Two years in, the Tedeschi Trucks Band is barreling right along. On May 2, the band will play the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium.
Rolling Stone went as far as to call Tedeschi Trucks Band’s debut album, Revelator, a “masterpiece.” The record would go on to earn a Grammy Award, edging out both Gregg Allman and Warren Haynes for Best Blues Album of 2012.
Since then, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks have been touring with furor. The husband and wife powerhouse are the front to their 11-member family band. The one-two punch of Tedeschi’s strong, soulful voice and Trucks’s smooth slide guitar firmly cement the band’s bluesy roots.
Can they top Revelator? It’s a tall task, but they’re up to it. The band shows a lot of excitement about their forthcoming studio effort. The album was recorded in Jacksonville, Fla. at Tedeschi and Trucks’s home studio. “It’s certainly the strongest thing we’ve done to date, with this band,” Trucks tells Xpress. “The teeth are out. I’m pretty thrilled about this one. I can’t find a weak spot on the record.”
There’s a certain finesse in Trucks’s slide work that teeters on the edge of greatness. He cut his teeth at young age, playing with the Allman Brothers Band and sitting in with Gov’t Mule. A lack of effects pedals and the ability of make his guitar “sing” have become trademarks of his sound. “Sometimes I’ll mess around with that stuff (effect pedals). Then I hit one note plugged straight in and it speaks more clearly, just sounds more pure. Whenever I have weak moments and start thinking about using pedals, something happens that makes me realize I shouldn’t mess with it. Just get a good sound and go,” says Trucks while taking a break from rehearsal.
In recent news, longtime bass player for both the Allman Brothers Band and Tedeschi Trucks Band, Oteil Burbridge, is currently taking a road sabbatical to focus on his family. Fans can look forward to the enlistment of Bakithi Kumalo on bass for the Asheville show. Kumalo is most known for his fretless bass work on Paul Simon’s classic, Graceland.
Stops on their upcoming tour can expect some fresh tunes from their upcoming album. Trucks told us, “With the new album in the can I think everybody’s itching to break out some of the new stuff.”
The band will make its first appearance in Asheville a generous one by donating $1 from each ticket sold to MANNA FoodBank in their effort to raise awareness for the hunger effecting Western North Carolina.
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