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Derek Trucks

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Derek Trucks

Derek Trucks (born June 8, 1979) is an American guitarist, bandleader (The Derek Trucks Band), and member of The Allman Brothers Band.

Early life

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Trucks took up the guitar at age 9, and soon many came to see him as a child prodigy.[citation needed] He was playing with a band and touring within two years. [1] Trucks and poet G. M. Palmer grew up in the same Jacksonville neighborhood and often played pick-up games of football. He was named after the band Derek and the Dominos [2].

Career

The Derek Trucks Band was formed in 1994, and has been one of Trucks' primary musical outlets ever since.[3]

The current members of the band are:

In 1999, Trucks joined his uncle, drummer Butch Trucks, as a member of The Allman Brothers Band, after years of performing as a guest of the band at live performances (he has continued his own band as well). 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). He has also performed with the band during eight summer tours and the band's annual multiple night stand at New York City's Beacon Theatre.

In 2003, he was ranked 81st on Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time",[4] and 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 were also on the list.

Trucks was an accompanying guitarist in Eric Clapton's 2006/2007 touring band. In early 2006, 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.

File:Rolling Stone - The New Guitar Gods.jpg
Trucks (left), with Mayer (center) and Frusciante (right), on the cover of Rolling Stone 1020.

Trucks was pictured on the cover of Rolling Stone (#1020) in February 2007, along with John Frusciante and John Mayer. He was named as one of the "New Guitar Gods" and the cover nicknamed him "The Jam King."[5] Trucks also received the honor of performing at Eric Clapton's 2007 Crossroads Guitar Festival with his own band as well as in Clapton's band.

In March 2008, he provided the opening act for Carlos Santana in Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Influences, style, and equipment

Trucks' early repertoire was heavily blues-based, inspired by 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.

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.

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.

Personal life

In 2001, Trucks married singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi, and the couple has 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.

Discography

With the Derek Trucks Band

With the Allman Brothers Band

Collaborations

References

  1. ^ Anonymous. (2006). "Derek Trucks Band" DerekTrucks.com (accessed March 23, 2007)
  2. ^ NPR interview claimed by Derek Trucks at 24:00 minutes into extended interview.
  3. ^ Tennille, Andy. "Finding His Path" San Francisco Chronicle, February 5, 2006
  4. ^ "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2003-08-27. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Fricke, David (2007). "The New Guitar Gods" RollingStone.com (accessed February 13, 2007)
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