Derek Trucks doesn’t look much like an Allman Brother. That’s a bit ironic since the 23 year-old guitarist has been a General in the southern rockers’ front-line for over four years. But the slide-guitar protégée oozes a decisively different presence. Sure he has the long blonde hair and premature road wrinkles, but Trucks doesn’t have any rock star pretensions. Instead, he is more akin to Les Paul or Muddy Waters, a blues guitarist who values the instrument over international stardom. So it makes sense that Trucks’ led his self-titled quintet from the shadows’ of the Ridgefield Playhouse.
A converted high school, the Ridgefield Playhouse is a somewhat sobering venue. Housing a grand, two-level theater, The Playhouse is used more for community plays than rock concerts, so Trucks seemed like a perfect choice to bridge the two types of performances on this quiet Thursday night. Chosen to replace Jack Pearson in the Brothers as a Duane Allman fill-in, Trucks has spent the past five years learning how to balance skill and showmanship,
headlining the countries’ largest amphitheaters and festivals. But even though Trucks plays the most prominent instrument in a guitar-based band, he is technically a supporting player - a hired employee by
Allman Brothers Corporation leaders Gregg Allman, Jaimoe, and his uncle Butch Trucks. Left to his own devises, Trucks takes a similar approach with his own quintet, allowing his
bandmates to take the spotlight, but guiding his group by way of his bluesy, slide guitar workouts.
The Derek Trucks Band is a blues group in the purest sense, but they are also schooled in rock. Organist Kofi Burbridge whose brother Oteil is Trucks’ Allman Brothers bandmate, plays soulfully, tackling heavy keyboard crunches that Pigpen would have admired during The Dead’s heyday. Lead vocalist Mike Mattison has a grainy Gregg Allman voice, belting out each songs’ lyrics and then fading offstage during group improvisation; a singer who is far from the bands’ frontman. Drummer Yonrico Scott masters a variety of percussion toys, at times stealing the group’s set through his bouncy, rhythm heavy solos. For his part, Trucks played a sedated slide guitar, finding excitement in small chords and riffs. Even though he has also been tackling Dickey Betts southern-fried chops since the guitarists’ 2000 departure, Trucks carefully removes remnants of “Jessica” and “Blue Sky” from his playing technique. Some fans have described the Derek Trucks Band as an extension in the Allman Brothers’ not so happy family. But instead they are a blues band for rock and rollers raised on Top 40 radio, not country and boogie- woogie.
Drawing from his
Joyful Noise album, Trucks seemed to create his own sound. Playing to a crowd composed of suburban families showing their support for the local Ridgefield Playhouse, and a few younger budding blues enthusiasts, Trucks seemed amiable enough. His blues-rock veered more towards soul and gospel than Chicago blues, even adding bits and pieces of jazz to his collective stew. During blues-legend Pinetop Perkins opening set, Trucks sat in with the former Muddy Waters pianist, showing just how well his technique fits into a 12-Bar context. His surprise performance felt like a club jam, where the crowd is still stunned a young suburbanite could master the slide-guitar with such precision. Then flowing naturally into his own soulful show, Trucks let his bandmates take the solos: Burbridge doubled on flute and organ, at times bringing the quintet into world-beat territory slapping his instrument with Primus-passion. Trucks himself guided his numbers like a gentle teacher, using his slide to cover both his songs’ rhythm parts and long, lingering lead instrumental vocals. The golf-clap heavy crowd seemed enthused and after the show, promptly lined up for a Trucks meet and greet.
In fact, Trucks’ post-show autograph session doubled as the evenings’ most revealing moment. At one point, a young Allman Brothers fan confessed his love of the blues to Trucks, rambling on about his own, fledging band. A quiet, reserved Trucks kind of smiled and said “next time I come back, get here early and we’ll play.” The youngster seemed genuinely moved with that response, trying to act cool, calm and collected before he thanked Trucks and quickly left. Some older fans found their conversation endearing, but Trucks didn’t appear to think twice. For all Trucks knows, that young kid could be the next ambassador of the blues. And in many ways, he’s that same awkward kid, just trapped in a rock stars’ body.
Photo courtesy of Adam Foley.
