Allman Brother's Band Guitarist To Come To Trinity With His Own Band

The Derek Trucks Band comes to Trinity on Monday, November 22, to play a concert at 8 PM in the Vernon Center. The Band will also conduct a workshop for students and musicians about their music at 5 PM. John Alcorn (Professor in Italian Studies) interviewed Derek Trucks by telephone on Saturday, while Derek was getting ready to open for Bob Dylan with Phil Lesh and Friends and thinking ahead to his visit to Trinity.

JA: How do you like playing with Phil Lesh (bass player, Grateful Dead) and Friends?

DT: Oh man, it's a change. They have a different style and play a different set every night. I have to learn seven to nine new tunes each day! Phil Lesh fans and Dylan fans seem to be the same, so the audience digs it. Warren Haynes (guitarist, Government Mule) is with us. So is Susan Tedeschi. Man, she has a voice on her. Very nice.

JA: You currently divide your work among three gigs: playing slide guitar for the Allman Brothers Band, sitting in with greats like Warren Haynes and Phil Lesh, and of course touring with your own band. How do the parts fit together?

DT: These gigs are something you really can't pass up. I learn a lot. They open me up. In the long run, my own band is what I'll be doing for the next ten or twenty years. That's where my heart lies.

JA: You first performed with the Allman Brothers Band when you were just a kid, maybe twelve years old. Was it sink or swim? Did you have stage fright?

DT: With those guys, yes, I might have had a little stage fright, because I first got interested in music by listening to their songs. I actually started sitting in with the band when I was nine years old in Jacksonville. But usually, no. Once you play music, you get lost in it.

JA: You're not an old man yet. You just turned twenty - about the average age of students at Trinity. But life on the road is the opposite of living four years rooted in a residential college. Do you feel a gap between your lifestyle as a musician and the more conventional college path that a lot of young people take?

DT: Yeah, a little gap between you and anyone who leads a normal life. But, as much freedom as you have on the road, you're stuck to a system and a schedule. When you have one lifestyle, maybe you crave the other. I guess it all evens out. At this point, I wouldn't trade it for anything!

JA: It's neat that music bridges the canyon between people who have such different experiences.

DT: That's one of the amazing things about music. People who dedicate their life to music have a completely different existence from those who listen to it. That's true of the Delta blues and Indian and classical music, too. Emotions are pretty universal, though. Tap into the emotions - anyone can take something from that.

JA: Rumor has it that you've almost finished recording a new CD. Does it feature the mix of raw blues, funk, and jazz that makes Out of the Madness so rich and distinctive?

DT: The new album has eleven tracks. It's somewhere in the middle of the first and second albums - same guys, same vibes, same studio. Kofi Burbridge on vocals, keyboards, and flute is an amazing addition. The instrumentals are done, we have to lay down the vocals. The album doesn't have a name yet - with us that's always the last thing to come!

JA: In the past, your band was mainly instrumental, with occasional vocals by Warren Haynes and others sitting in. What is the place of vocals in your new sets? Who writes the lyrics?

DT: Now everyone but me in the band sings - it's our mission to have more vocal tunes as a band! A lot of audiences will connect with words. Lyrics are a necessary thing, in order to get people to the music. And they can be a powerful thing, if used correctly. On the new album, we're in the process of writing the lyrics, which follow the tunes. Hopefully we'll have them finished by the time we come to Trinity.

JA: In an internet interview, you mentioned a gig in which you did some "detuned" jamming. What is "detuned" music?

DT: Wow! That's a good questionŠIt's one of the last places that you go! "Detuning" is when you untune your instrument. It's like starting with a new instrument. You have to rediscover the guitar. It usually happens when (guitarist) Jimmy Herring comes out. It might happen at TrinityŠ

JA: In addition to the evening concert on the twenty-second, you and the band will offer a late afternoon workshop about your music. I understand that after the sound check you'll play a song and then field questions about technique, composition, improvisation, and so on. This is a cool opportunity for student musicians and anyone interested in the process behind the music. Do these workshops help you take stock of your music and where you're taking it?

DT: I've only done a workshop once before, at the Berkeley School of Music. It was helpful, because when people ask you about your music, it makes you take a step back and think about it. The other guys in the band are so versed and knowledgeable, it's a treat to hear their answers! Yonrico Scott, the drummer, majored in music at the University of Kentucky. Kofi was a prodigy, playing flute with the symphony when he was nine or ten. And Bill McKay (keyboards) and Todd Smallie (bass) have done their share of training and jamming. I need to sit down and get to work and take some notes!

JA: You're self-taught - you listen and play. Does it make it hard to communicate with people who have formal training in music?

DT: Sometimes. Music themes are pretty universal. I've always been fortunate enough to be around musicians I could pick things up from.

JA: I have to ask. Folks will want to know abut your experience this summer playing with the Allman Brothers Band, carrying the torch for the late great Duane Allman.

DT: An experience I will not forget. They made me feel very comfortable. It was a great summer.

JA: Is it true that the Allman Brothers Band is planning to record a new CD, with you on slide guitar?

DT: I hope so - I would love it! Right now I look forward to getting back on tour with my band after these gigs with Phil Lesh. We'll see you soon at Trinity.

Derek Trucks comes to Trinity College's Vernon Center on November 22 at 8PM.