Derek Trucks
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Derek Trucks | |
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 Trucks performing live
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| Background information | |
| Born | June 8, 1979 Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Rock, Southern rock Blues-rock Free funk Blue-eyed soul World music Jazz fusion |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, Songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, Sarod |
| Years active | 1990 - present |
| Label(s) | Columbia |
| Associated acts | The Derek Trucks Band The Allman Brothers Band Eric Clapton Carlos Santana |
| Website | Official site |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Gibson SG '61 Reissue | |
Derek Trucks (born June 8, 1979) rose to fame as an extremely precocious guitarist, sitting in with some of music's elite as an adolescent prodigy and nephew of Butch Trucks, drummer and co-founder of the Allman Brothers Band.
Trucks is both bandleader of The Derek Trucks Band, and a member of The Allman Brothers Band. Highly regarded as a "fingerstyle" guitarist, Rolling Stone Magazine ranked him #81 in their 2003 list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".[1]
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[edit] Early life
Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Trucks was named after Derek and the Dominos in a family with deep musical roots.[2] He first took up the guitar at age 9, and soon was such an accomplished slide guitarist, that by age 12, he was considered by the Allman Brothers Band to be second only to the late Duane Allman, and was invited to sit in on jams in Duane's place in the band. Within two years he was playing with the band and touring.[3]
[edit] Career
[edit] The Derek Trucks band
The Derek Trucks Band was formed in 1994, and has been one of Trucks' primary musical outlets ever since.[4]
The current members of the band are:
- Derek Trucks – guitar
- Kofi Burbridge – keyboards, flute, and vocals
- Todd Smallie –bass and vocals (1994-present)
- Yonrico Scott – drums, percussion, and vocals (1995-present)
- Mike Mattison – lead vocals (2002-present)
- Count M'Butu – percussion
In 1999, Trucks at last was formally made a full member of the Allman Brothers Band, after years of touring, recording, and performing as a guest of the band. He has played with the band during eight summer tours and the band's annual multiple night stand at New York City's Beacon Theatre. With the Allmans, Trucks has performed on three live releases, which include the platinum-certified Live at the Beacon Theatre DVD, as well as the studio album Hittin' the Note (2003).
[edit] The slide
Derek Trucks has been hailed as one of the greatest slide guitarists since Duane Allman. Fellow Allman Brothers Band guitarists Duane Allman, Warren Haynes and Dickey Betts share a mastery of the guitar and a fondness for the slide guitar. John Mayer has said that Derek's signature move is "making the guitar sound like a female singer from like, the '50s or '60s, just belting it out." Trucks was an accompanying guitarist in Eric Clapton's 2006/2007 touring band, thus, in 2006, Trucks found himself playing in three bands in 17 countries. [5]
In early 2006, however, an equipment trailer with Trucks' gear was stolen. Some of the gear was recovered from a field outside Atlanta, including his 1965 Fender Super Reverb (the amp he's been playing since he was a young boy), a 1968 Super Reverb (one of the backup amps), a Hammond B-3, two Leslie rotating speaker cabinets, a Hohner E-7 Clavinet, and a few other minor items.
Trucks was pictured on the cover of Rolling Stone (#1020) in February 2007, along with John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and John Mayer. He was named as one of the "New Guitar Gods" and the cover nicknamed him "The Jam King."[6] Trucks also received the honor of performing alongside Eric Clapton in Clapton's 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival with his own band as well as in Clapton's band. He and his band are currently touring with Carlos Santana, providing the opening act for his 2008 tour.
[edit] Influences, style, and equipment
Trucks' early repertoire was heavily blues-based, inspired by Elmore James and The Allman Brothers Band slide guitarist, Duane Allman. Derek's uncle, drummer Butch Trucks, was a founding member of the band so Derek was exposed to their style of music from a young age. Older bluesmen like Howlin' Wolf and Albert King, jazz musicians Miles Davis, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Charlie Christian and later Wayne Shorter and many others, became an influence for Trucks a few years later. In recent years, the influence of traditional Southern Sacred Steel can be heard in Derek's slide work. In addition, Trucks studied at the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music in San Rafael, California. Because of this, he learned to play the sarod, with lingering strains of Hindustani music in his guitar work as well.[7]
Trucks avoids processing and effects, preferring to get the purest tone possible by connecting his guitar (2000 '61 reissue Gibson SG) directly to his amplifier, a 1965 Fender Super Reverb loaded with four Pyle Driver MH1020 speakers. He modifies his tone with the controls on the guitar.
Trucks regularly plays without the use of a plectrum (pick). He generally plucks or strums (together or independently) with his thumb as well as his index, middle, and ring fingers. Electric Rock Guitarists using this method are rare; most prefer to use a "pick". One other notable example is Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits fame, and they are termed "fingerstyle" guitarists.
Trucks has expressed a preference for the Dunlop Pyrex slide that is a recreation of the Coricidin bottle Duane Allman used. He also uses custom gauge DR nickel-wound strings on both his SG and resonator guitars: .011, .014, .017, .026, .036, and .046.
[edit] Personal life
In 2001, Trucks married singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi, and the couple have two children. Charles Khalil Trucks, born in 2002, is named for saxophonist Charlie Parker, guitarist Charlie Christian, and author Khalil Gibran. Sophia Naima Trucks, born in 2004, takes her unusual middle name from the Coltrane ballad, which was also the jazz legend's first wife's name.
[edit] Discography
[edit] With the Derek Trucks Band
- The Derek Trucks Band (1997)
- Out of the Madness (1998)
- Joyful Noise (2002)
- Soul Serenade (2003)
- Live at Georgia Theatre (2004)
- Songlines (2006) (Legacy Recordings)
- Songlines Live (DVD) (2006 (Legacy Recordings)
[edit] With the Allman Brothers Band
- Peakin' at the Beacon (2000)
- Hittin' the Note (2003)
- Live at the Beacon Theatre (DVD) (2003)
- One Way Out (2004)
[edit] Collaborations
- Come On In This House (1996, Junior Wells)
- Searching for Simplicity (1997, Gregg Allman)
- Live...With a Little Help From Our Friends (1999, Gov't Mule)
- Croakin' at Toad's (2000, Frogwings)
- Project Z (2001, Project Z)
- Wait For Me (2002, Susan Tedeschi)
- Little Worlds (2003, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones)
- The Best Kept Secret (2005, Jerry Douglas)
- Hope and Desire (2005, Susan Tedeschi)
- The Road to Escondido (2006, J. J. Cale, Eric Clapton)
[edit] References
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time", Rolling Stone, 2003-08-27.
- ^ Tatangelo, Wade (4 January 2007). Derek Trucks on playing with Allman, Clapton, Dylan. McClatchy Newspapers. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ^ Assar, Vuith (30 March, 2006). CULTURE- INTERVIEW- Divided time: Trucking between the bands. Retrieved on 2008-05-31.
- ^ Tennille, Andy. "Finding His Path" San Francisco Chronicle, February 5, 2006
- ^ Tatangelo, Wade (4 January 2007). Derek Trucks on playing with Allman, Clapton, Dylan. McClatchy Newspapers. Retrieved on 2008-06-04.
- ^ Fricke, David (2007). "The New Guitar Gods" RollingStone.com (accessed February 13, 2007)
- ^ Bhattacharya, Sumit (13 February, 2006). [http://www.rediff.com/movies/2007/feb/13derek.htm New rock guitar god is Indian shishya]. Retrieved on 2008-06-01.
[edit] External links
- DerekTrucksBand.com – official site
- RadioDTB, a weekly podcast featuring live music from the Derek Trucks Band
- Derek Trucks Band collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
- Derek Trucks
- Derek & Susan: It's a Family Thing article/interview from Jambase.com
