows mark the

beginning o a year o exten-

sive touring or the Allmans but also a nale o sorts. Start-

ing in 2010, the band will cutback its road schedule, possiblyplaying only a dozen summershows. Were winding down,says Butch Trucks. The end iscoming. We know that. I had tohave a knee replacement two

years ago. I cant straighten myright arm because o arthritis.No matter how much un Ive

been having, its taking its toll.Although Allman has recov-ered rom a bout with hepati-tis C last year, he admits he still

deals with layers o tired.For the moment, though,the Allmans are reveling in the

warm musical aterglow o theBeacon shows. I just guredthis year would be probablythe capper to all o em, says

Allman. But I didnt know itwould be to this extent. Aterone o the two Clapton nights,

Allman bumped into the gui-tarist, whose dressing room

was next to his. He had themost warm smile on his ace,

Allman says. And he said,

Thank you so much or lettingme come and be a part o this. Isaid, Man, anytime.

[Cont. from 15]

allman brothers

Fill this with a

caption people

BoB dylan

b h ln Ever dreamed of ridingout the end times in aSouth Texas roadhouse

with a killer band? Us too!And thats the vibe of Dyl-ans new single with itsTex-Mex accordion, bluesguitar and doomy lyrics, itgoes down like chipotle-spiced apocalypse.

white lies

d

This Wembley-size moperocker is the best Killerssong of the year eventhough this British buzzbands pompous, pastyfrontman sings like he

swallowed a Joy Divisionbox set.

Conor oBerst

s (o ss)Our bro Conors new jamwith the Mystic ValleyBand hits on a recipe forroots-rock orgasm: twoparts John Mellencamp,one dash Uncle Tupelo.Mmm, earthy!

rye rye

feat. M.i.a.

bg

This gloriously showoffytrack from M.I.A.s speed-rapping protge featuresa monstrously syncopatedbreak beat its hotterthan a blonde and a bru-nette double-teaming anice cream cone.

phoenix

1901

Our favorite French dudessince Jacques Ppin areback with a poppy burst

of bliss its like the rstbreeze of spring, exceptwith more synthesizers.

HOT

LIST

old friends, new

friends Sheryl Crow(with Warren Haynes,

left, and Derek Trucks)and Buddy Guy (below,with Haynes) wereamong the guests atthe New York shows.


3/13

Rock shows you shouldn't miss

Greg KotApril 3, 2009

Morrissey: The U.K. singer is back on familiar turf with his latest album, "Years of Refusal"(Attack/Lost Highway), which means he's a bit fed up with, well, everything. His acerbic wit ismatched by the attack in his arrangements, the hardest-hitting Morrissey album in at least adecade. Here's hoping he brings some of that intensity to the stage, Saturday at the Aragon,1106 W. Lawrence, $37.50; 312-559-1212.

Ting Tings: After a breakout performance at last year's South by Southwest Music Conference in

Austin, Texas, the U.K. duo of Jules De Martino and Katie White has ridden the wave of thesingle "That's Not My Name" into a club tour. They've got plenty of hooks, energy and smarts,which is all you can ask from pop music, Sunday at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., $18, $16;ticketweb.com.

The Derek Trucks Band: The nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks and thehusband of rising blues starSusan Tedeschi, Trucks has evolved into one of the great guitaristsof his generation through his work with the Allmans and Eric Clapton. His latest solo release,"Already Free" (RCA), is saturated in the blues/soul/raga/rock stew that is practically a familybirthright, Wednesday-Thursday at Park West, 322 W. Armitage, $25; 312-559-1212.

Andrew Bird: The wordsmith/whistler/violinist started out playing quirky jazz-swing tunes andslowly built a cult following that has mushroomed. His intelligently constructed, richly textured

songs can sound a bit off-putting to non-believers, but there's little doubt that he's carved out hisown niche as one of indie-pop's unlikeliest success stories, Thursday-April 10 at Civic OperaHouse, 20 N. Wacker Drive, $33, $25.50; 312-559-1212.


4/13

He keeps on truckin'

''

By Joan Anderman

Globe Staff/ March 31, 2009

Guitarist Derek Trucks, who turns 30 this year, is an 18-year veteran of the road. For

the math-challenged, that puts him at the tender age of 11 when he started jamming

with Buddy Guy and the Allman Brothers, a group he officially joined in 1999.(Truck's uncle Butch is the band's founding drummer.) The prodigal roots player

formed his eponymous group at 15, and earlier this year released the sixth Derek

Trucks Band studio album, "Already Free." They perform at House of Blues on

Thursday. We reached Trucks midway through the Allman Brothers' recent 15-night

residency at New York's Beacon Theatre, where he was waiting to greet the evening's

special guest: his former employer Eric Clapton.

Q. "Already Free" is your first self-produced record. How does a musician know

when it's time to take on that task?


5/13

A. If you have a vision, and can communicate it to the people around you, you're

ready. It really comes down to having a certain amount of faith in your own taste.

After being on tour with Clapton and the Allmans and my wife [Susan Tedeschi] andmy own band, I had so much music floating around in my head.

Q.You went on tour while you were still in elementary school. Looking back now, as

a father, would you have done it differently?

A. I don't know if I would change it. It's a great thing to travel the world at a young

age. You don't get that as a roofer's son, so we always felt lucky. It hasn't come easy.

It's been a grind. But I've been amazingly fortunate and I don't know if it could have

happened any other way.

Q. Do your kids play music?

A. My daughter, she's 4, is singing and dancing all the time. She knows the words to

all the Rodgers and Hammerstein songs. My son is a clone of me at that age [7], and

he loves what boys love: football, fishing, and baseball.

Q. Do you take special care of your hands? Are they insured?

A. [Laughing] No, I don't have them insured. But I stopped skiing and

snowboarding.

Q. Do you have one guitar that's nearest and dearest to your heart?

A. Yes. It's the guitar I play all the time. I have a lot of great signatures on it: Little

Milton, Johnny Winter, Otis Rush, Clapton, Santana, Roy Haynes, Jimmy Cobb,

Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Les Paul. . .

Q.Wow. If money gets tight you can sell it on eBay.

A. Oh, no.


6/13

THE BERKELY BEACON

Blues master Derek Trucks slides intoBoston's House of Blues April 2

The Derek Trucks Band will unleash a combination of

new sounds and Dylanesque style at the HOB

By: Mike Desjardin

Posted: 4/2/09

Ask any guitarist: Playing slide is tough. Real tough. One of the backbone elements ofthe blues, slide guitarists don't simply hit punctuated notes by pressing down on different.frets.

The guitarist instead will use a "bottleneck" (named after the literal glass bottlenecks that

traveling bluesman used to use) around their finger, running his hands up and down the

neck of the instrument, creating seamless, steady notes that change in pitch.

The style is a staple of the genre and one that, in the grand scheme of things, very few

people have mastered.

Derek Trucks, performing at the House of Blues on Thursday, April 2, is one of those

people.

Still under 30 years old, the musician has spent his life mastering the blues and working

alongside some of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Five years ago, Rolling Stone placed Derek Trucks on its list of the "100 Greatest

Guitarists of All Time," calling his work "fluid[moving] easily between Southern rock,

reggae, gospel, jazz and African music."

Fans of artists that have drawn from modern blues music such as John Mayer and John

Butler owe quite a bit to the career of Trucks, a career that started at a very young age.

Nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks, Derek was a childhood prodigy,

mastering the guitar with uncanny precision at age nine.

By 12, he was playing with the band. Before the age of 20, the Derek Trucks Band had

already released their second album (Out of the Madness, 1998).

In early 2009, the albumAlready Free was met with positive reviews. It opens with a


7/13

cover of "Down in the Flood" by Bob Dylan, one of several artists Derek Truck had

shared a stage with before he could legally drink in the United States.

Aside from recording and touring with the legendary Allman Brothers Band for severalyears, Trucks has released over five albums with the Derek Trucks band. Their

discography is eclectic, including 2006's Songlines, a brilliant collage of New World rock

instrumentals and blues ballads.

If the description ofSonglines sounds a bit like "musical jambalaya," it's actually amarginally successful rundown of the record's nature.

Some tracks, like the ten minute "Sahib Teri Bandi/Maki Madni," blend Eastern-

influenced percussions with traditional blues guitar work.

Immediately following "Maki Madni" is "Chevrolet," which resembles, quite simply, anauthentic southern slice of musical Americana.

"I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)," meanwhile, is a powerhouse gospel

number with enough emotion to blow the doors off the back of a church.

It's about this time in the record that you've completely forgotten that, four songs prior,the album was gleaning most of its elements from a completely different corner of the

globe.

Somehow, amidst all of the style bending and genre flip-flopping, a cohesive sound

emerges that feels both one-of-a-kind and right at home.

This Thursday, the Derek Trucks Band will be playing at the House of Blues to promote

their newest release,Already Free.

If the group's eclectic history is any indication, do not expect your run-of-the-mill blues

show.

Copyright 2009 The Berkeley Beacon


8/13

Derek Trucks is constantly switching gearsPreviewThursday, April 02, 2009

By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Guitarist Derek Trucks started jamming with the Allman Brothers when he was 10. Now 29, he is

on tour promoting his sixth studio album with the Derek Trucks Band.

He's an Allman brother. Frontman of the Derek Trucks Band. Husband to blues woman

Susan Tedeschi. And father to a 7-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl.

So, Derek Trucks has a pretty full schedule these days, especially with a new solo albumout and the Allman Brothers celebrating their 40th anniversary.

When things get hectic, the 29-year-old guitar hero remembers his dad, a roofer, having

to be up at 5:30 each morning.

"You just have to get very comfortable wearing different hats in different situations," he

says. "My dad was up early every day and it helps puts things in perspective. I've beentouring close to 20 years now, so I don't really know any other way. The traveling isn't as

easy and carefree as it was before having children but it's like reading -- it's intellectually

stimulating. We also have an incredibly strong support unit with our own families. My

parents and brothers and sister all live within 10 miles, so 'it takes a village.' Mostimportantly the kids are great, and they know even though Susan and I work a lot we are

still very connected."

Trucks, a guitar prodigy and nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks, startedjamming with the Allman Brothers when he was 10 years old and became an official

member in 1999 when he was 20, jamming opposite Warren Haynes. The Allmans just

finished a run of 15 dates at the Beacon Theatre in New York, with special guest spots bythe likes of Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Buddy Guy, Phish members Trey Anastasio and

Page McConnell and Eric Clapton.

Derek Trucks Band

Where: Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse, Burgettstown.

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $39-$59; 412-323-1919.

Asked about Clapton, who played with Duane Allman in Derek and the Dominos, Trucks

says, "It was great to play with Eric again. He has a long history with members of the


9/13

Allmans and he went out of his way to be there. It was a monumental couple of shows, in

fact the whole Beacon run was pretty amazing."

Now, Trucks is switching gears back into the Derek Trucks Band, with a tour that stops at

the Pepsi Roadhouse Sunday promoting "Already Free," a sixth studio album of swampy,

funky blues-rock with Trucks playing lots of dirty slide. Among the highlights are a

cover of Dylan's "Down in the Flood," the Little Feat-like "Maybe This Time" and lead

vocals by Tedeschi on "Down Don't Bother Me" and Doyle Bramhall II on "Our Love."

" 'Already Free' is the most song-oriented record we've ever done and has more vocals

then we've had before -- [DTB singer] Mike [Mattison] appears on every track with the

exception of the songs Susan and Doyle sing. We really feel like this album is a serious

step forward for the band and our sound and what we can do together. The fact that we

did it ourselves means a lot. I got to produce the album from home without any time

constraints which allowed the vibe in the room to constantly flow."

Trucks had the luxury of finishing the sessions with 25 tracks and then distilling them

down to the best 12. The creative burst was due in part to having a new, high-end studio

right in his backyard.

"I built it for the sole purpose of not touring as much and working at home," he says. "For

the most part I could wake up in the morning and drive the kids to school and then getright back into the studio and start working. We didn't have to fit into a schedule, so we

were able to make a record that is really organic. Susan and I are really fortunate in thatmost of our friends happen to be world-class musicians. We just started inviting friends

down, like Doyle came out to the house for a week and [we] wrote together, then Warren[Haynes] came and we wrote a few songs together. This past year has been a really

creative time for us on so many levels. Ultimately, this has been kind of a jumping off

point for what we want to do with the studio and with the next handful of records that we

do."

Scott Mervis can be reached at [email protected] or 412-263-2576.

First published on April 2, 2009 at 12:00 am
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


10/13

BURLINGTON FREE PRESS

April 2, 2009

Derek Trucks brings his fluid guitar skills to Higher Ground

By Brent Hallenbeck, Free Press Staff Writer

No one was more surprised than Derek Trucks when he foundout his solo bands new disc, Already Free, reached number19 on the Billboard Top 200 album charts when it came out inJanuary.

That was a shocker to me, the guitarist said recently by

phone from New York City. I thought they meant 19 on theblues chart; 19 on the full Billboard chart was way beyond myexpectations. Its done a lot better than anything weve been a

part of up until now.

Trucks, performing with his band April 3 at Higher Ground, said the difficulty in categorizing hisband has something to do with the bands growing success. His sound, shaped by his work withthe Allman Brothers Band and honed in his own group, is most accurately described as bluesrock, but his music catches the ears of jam-rock and jazz fans as well.

Part of what weve been able to do as a group some of it consciously and some of it just thenature of it is weve kept our feet in a lot of different camps but never really been accepted byany of them, Trucks said. Weve made it a point not to get bogged down in any one of thosescenes.

His most recent appearance in Burlington demonstrated that musical dexterity. The Derek TrucksBand concluded the three nights of music in August during the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival,following a couple of Vermont-based acts, jam-rocking Phish bass player Mike Gordon and retro-blues-rockers Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

Trucks, from Jacksonville, Fla., showed his fluid guitar skills at that the festival without showingoff. While most guitarists would make those grimacing rock-star faces when reaching for asoaring note, the tall, blond, ponytailed Trucks remains boyishly calm.

He said he learned his style in part by watching restrained performances by musicians whopreceded him such as Duane Allman, Elmore James and John Coltrane. I saw footage of JohnColtrane (when Trucks was) 14 or 15 years old and it was just all business, the look in his eye.

There was no showmanship, Trucks said. Part of it is those influences and part of it is mynature. Theres definitely some musicians that are showmen and I love them for it, but a lot oftimes it feels kind of like a cop-out to me.

He might look stoic, but Trucks was having fun looking out toward Lake Champlain and theAdirondacks during the Maritime Festival. Weve always had a good time in Burlington, he said.Weve played there a few times over the years, from that upstairs club, Club Metronome, and allthe different Higher Grounds. Burlingtons been good to us for a long time. Its a beautiful place,too, which definitely helps.

Additional Facts


11/13

If you go

The Derek Trucks Band, 8:30 p.m. April 3, Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington. $25 in

advance, $27 day of show. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.


12/13

With 'Already Free,' Derek Trucks beginsexpanding his horizonsBy Alan Sculley, FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEWThursday, April 2, 2009

Derek TrucksDerek Trucks Band

With: The Bridge

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday

Admission: $39-$59

Where: Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse, Burgettstown

Details: 724-947-1900

Up to now, guitarist Derek Trucks probably has been better known as a member of the Allman

Brothers Band than as a band leader, despite the fact that the new Derek Trucks Band CD,"Already Free," is the group's sixth album.

But in talking with Trucks, the guitarist leaves little doubt about how important his band is to himand, perhaps more tellingly, how much he wants the group to leave a lasting stamp on the musicworld. Trucks and the band perform Sunday at the Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse.

"Already Free" stands apart from the other Derek Trucks Band albums for having a much largerpercentage of songs written or co-written by Trucks or the other band members. This facet of theCD says a lot about how Trucks' interest in the music-making process has expanded, as has hislarger goals for his band.

"It wasn't really until the last three or four years that I really started appreciating the art of writing

songs," Trucks says. "Up to that point, most of what inspired and moved me were performances. Iappreciated great songs, but what mattered to me more was Stevie Wonder singing on a greatsong that he wrote or Mahalia (Jackson) singing on a great gospel tune or (John) Coltraneplaying. It was usually the performer and the tone and the sound that I got into. It was really onlyin the last three or four years that I was really struck by Leonard Cohen's songwriting or (Bob)Dylan's songwriting, not the performances, but the depth, the multilayered ideas and just thebeauty of some of these lyrics and just the song structure."

Trucks also came to a related realization as his appreciation for songwriting grew.

"I'd definitely been thinking about the fact that, to make a band's legacy or a musician's legacyreally last, I feel like there's got to be a healthy amount of original compositions to make it hold


13/13

up," Trucks says. "There are great artists and legendary artists that didn't write a lot of tunes, butfor the most part, the ones that changed things wrote a good deal of their stuff. It's something Iwas thinking about."

So Trucks -- one of the most humble artists one can encounter, despite his prodigious talent as aguitarist -- might have taken a major step toward making important music with "Already Free."

"Already Free" mixes elements of soul, jazz, world beat, country, blues and rock. But the new CDis edgier, and particularly on songs such as "Something to Make You Happy," "Get What YouDeserve" and "Don't Miss Me," the group emphasizes the rock/blues/soul side of its sound morethan on earlier albums.

Meanwhile, the high quality of the material, coupled with the fast growth Trucks has made withsongwriting, suggests that "Already Free" might be the start of a fruitful phase for the band, whichincludes Trucks, bassist Todd Smallie, drummer Yonrico Scott, keyboardist Kofi Burbridge, singerMike Mattison and percussionist Count M'Butu.

With "Already Free" having only arrived in stores in January, it is no surprise to hear Trucks saythat the new CD figures to be a centerpiece of his group's shows this spring.

"We'll probably be playing a lot of those (new) tunes," he says.

Tour Press - Derek Trucks Band - April 7

Documents

Transcript of Tour Press - Derek Trucks Band - April 7