Tedeschi Trucks Band
PETE BERWICK
72 Hours on State Street
Florida ' s legendary Tedeschi Trucks Band , led by married blues guitar greats Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi , return to the Chicago Theater for a 3-night run in January . IE ' s Ed Spinelli talked to Derek as he readied his all-star band for their 3 day stay on State Street .
IE : How was your approach on ( the new album ) Let Me Get By different than your previous albums ? Derek Trucks : I think the fact that we were between record labels , and we just did this one all ourselves . That was the biggest difference . All the tunes were written with the band in our studio . We self produced it . It was all in house . We went into it thinking we kind of wanted to capture what the band is , and what it does live more than the other studio records . I think in some ways it was the first time we captured what the group is about . I like our other records . There is some great stuff on it , but this is a little different take on it . Going forward , this will probably be the model .
IE : Both you and Susan have successful solo careers . Will there be more solo material in the future , or will the band be the prime focus ? DT : I think for awhile this band will be the focus . We always have ideas that are floating around . I know Susan wants to do a gospel and another blues record at some point . There are always ideas and things I would like to do . This is the first time we have the opportunity to really focus on one project . I think we will do that for a bit .
IE : How in the world did you put together this band ? DT : It ’ s been a long , crazy road . Over the years , being out with my solo band , you would run into certain people and you would just connect with them musically and personally , and you would put it in the back of your mind that if you wanted to put a group together , it would be somebody you would want to work with . When me and Susan decided to put this group together , that ’ s how we went about it . We called all of our favorite people , and wanted to see if they were into it . We told them what we were thinking . Alot of it organically grew out of that . The band has gone through some changes over the first few years , just trying to find the right chemistry . We feel incredibly lucky to have the musicians we have out on the road with us . Some of it was that the band just had to grow big enough to where we could afford a second bus and have twelve people on stage . The big band and crew just had to naturally grow so we could make it work . It ’ s been an amazing run so far .
IE : Chicago seems to really love TTB . You ' ve built up a special bond here with your fans . DT : It is pretty amazing . I remember the first time we played the Chicago Theater . I was trying to figure out who we were opening for . We weren ’ t doing it ourselves I know , so to be headlining multiple nights now is pretty amazing . We have always had a great connection with Chicago and the crowds there . I remember going back to my solo band where we filmed our DVD at the Park West . I just remembered how good the audience was and always seemed to have great shows there . I even remember playing Buddy Guy ’ s place and Fitzgerald ’ s and some of the other clubs . We always had a great rapport . It is an amazing city . There is that energy in Chicago that is similar to the rowdiness of the South , but it is not the South . There is just something pretty amazing about Chicago . We are excited . The Chicago Theater is one of the nicest in the country too . I really do enjoy playing multiple nights in one place . It makes the band dig deeper . It makes you break out more and different material . It brings the best out of the group . It makes you work a little bit harder which is always good .
IE : Are you thinking about a no-repeat ? DT : You know , at least for a few nights . There will be a song or two you want to sprinkle once or twice throughout the run . We haven ’ t done many three night runs . We did six nights at the Beacon . That ’ s a different mindset . We have done a few two night runs here and there . We will see . We are getting to the point where we can probably do a no-
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By Ed Spinelli
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