Radio DTB

jambands.com has an interview with Jesse Franklin, one of the guitarists from Tishamingo, that mentions Derek Trucks:

The Wear n’ Tear of Tishamingo

M.S. Who would you say your major influences are as guitar players?

J.F. I would say, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Duane Allman, that’s probably the biggest two, then Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes of course. My first to guys were Vaughan and Hendrix then Duane Allman.

Read the full article….

I’m late to the party on the April 1 “news” stories from jambands.com, but I wanted to point out a fun note that recently appeared on their website:

“Hitting the Bottle”: Charlie Trucks Tells All (2005)

A new tell-all book has the Derek Trucks Band reeling. The autobiography of Charlie Trucks chronicles numerous instances of on-stage napping and sessions with the bottle. A source within the DTB camp, now in spin control mode, commented, “Derek gave that kid his big break when he sat in with Les Paul but Charlie squandered the opportunity and just spent a lot of time drooling all over himself. He never tried to break out on his own, and his livelihood became totally dependent on Derek and Susan (Tedeschi). I don’t think he’s really cut out for the music business because it’s a tough life and you just can’t cry when things don’t go your way. Now I will admit that little crumbsnatcher has the rock star mentality down pat– constantly needing to be pacified, requiring that he be fed and have his butt wiped by others, insisting that he be personally carried to his destination, etc. And he would get more play than anyone I’ve ever seen!”

Charlie Trucks’ publicist, Jim Walsh, shrugged off any criticism. “Listen, the dude just turned three. He has stories to tell.” Diaper Dandy is co-authored by Dick Vitale.

Read the whole story, which includes “news” from other popular jambands.

From an article in the Savannah Morning News (registration required, bugmenot.com is your friend):

Derek Trucks brings vitality, virtuosity to packed venue

Derek Trucks spends months on the road each year, touring with his own band and the Allman Brothers Band. When he stops, people listen.

Friday night the Derek Trucks Band - known to its legion of fans simply as DTB - took the stage at Trustees Theater for a show that wowed the house.

Trucks, a true musical prodigy, is a commanding yet communal presence. His licks on numbers like “Set 1,” “Crow Jane” and “To Know You” are truly tasty. But he blends in with his bandmates - Kofi Burbridge on keyboards, Yonrico Scott on drums, Todd Smallie on bass and Mike Mattison - with an unpretentious manner that puts the focus purely on what he’s playing….

Read the full story…. This is one of the better concert reviews I’ve seen for the Derek Trucks Band. It’s nice to see them getting some good press.

Catching up on a few days worth of Derek Trucks Band news on various internet sites….

• The SFM Interview: Bill Walton — an interview with basketball legend Bill Walton, a huge fan of live music. Walton gives great praise to Derek Trucks for helping to revive the Allman Brothers Band. This is a great interview, and it’s really nice to see live music covered in a sports-related medium.
• Arizona Events: McDowell Mountain Music Festival — a music festival scheduled for April 29-30 will feature many great musical acts, including “soul artist Derek Trucks.” More information is available at the official McDowell Mountain Music Festival website.
• East Meets West offers an electrifying evening of Indian-and-Western-sound (registration required, bugmenot.com is your friend) — a great review of Thursday’s “East Meets West” show in Georgia. This was a show that blended Eastern music and Western music. Derek Trucks played acoustic guitar during the second set of this show.

I’m catching up on several DTB news items from the past few days:

• Modern Guitars Magazine: Tommy Castro - In this interview with Modern Guitars Magazine, Tommy Castro mentions the Jam Cruise that the Derek Trucks Band participates in.
• EVliving.com: Top Artists Slated for 2nd Annual McDowell Mountain Music Festival - The Derek Trucks Band is scheduled to perform at the 2nd Annual McDowell Mountain Music Festival in Scottsdale, AZ.

The Asheville Citizen-Times is reporting that the DTB will be participating in the 2005 Bele Chere festival. It looks like it’s going to be a great festival:

Grammy-winning mandolin picker Sam Bush, Leftover Salmon lead singer Drew Emmitt, blues guitarist Susan Tedeschi, the Derek Trucks Band and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band are among the performers to play the 2005 Bele Chere festival, July 29- 31 in downtown Asheville….

Bele Chere, which began in 1979 to pull visitors into downtown during a time when the central business district was in decline, has grown into what organizers say is the Southeast’s largest free outdoor music festival of its kind. While there is no way to exactly measure attendance, last year’s visitation was estimated to be 300-350,000.

The Bele Chere Festival boasts itself as the largest free outdoor street festival in the southeast. More information can be found at the official Bele Chere website. I’m hoping to be able to attend the festival this year — it looks like it will be lots of fun, with lots of great music.

Several news sources have published reviews of the recent Allman Brothers Band shows at the Beacon Theatre in New York, NY. Derek Trucks plays guitar for the Allman Brothers Band.

• Concert Review: The Allman Brothers Band (Reuters)
• Allmans Pack Satisfying Marathon (The Star-Ledger)

The Rocky Mountain News has an article that mentions how Mike Mattison came to join the Derek Trucks Band:

Monster Trucks: Derek Trucks Band tears down the road with one tough lineup

There are a lot of good stories out there about how someone found a lead vocalist, but Derek Trucks has one that trumps them all.

Read the full article….

The article is essentially a re-hash of information that can be found at the official website, but it does add a few more details to the story.

I received an email update from one of the DTB mailing lists earlier today pointing out that Live At Georgia Theatre has been nominated for a Jammy award:

“Live at Georgia Theatre”, The Derek Trucks Band’s first live CD release, has been nominated for a Jammy award in the category for Best Live Album of the Year. The awards are determined by online voting so we need everyone’s participation and support. You can vote by going to www.jammys.com/vote. Please encourage your friends and family to vote as well.

The band is finishing up a great tour in the mountains of Colorado this week…. More dates to be added soon!

The new issue of Hittin the Note magazine (issue #44) has a great article on the DTB. Check it out!

Live At Georgia Theatre is one of my favorite albums of all time — it definitely captures the essence of the current DTB line-up. Go vote for it!

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.

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 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.