Radio DTB

The Vail Trail has an interview with Derek Trucks:

Keep on Truckin’: On the road with Derek Trucks

As the nephew of Butch Trucks, long-time drummer for the Allman Brothers, Derek Trucks had a head start learning music and living on the road.

Although he began in the shadows of legends, he now stands out on his own. He has made a name for himself as the best slide guitarist of this generation and, at only 25 years old, he has been selected by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the top 100 guitarists ever.

Read the full interview….

In the interview, Derek gives a peek of what life on the road is like, talks about his first gigs, and discusses some of his musical influences.

The Vail Daily has an article about the Derek Trucks Band:

Trucks turns his knuckles down, digs deep

VAIL - Derek Trucks doesn’t care much about hamming up the crowd. Stage presence in general isn’t something he really thinks about. There’s just one thing on his mind as he’s playing music: the music.

“It’s your mission to stay focused on the task instead of trying to get through to as many people as possible,” Trucks said. “The way things seem to be going, mediocrity is much less intimidating than someone who’s great at what they do. For the average listener, you must want something to entertain you, and that’s about it. But, music should make you think.”

Read the full article….

It’s a great article and I highly recommend reading it. In it, Derek discusses his opinion of the general state of today’s music and also talks about how he and the band pass the time on the tour bus.

The Harvard Crimson Online has an article about how it’s difficult to classify the genre of music for a band called Indefinite Article. The article mentions similar problems with classifying music of the Derek Trucks Band:

Band Embraces Crosssover Genre: Indefinite Article rocks Quincy Cage with unique brand of music

Even artists who try to simplify their musical methodology for listeners end up selling themselves short: to call the Derek Trucks Band’s style “world music” does the band a disservice by grossly generalizing and neglecting their predominant influences.

Read the full article….

While the article is mostly a review of an Indefinite Article show, it does bring up a great point about genre classifications. I’ve always had a difficult time picking a genre for the DTB.

If you had to classify the DTB music with a single genre, what would you use? Use the “Comments” link below to share your thoughts.

Radio DTB #001 (14.2 MB, 31 minutes) is now available.

This first edition of Radio DTB highlights three songs from the April 1, 2004 concert at the Lincoln Theatre in Raleigh, NC, from a recording made by Mark Johnson. This concert can be downloaded in its entirety from the Live Music Archive.

You can also purchase Live At Georgia Theatre, a very high quality live recording, multi-tracked and studio mixed, from a variety of digital music providers such as the official Derek Trucks Band website, iTunes, and Hittin’ The Note.

Comments about Radio DTB are always welcome: greg@radiodtb.com.

The Macon Telegraph has an article about the Big House Foundation that mentions the Derek Trucks Band:

Big House Foundation to get assistance

The current Brothers lineup of Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, Jaimoe, Warren Haynes, Oteil Burbridge, Derek Trucks and Marc Quinones is scheduled to wrap up an evening-to-night-to-morning string of sets that will also include Gov’t Mule, the Derek Trucks Band, Oteil and the Peacemakers and Jaimoe’s Jassss Band.

All net proceeds from the show will benefit the Big House Foundation, which is working to establish a museum at 2321 Vineville Ave., where several band members lived in the early 1970s as the Allman Brothers Band started making it big.

Read the full article….

The Chicago Sun-Times has an article about Gregg Allman that mentions Derek Trucks and the Allman Brothers:

Allman thrilled with new group of ‘Friends’

Allman says the band is also scheduled to convene at his Georgia home later this winter to begin work on the follow-up to the 2003 Sanctuary release ‘’Hittin’ the Note,'’ which included the Grammy-nominated best rock instrumental performance track ‘’Instrumental Illness.'’

With a few untitled, work-in-progress songs already in the mix, Allman expects the band’s line-up — Butch Trucks (drums), Jaimoe (drums), Warren Haynes (vocals, lead/slide guitar), Derek Trucks (slide/lead guitar), Oteil Burbridge (bass) and Marc Quinones (percussion) — to remain intact for the project, which has no release date at present.

Read the full article….

The prospect of a new Allman Brothers release is very exciting!

The 2/9/2005 DTB show is available for download from the Live Music Archive.

The Ithica Journal has an article about a club in Trumansburg, NY called the Rongo that mentions the Derek Trucks Band:

Rongo Revival

Although open to input, Barry [owner of the Rongo] is also a man with a plan, maybe even a vision. “I want the Rongo to be a showcase for all forms of eclectic music, including roots and traditional, but also indie bands,” he says. “This involves some risk on my part.”…

Last February, Barry booked Derek Trucks, nephew of Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks, at the Rongo. The show sold out completely in advance, even though ticket prices were well above what is usually charged at the venue. This event was “the clincher” for Barry; he saw that big shows like this could be done. And they could be done in Trumansburg.

Read the full article….

It’s interesting to see that a good reception to a Derek Trucks Band show helped encourage someone to open a new club. If I ever find myself in the Ithica area, I’ll be looking to see who’s playing at the Rongo when I’m there.

See also an article about an upcoming Oteil and the Peacemakers show at the Rongo.

The Vail Trail has an article about some upcoming jamband concerts, including the Derek Trucks Band:

Presidents’ Jam

Derek Trucks is, quite simply, not to be missed. At only 25-years-old, he travels with his own band and with the Allman Brothers, and Rolling Stone included him on their list of “100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.”

Moreover, his band includes an organ and some horns as well, perfect for improvisation.

Read the whole story….

In additon to the Derek Trucks Band, the article also mentions New Monsoon and Shakedown Street.

An article at GoTriad.com about Warren Haynes mentions Derek Trucks when talking about Warren’s annual Christmas Jam:

Warren At Peace

The annual fund-raiser draws people from all over the country. They come because they want to see nearly eight hours of music — from musicians such as the Neville Brothers, guitarist Derek Trucks and Little Feat — during an event that stretches until 4 in the morning inside the 7,000-seat Asheville Civic Center.

Read the full article….

The 2/9/2005 DTB show is available for download from etree.

An article in GoTriad.com talks about Gregg Allman’s solo career. It also focuses on the other people that Gregg plays with, including Derek Trucks:

Allman Gets A Little Help from His Friends

Why do you think you’ve had so much longevity in the music business?

“’Cause I love to play, man. I love to see the effect it has on people. There are a lot of problems out there, but if we can make ’em forget them for like two, three hours, that’s fine. That’s fine with me, anyway.

“A lot of it has been a surprise with me. I didn’t know what was going to happen after (the Allman Brothers) broke up. Sure enough, we got back together. Now, especially with Derek (Trucks) and Warren (Haynes), it really has elevated. It’s very professional. It’s just evolved. When I get a proof back from the studio to mix it, I just can’t believe it sometimes. I search for a mistake, and I don’t find any. At least not any big enough to mention.”

Read the full article….

The San Jose Mercury News published a story about Derek Trucks’ influences, and they’re not guitarists:

Horn Players Inspire Guitarist

Ask 25-year-old guitar prodigy Derek Trucks which guitarists he listens to for inspiration, and you are in for a surprise.

The answer is: no guitarists.

Trucks, who has played his sinuous slide guitar with the Allman Brothers, Phil Lesh and his own Derek Trucks Band, listens to horn and harmonica players to hone his chops.

Read the full article….

The article provides a concise history of the Derek Trucks Band, including the struggles the band has had with releasing studio ablums on a label that doesn’t know what to do with eclectic music.

Welcome to Radio DTB: Your Internet source for MP3s featuring live music from the Derek Trucks Band. This site is still in its infancy, but when completed, will host a weekly, thirty minute, podcast-style show featuring live DTB music available from the Live Music Archive. This site will also serve as a one-stop portal to the other great DTB resources on the internet.

The projected launch date for this site is early March, 2005.

Stay tuned….