Tedeschi Trucks Band: an eleven-piece soul stew

(Published by Planet JH Weekly)

When some of the world’s finest blues and soul musicians roll into town, it’s worth the premium ticket price. At least five hundred of you know this, because the Tedeschi Trucks Band (TTB) concert at the Center Theater sold out well in advance.

This is a union made in musical heaven, not just matrimony. Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks bring tasteful musicianship from their respective solo careers and a new-found, inextinguishable energy for TTB that is still in it’s infancy (formed in 2010).The band’s debut album, Revelator (2011), won a Grammy for Best Blues Album of the Year just this past February, while Trucks himself, along with TTB band mate Oteil Burbridge, were honored with lifetime Grammys for their membership in The Allman Brothers Band. The following month, Tedeschi and Trucks were invited to perform at the White House with Mick Jagger, B.B. King, and Buddy Guy. President Barack Obama himself even sat-in to sing a verse of “Sweet Home Chicago.”“As over the top as a lot of that stuff is, the one thing I notice is, it doesn’t really feel any different than being on the road and having successful shows, like on our European tour and in Japan, and seeing the crowds grow,” Tedeschi said.