By Ryan Sparks
Some people are
fortunate to enough to realize their true calling in life at an early
age and for slide guitarist extraordinaire Derek Trucks nothing could be
further from the truth. He was considered a prodigy long before his
tenth birthday and by the time he reached his teens he was already
sitting in with musicians who were almost three times his age, including
playing with his famous uncle, drummer Butch Trucks in The Allman
Brothers Band.
Derek formed The
Derek Trucks Band at fifteen and by eighteen had already recorded his
self titled debut in 1997. Beginning with the opening sounds of “Sarod”,
which is named for the Classical Indian instrument that Derek plays on
this song it was immediately apparent that this young man was coming
from a different place. The fact that this album also contained his
unique interpretations of such jazz standards as John Coltrane’s “Naima”
& “Mr. PC”, Miles Davis’ “So What” and Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints”
revealed that he was already well on his way to absorbing the multitude
of influences that lay outside the sphere of rock and blues.
Since arriving on
the music scene Derek certainly hasn’t spent much time looking back or
reflecting on his accomplishments. He has recorded six studio albums
with his own band, the latest being the just released Already Free,
each one demonstrating more growth and maturity both as a musician and a
human being than it’s predecessor. He has openly embraced the diversity
and the various different cultures our world has to offer and channeled
that directly into both his life and music. Along the way he has found
time to collaborate with many of his fellow musicians as well as
stepping in to permanently replace the legendary guitarist Dickey Betts
in The Allman Brothers Band in 1999. As if this wasn’t enough another
rock ‘n roll legend Eric Clapton enlisted the Derek’s services for his
touring band in 2006.
Derek is married to
singer / guitarist Susan Tedeschi (with whom he frequently collaborates)
and the couple have two young children together. Derek is very much a
family man in the truest sense of the word because his band and the
people that work for them operate much like one big family. Already
Free which was recorded at Derek’s new home studio allowed the band
the freedom and ability to create in a much more natural and organic
environment. The result is twelve of some of the finest compositions of
the bands career to date. I recently had a chance to catch up with Derek
just as he was about to head off to rehearsals with The Allman Brothers
Band. I found him to be a very engaging subject. While other successful
musicians his age (he’ll be 30 this year) either walk around with their
heads in the clouds or they carry around with them a lot of unnecessary
baggage Derek is one of the most grounded people you’re ever likely to
encounter. He hasn’t taken anything for granted, he is humble and he
considers himself fortunate to be playing music for a living. He treats
music as the true gift that it is.
Ryan:
Congratulations on the release of your latest album Already Free.
I understand the writing and recording of this record, unlike your past
albums afforded you something you haven’t really had before, and that’s
the luxury of time. How do you think this affected the finished product?
Derek: I think it’s
a much more mature and relaxed record. It doesn’t feel like there’s
something to prove or that it has to have extended guitar solos all over
the place. Not that the next record won’t have that, but I feel this was
a nice diversion from that and a much more song oriented record. I think
it has a very natural organic feel to it, just the fact that I recorded
this at home. Being able to wake up at home, wake up with my wife and
family, drive the kids to school and then get to work is such a luxury
and not something that I’ve been able to do very much [laughing]. Now
that I have a family and young kids it’s been a lot more difficult to be
in one spot for ten days recording a record away from the family. It’s
hard to turn that side of your brain off and just enjoy where you are. I
think being able to do it at home is kind of the best of both worlds.
Ryan: It’s
interesting that you mentioned the organic feeling because that was one
of my first impressions upon hearing this record for the first time, the
obvious organic feeling running through each of these songs. It’s also a
very cohesive sounding record, probably the most cohesive one you’ve
done to date.
Derek: Yeah I think
so. A lot of that is the studio and having time off, also just maturing
as a musician and a person. A lot of it is just taking those diverse
influences over the years; it’s been kind of distilled down into this
sound that is now the bands. I think it really started with the last
record Songlines but this record is a big step forward from that
even.
Ryan: Your
vocalist Mike Mattison first appeared with you on the aforementioned
Songlines in 2006. He sounds like he’s really beginning to hit his
stride on Already Free. In the past you’ve used many different
singers on your records. Do you feel with Mike’s addition that you’ve
finally found the perfect voice capable of conveying your musical vision
for the band?
Derek: Yeah I
think that Mike sang amazingly well on this record and really came into
his own, at least in this setting you know? I’m really proud with how he
sang on this record. I think it’s great having different voices and
avenues to explore. The songs that Doyle and I wrote together just would
not have happened with a different singer. It’s so his sound and it was
the sound that I was hearing, clashing and combining that together. Then
with the track that Susan sang (“Back Where I Started”), I don’t know
anyone else that could quite pull that off. I definitely think the
chemistry with Mike is really great and hopefully it will last for a
long time.
Ryan: There’s
some great photographs on the inside booklet that I’d like to ask you
about. First is the small picture that looks like a baseball card of
Virgil Trucks.
Derek: Yeah. He’s
still around and I got to finally meet him recently. He lives outside of
Birmingham Alabama and he’s just a fascinating character. He was a great
pitcher and I think that had he been on a different team he would have
had a real shot at the Hall Of Fame. He had some pretty serious numbers
and he threw two no hitters in one season. He’s my grandfather’s first
cousin so I think that makes him a first cousin or something like that.
He’s a trip. He and Satchel Paige were running partners, him and Mantle
and Ted Williams. There’s a Ted Williams Hall Of Fame in Florida and
before Ted passed away he inducted Virgil Trucks into it as one of the
two toughest pitchers he ever faced. So they had a Virgil Trucks day at
Fenway Park and my uncle and I both threw out the first pitch. My wife
sang the anthem, so it was a pretty great day [laughing].
Ryan: Those
pictures of the swamp, is that the view from your home studio?
Derek: Yeah that’s
the backyard. We live right up in the swamp [laughing]. It’s nice, you
just have to watch out for the ‘gators, but they’re pretty docile
[laughing].
Ryan: The album
kicks off with a searing version of Dylan’s “Down In The Flood”, a song
which like a lot of Dylan’s timeless older material has themes that are
still relevant today. How did that one come about? You also knocked a
few other covers as well.
Derek: “Down In
The Flood” is just an amazing song and I think post Katrina, just the
lyric and the title got stuck in my head for a little while. A few of
the other covers we did all had some connection. “Sweet Inspiration” was
a song that Carlos Santana had recommended to me and the band. He played
it for us a few times when we were on tour with him and he kept saying
that he heard us doing it and that we’d sound great on it, so we decided
to give it a shot. The Paul Pena tune “Something to Make You Happy” we
did that because we’d become pretty good friends with Paul. After he
passed away- I still feel like he’s one of the unsung heroes and it’s
great to be able to at least honor somebody’s memory by playing their
music.
Ryan: I’ve
always enjoyed your varied and diverse musical influences and how you’ve
incorporated them into your playing and music. Yet there seems to be
less of an ethnic or world feel within these compositions than there has
been in the past.
Derek: Yeah I think
in a way this one is much more the domestic roots or the American roots.
It’s still pretty wide ranging, whether it’s a Sly Stone influence or a
Big Bill Broonzy influence, a Skip James or Hound Dog Taylor influence.
It’s still coming from a lot of different places, The Allman Brothers
and all that stuff as well. I do think that some of the world influences
are still in this record it’s just more subtle. It’s more seamless and
less in your face and obvious, which I like. A lot of times you can be
misinterpreted if you’re too subtle but I still like to air on that side
of things. Some of my favorite music, and I think the music that lasts
the longest, the music that I can listen to over and over is just stuff
that unfolds as I’ve tuned into it more and I’ve listened harder and
better. So I wanted to try to attempt that with this record and make
something that wasn’t just in your face and obvious but something that
when you hear it, you hear more things and more influences in it.
Hopefully that’s what this album does.
Ryan: A more
layered approach.
Derek: Yeah more
layered and sometimes it can be something really simple that just
unfolds. You start hearing different influences and something that seems
real obvious to you at first. A lot of great songs are that way and I
think that was the inspiration for the overall feel of this record.
Ryan: What kind
of effect did Classical Indian music initially have on you as a musician
and how were you able to apply it to your own playing?
Derek: The
dedication and seriousness of the music really struck me first and also
the fact that some of the melodies are six or eight hundred years old.
Anytime a melody lasts that long it’s because it’s good [laughing]. It’s
because people feel it, it’s just so recognizable and stays intact you
know? A lot of the melodies and the depth of it took the stuff that I
loved about the great blues and soul singers, that emotion. Then it took
Western classical and the technicality of the great jazz musicians and
it kind of combined all that for me. It made me dig in to be more
interested in the subtleties of the playing, and with slide guitar you
want the intonation to be absolutely perfect.
Ryan: When you
speak to young musicians who are just starting out, regardless of the
instrument they play, do you talk to them about the importance of
taking off their blinders so to speak, so they’re able to absorb all
they can from diverse cultures and different musical styles?
Derek: Yeah. One of
the things that I talk to people about if they ask me is - to me
learning how to listen is as important as practicing. I think that
really stretching your ear and stretching your brain, hearing and
digging into things, I’ve learned as much from that as I have from
anything else.
Ryan: John
Coltrane said and I’m paraphrasing a bit here, but he wanted his music
to be a natural expression or extension of his spirituality and that he
hoped that he could create a musical language that could transcend words
and would speak to people’s souls. Is this something you’re trying to do
with your music as well?
Derek: Yeah. I
think my fascination and connection with his music was that ideal, and
with Indian classical music as well. Some of the great blues guys,
they might not state it that way but their music is very much an
extension of their life, what they’ve gone through and that emotion and
how it connects with people. Sometimes you’re just getting hit right
between the eyes with it, so yeah that’s what I hope for. I hope to make
music that’s honest about who you are as a human being, things that
you’ve gone through and learned., things that have moved you and isn’t
calculated or formulated to gain something. Sometimes it’s a raw nerve
or an ideal but as long as it’s honest and coming from the right place
then I think it’s all legit. Whether it’s something that feels like a
pop tune, a blues tune or a Qawwali tune, whatever it is as long as the
intention is pure in the beginning.
Ryan:
Considering your musical lineage, would it be fair to say that you were
brought along slowly from an early age to one day do exactly what you’re
doing today and that is to pick up the torch so to speak to help
continue the rich musical legacy that is The Allman Brothers Band?
Derek: You know
when I think back in hindsight about the whole story and all the subtle
things that happened along the way, and all the things that had to
happen to get to this point, it feels that way but a lot of it was kind
of living and learning it [laughing]. Making mistakes along the way,
right place, right time that kind of thing. Since I was conscious of it,
from twelve or thirteen years old I always thought that no matter how
bad things got on the road or how it looked impossible, I always felt
that it was inevitable in a way and that it would keep going. I never
questioned it. At the end of the day when you have a band on the road, a
good part of it is it’s a business and you have to figure out a way to
make ends meet. There was a good ten years where on paper it makes zero
sense [laughing]. If it was any other business you think it was
ridiculous, but with music you rarely get to that point. If music is why
you’re doing it then you don’t even look at that. It’s can we keep doing
it, not should we keep doing it. At the worst moments there was always a
helping hand along the way at the right time. Just when you think it
wouldn’t happen something would pop up. It’s just a matter of
perseverance and right place, right time and having the right people
around you at the right time. The few times that we got burned really
hard were at times where we could absorb that hit you know? If it had
happened six months before or six months later that would have been it.
When all our gear got stolen, the whole trailer with everything in it,
that happened right at a time where we could absorb that. If it had been
six months earlier we would have had to have gotten a job [laughing]. We
had a lawyer / manager that completely- you know the old music business
horror story, he just robbed us blind but it happened at a time where we
could afford it. I didn’t have a wife and kids or a house payment. It
was like whatever, “Can I crash on your couch?” [laughing] So it’s been
a fortunate ride.
Ryan: The late
Duane Allman not only carved out his own legacy in such a short time, he
also recorded with Eric Clapton in Derek and The Dominoes. Tell me how
you felt when you got the call from Eric to join his touring band in
2006?
Derek: It was
pretty surreal you know? Not a call you ever expect to get or think is
possible to get. The fact that he was so easy to be around and so
generous musically, I mean he gave me a lot of space to play by the end
of that tour. I remember one night we were onstage, I think it was in
Denmark, it just felt like a band and that everyone was on the same
plane doing their thing. We were in the middle of a Dominoes tune and I
remember looking over and thinking “Oh shit that’s Eric Clapton over
there” [laughing]. I just forgot for a second because we were so in the
moment. It was an outdoor show and just a surreal moment. I’ve had that
same feeling with The Allman Brothers, still to this day with that
rhythm section, with Gregg, and when Dickey was there. For me it was the
Fillmore East, Eat A Peach and Layla records, so to
get to play that music with those guys, it hasn’t been lost on me. I
appreciate it.
Ryan: One thing
I’ve never really understood about Eric is why being the great player
that he is that he always enlists some of the best guitarists, whether
it’s Albert Lee, Mark Knopfler, Doyle or yourself, to join his touring
bands. He tends to lay back and let everyone else take center stage.
Derek: I think
he’s a guy who knows what he needs to stay on the top of his game and if
that’s a foil then it’s a foil, if he needs that person to spar with
musically. I think he was so accomplished early on; he was a rock star
early on. He kind of wrote the book on that. He got to the point of
having nothing to prove pretty early on as well so he could focus on
other things. The crowd is coming out to see guitar hero shit and he’s
in songwriter mode; I’m not speaking for him I’m just thinking out loud
but I think to balance that, having another great guitar player keeps
that guitar fireworks going and at the same time allows him to do other
things.
Ryan: At some
point he decided he wanted to be known not only as a guitar hero but
more as a musician or singer / songwriter.
Derek: Right and I
think he realized that has more longevity and it does because his career
has stayed at a certain level for a long, long time. It hasn’t dropped
off; it’s been a steady thing. Also I think all musicians are just
competitive enough that if they have somebody onstage that’s ripping a
solo, if you have it in you, you’re going to say “Oh yeah? Try this
shit out” [laughing]. I think by him having these players around that
it keeps the fire lit.
Ryan: Have you
ever stepped into a musical situation where you felt slightly
overwhelmed or that maybe you were in over your head? For example you
played on McCoy Tyner’s Guitars album alongside not only McCoy,
but Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette as well. I would imagine that playing
with someone of McCoy’s stature must have been a very special moment for
you.
Derek: Yeah for
sure. That’s one of those moments where you walk in and think “Now this
is some serious water here that you’re wading in” [laughing]. It’s also
a respect thing too. I don’t want to come into a situation like that
because it’s an acoustic album and its McCoy’s record, so you don’t want
to come in with the guns completely blazing. To me it’s as much of an
honor to be a part of it as it is to see what you can come up with. It’s
a fine line in those situations. Sometimes your look, your age, race or
whatever it is, if you come in with an attitude it can push people in
the wrong direction. So I always air on the side of caution and try to
come in humble and respectful and try to fit into what’s going on rather
than trying to shift it. You judge each situation on its own merits but
with that one I felt like McCoy being a Coltrane alumni, his age and
just being this sweet guy. It was the end of a very long day for them,
they had done the whole record and I was the last one to come in so they
were pretty spent. I just thought I’d ease on in and make it real easy
for everybody.
Ryan: While
you’re fan of their music, just having them ask you to appear on their
album not only validates what you do as a musician but it also shows
that they’re recognizing you as one of their peers at the same time.
Derek: Yeah. Those
situations are both humbling and a confidence builder at the same time.
To go into a situation like that and then when you leave you think “Wow
I just recorded with McCoy Tyner” you know? [laughing] Those things
definitely make you feel that way. I think a lot of times the reason you
get asked to do those things is because if you come into the situation
in a respectful way then people appreciate that. It’s a very small world
in this realm, in this business. You don’t want to come in and be this
asshole because word will get around and you won’t get those calls. So
it’s very important the weight that you leave behind you is what you
want it to be and what it should be. So when you get a call from Richie
Havens to play on his record, I mean I love Richie, so yeah of course
I’ll do it. You make sure you ask them “What do you want to hear on
this? It’s your record not mine”. I’ve been fortunate to be on some
records that I was just proud to be a part of.
Ryan: You treat
music like the gift that it is and it sounds like you consider yourself
fortunate to be able to be doing this for a living.
Derek: I really do,
my wife and I both do. Growing up my Dad was a roofer so I saw what it
was like getting up every day in the Florida sun and working your ass
off for no return. I’ve seen all the different sides of it and I
realized that even on the hardest or craziest day out on the road, that
it could be a lot worse and a lot different [laughing]. When I see or
hear about certain musicians, when the attitude takes that shift it
becomes hard for me to want to listen to them anymore because I think
part of being a musician or an artist is being able to translate your
life and make people feel these things. Give people that relief through
getting through something. I think there’s a big responsibility when you
have an audience that we’re lucky enough to have. I just think you have
to give it the right amount of weight. Col. Bruce Hampton who’s a
friend of mine put it best, whenever he sees a musician with too much of
an attitude he’ll just say “You’re just running your hand over a piece
of wood. You’re not curing cancer so don’t be too proud of yourself”
[laughing]. At the end of the day you’re not saving sick kids you’re
just playing music [laughing].
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