Tedeschi Trucks Band

Tedeschi Trucks Band -- led by the axe-wielding husband-and-wife duo Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks -- is a 12-piece ensemble of road warriors who sometimes tour more than 200 days a year. Their seamless, cover-rich meld of genres (blues, soul, gospel, rock, jazz, R&B) has endeared them to audiences across the musical spectrum as well as the globe, and features four vocalists --Tedeschi plus three harmony singers -- as well as two drummers, a three-piece horn section, keyboards, bass, and guitars. Evidenced by Revelator, their 2011 debut, they showcase a raucous sound rooted in American roots music's past and present; they followed in the expansive footsteps of the Allman Brothers Band (of which Trucks was a member), Delaney and Bonnie, and Big Brother & the Holding Company. Each subsequent recording, especially 2017's Let Me Get By, not only refined their sound, but helped to establish Tedeschi as one of the finest lead singers on the scene.
The outfit began as a summer touring unit known as Soul Stew Revival. It was both a practical consideration for the pair to spend time together with their young family, and a musical endeavor. Soul Stew Revival featured members of their own bands and numerous guest musicians, and the loose-knit cooperative band performed roof-raising shows full of soul, blues, funk, and gospel standards, as well as original material. After one of these tours, the pair decided to create a home studio to be better able to finance their own recordings.
Tedeschi and Trucks performed a cover of "Space Captain" on Herbie Hancock's Imagine Project, and solidified an 11-piece band from their own units, as well as horn players and percussionists. Renamed the Tedeschi Trucks Band, they signed to Sony's Masterworks imprint, recorded over 30 songs, and eventually pared the selection down to 11 tracks for Revelator, their debut album. Revelator was released in June 2011 and nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Blues Album. It was followed in the spring of 2012 by Live: Everybody's Talkin', a sprawling double-disc set that featured material from Revelator alongside some carefully chosen cover versions. August 2013 brought a second studio album, Made Up Mind, which featured co-writing credits from the Jayhawks' Gary Louris and Soulive's Eric Krasno.
Meanwhile, the band toured virtually nonstop. They composed new material on the fly and developed a sprawling set of covers from the annals of blues, rock, soul, jazz, and country music; they also explored African and Indian music on stage. After a final Allman Brothers Band tour in 2015, Trucks was able to focus all of his energies on his family band, which had expanded over the years to include a dozen members. The Tedeschi Trucks Band entered their Swamp Raga Studio in Jacksonville, Florida and, with Trucks producing, recorded ten new songs -- all written or co-written by the band, a first. Let Me Get By was released by Fantasy in January 2016; it debuted at number 15 on the Billboard charts. Live from the Fox Oakland, a live double-album recorded during the supporting tour for Let Me Get By, appeared in March 2017.
In February of 2019 the band issued Signs, co-produced by Trucks with Bobby Tis and Jim Scott. The all-original 11-track release featured guest appearances from guitarists Warren Haynes and Doyle Bramhall II, as well as Allman Brothers Band percussionist Marc Quinones. Lyrically, the album reflected recent losses suffered by the band, including the deaths of Trucks' uncle (and bandmate) Butch Trucks and Gregg Allman. ~ Thom Jurek