Southern rocker Derek Trucks of the Tedeschi Trucks Band feels right at home in Connecticut
Derek Trucks has played Connecticut around 50 times in the past 25 years and is back again on Aug. 23 and 24 for back-to-back shows at Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater in Bridgeport as part of the Tedeschi Trucks Band.
From 1999 to 2009, Trucks came with his own Derek Trucks Band, which he founded in 1995 and went on hiatus in 2010 after nine albums. From 2008 until now, he has also been playing with the Tedeschi Trucks Band he runs with his wife, vocalist/guitarist Susan Tedeschi. Overlapping with those acts, Trucks was a guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band (for whom his uncle Butch Trucks had been the original drummer) from 1999 to 2014.
You can find quite a few nationally known rock acts who make a point of visiting Connecticut every year or two, but Trucks’ bands have a few distinctions: They constantly switch up setlists and add play unexpected songs, and they’ve played a wide variety of different venues for a range of different audiences.
What bands can you name that have felt equally at home at Toad’s Place, The Webster, Mohegan Sun Wolf Den, Conte’s Fish Market, Ridgefield Playhouse, Stamford Palace, Waterbury Palace, Xfinity Theatre, Simsbury Meadows Performing Arts Center, Warner Theatre in Torrington, the Westville Music Bowl, several Gathering of the Vibes festivals and the Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater?
The only big gap between Trucks’ visits was during the COVID pandemic shutdown, when the Tedeschi Trucks Band was scheduled to play a grand opening show at the then-new Westville Music Bowl only to have it postponed. The band eventually did a two-night stand at the bowl in 2021.
In anticipation of the two shows at Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, Derek Trucks talked to the Courant about the band’s eagerness and restlessness, how to choose the right cover songs and how the Tedeschi Trucks Band has learned to adapt to all its different fan bases.
You’ve played clubs, theaters, festivals, tributes and with all kinds of different bands. Can you plan for what you expect an audience to be?
Yeah, you definitely try to tailor things to where you’re playing. When you’re playing multiple nights in a venue you get to dig a little deeper into the repertoire. But if you’re playing a festival where a lot of the audience is maybe not there to see your band specifically, or it’s New Year’s and you may have to think a little differently, or they might not know the history of your band quite the same, it definitely changes things quite a bit.
Just recently we did a show down in Texas opening for Chris Stapleton at a baseball stadium and it became pretty clear one or two songs in that not much of the crowd were familiar with us at all. We had a song list written but immediately you start throwing different tunes in and feel “Maybe this is the avenue we might want to take.” By the end of the set you can feel the audience come around to the band and we have them in a pretty good spot.
Playing all those different venues and different scenarios over the years, you have time to test those things. In the early days, whether it was my solo band or this band, there were times when you’d get done with a festival set and you’d feel like you just didn’t get the point across. They weren’t always wins at that point. I feel like we’ve gotten a lot better at that.
Did it take you a while to shake off the Allman Brothers associations and establish yourself?
I think that’s always a dance that I’ve done. Even from the earliest days when I was 9, 10 years old playing on the road, people want to hear you play “One Way Out” or they want to hear the kid play that stuff. I remember when I first put my solo band together and started pulling away from that, we didn’t have a huge following but there was a bit of backlash when we didn’t do what folks expected us to do. Probably when I got the furthest away from playing their material was when I got the call to join the band, which is kind of perfect, ‘cause you’re right back home.
When I stepped away from the band, you always know your history and the things you were born into and your roots and you bloodline and the things that you’re never going to fully run away from — and nor should you. It’s something I’m very proud of, and proud to be a part of, and honored to be a part of. I’m a fan of that music. So I’ve wanted to embrace it a little bit more. You never want to lean into it if you’re just pandering or if it’s just low-hanging fruit, but if it’s something you want to play and it feels inspiring, I feel it’s important to carry that stuff on.
It’s kind of been that way, to a lesser degree, when you’re on the road with B.B. King or Buddy Guy — Sue has been a part of this, too — they talk to you directly about carrying that music on. B.B. knew he wasn’t going to be here forever and he loved when you were playing his music or trying to keep whatever part of it alive. Those are things we take seriously. While you’re trying to forge a new trail, you keep those influences with you.
In the last few years, you’ve been part of a Leonard Cohen tribute, a Jeff Beck tribute, a B.B. King tribute. What is it like to be associated with all those different legends?
Those are all heroes of ours. If you get to tip your hat in a respectful way it’s good to do it.
You write a lot of original songs, too. How do you choose what covers to play?
It’s usually stuff that just moves you, material that you’ve maybe always wanted to play. The way our band is structured, it’s a big group, and sometimes you just hear a song or arrangement that just sounds like it will be fun, or a really different angle on things. When we did that Jeff Beck tribute we had a few songs we were going to play, but when we got there Doyle Bramhall and (Eric) Clapton asked me to play ‘Beck’s Bolero’ with them and it was just so much fun playing that tune that it was like, “Well, that’s coming with us!” That’s one we keep doing. A lot of time it’s music we have a direct connection to, whether it’s the “Mad Dogs & Englishmen” stuff from playing with Leon (Russell), or a family connection. And sometimes it’s just a good song!
You’ve played Connecticut many times. Do you have any special memories of playing here?
I remember the last time we were in Bridgeport we were with Ziggy Marley. It was one the real highlights of the year, a special hang with him. We’ve always had a lot of great friends up there, and there’s always been a big connection that goes back to the early days of the Fillmore East (in New York City) with the Allman Brothers. There’s always been a big audience for what we do in that area. We always come back there. I can’t even remember how many different clubs we played in Connecticut. Toad’s was on the bigger side of the clubs we were playing in those days. There were smaller ones, too. We definitely got around.
What’s a favorite band of yours that people wouldn’t expect?
That’s tough. I listen to a lot of world music and classical music, a lot of esoteric stuff. But I can’t think of any bands that would be really surprising. I don’t have any dark secrets there.
Is this the same lineup that played Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater last year? Will you playing different sets each night?
It’s the same band. We won’t repeat anything in those two nights. That’s always fun. We have a restless band. Everybody’s brain is all over the place. I have to keep feeding the beast.
The Tedeschi Trucks Band plays Aug. 23 and 24 at 7 p.m. at Hartford HealthCare Amphitheater, 500 Broad St., Bridgeport. $46.15 to $413.10. hartfordhealthcareamp.com/.