Like the star-crossed events that improbably introduced peanut butter to chocolate, the universe conspired to match Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks at a beautiful personal and professional crossroad.
Trucks, the nephew of Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks, was a six string prodigy, learning on a yard sale guitar at 9, playing for money at 11, jamming with Buddy Guy and touring with the Allmans at 12, forming the Grammy-winning Derek Trucks Band at 18 and joining the Allmans at 20.
Nearly a decade older than Trucks, Tedeschi was similarly gifted as a child; her singing debut came at age 6 when she understudied for a Broadway musical. She began band life at 13, assembled her first group, the Smokin’ Section, at 18 and sang Gospel during her studies at the Berklee College of Music at 20. She formed the Susan Tedeschi Band in 1994, blending her husky Raitt-meets-Joplin voice with her freshly mastered Blues guitar skills, which ultimately raised her profile to the national level.
Five years later, Tedeschi opened for the Allman Brothers and she and Trucks fell in love and married in 2001. Since then, the pair have concentrated on individual projects, but in 2010 they announced breaks from their solo bands to focus on a group they originally formed as Soul Stew Revival in 2007 but reconfigured as Tedeschi Trucks Band in 2010.
The couple’s debut album, the soulfully energetic Revelator, won this year’s Grammy for Best Blues Album, yet another cosmic dividend from the brilliant pairing of Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks.
TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND plays Thursday, April 27 with Shannon Whitworth. Buy tickets, check out performance times and get venue details here.
