WEBVTT - Tedeschi Trucks Band 0:00:15.436 --> 0:00:22.796 Pushkin. Today we have Susan Tideski and Derek Trucks of 0:00:22.916 --> 0:00:27.076 Tedeski Trucks Band live from the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. 0:00:27.756 --> 0:00:30.396 Derek Trucks made his name as a slide guitar prodigy 0:00:30.516 --> 0:00:33.236 with a Hall of Fame pedigree. He's a nephew of 0:00:33.276 --> 0:00:36.316 Butch Trucks, drummer of the Allman Brothers band, which Derek 0:00:36.396 --> 0:00:40.036 toured with extensively throughout the two thousands, all while leading 0:00:40.076 --> 0:00:43.676 his own group, the Derek Trucks Band. Somewhere along the road, 0:00:43.836 --> 0:00:47.956 Derek met another great guitarist with a Berkeley pedigree, Susan Tideski, 0:00:48.436 --> 0:00:50.756 who in my view, is one of the best singers 0:00:50.756 --> 0:00:53.876 working today. Susan was also leading her own group when 0:00:53.876 --> 0:00:56.596 she and Derek met. Eventually the two fell in love, 0:00:56.836 --> 0:01:00.756 got married, and merged their bands into one colossal family band. 0:01:00.876 --> 0:01:05.396 In twenty ten. The Tedeski Trucks Band has twelve members, which, 0:01:05.556 --> 0:01:08.716 just for perspective, is about the average number of players 0:01:08.716 --> 0:01:12.996 in Duke Ellington's Big band. Derek and Susan are clearly 0:01:13.036 --> 0:01:16.116 an adventurous couple and it comes through in their music. 0:01:16.716 --> 0:01:19.476 Although the blues is the band's foundation, none of their 0:01:19.516 --> 0:01:23.196 albums sound all that similar. This year, they managed to 0:01:23.236 --> 0:01:25.836 achieve that same diversity of sound on their I Am 0:01:25.876 --> 0:01:29.276 the Moon Project, a collection of twenty four songs across 0:01:29.356 --> 0:01:32.956 four different albums. It's inspired in part by the isolation 0:01:33.036 --> 0:01:36.676 of early pandemic life and the loss of longtime keyboardist 0:01:36.836 --> 0:01:40.636 Kofi Burbridge. On today's episode, I speak with Susan and 0:01:40.716 --> 0:01:44.156 Derek about the beginnings of their band and romantic relationship, 0:01:44.476 --> 0:01:46.916 and how the I Am the Moon Project came to be. 0:01:47.636 --> 0:01:50.436 They also play some of their new songs live from 0:01:50.516 --> 0:01:55.876 backstage at the Greek Theater just for us. This is 0:01:55.956 --> 0:01:59.756 broken record liner notes for the digital Age. I'm justin Richmond. 0:02:00.516 --> 0:02:04.116 Here's my conversation with Susan Tadeski and Derek Trucks of 0:02:04.196 --> 0:02:08.996 the Zadeski Trucks Band. Susan Diddesky, Derek Trucks, thank you 0:02:09.116 --> 0:02:10.956 so much. We're doing it. Yeah, man, thanks for doing that. 0:02:10.996 --> 0:02:14.436 Thanks for having us. It's incredible. Never been backstage here, 0:02:14.876 --> 0:02:17.316 been here many times. I was wandering around and I 0:02:17.316 --> 0:02:18.876 saw like a a sign that said and it was 0:02:18.876 --> 0:02:22.716 like for a room. I said, TTB rehearsal room. I 0:02:22.756 --> 0:02:24.716 was going to ask you guys about how often you 0:02:24.716 --> 0:02:26.516 guys work songs out and rehearse on the road, And 0:02:26.516 --> 0:02:28.356 I feel like I got to see a little bit 0:02:28.396 --> 0:02:31.396 of it right now. We rehearse every day. Yeah, he 0:02:31.556 --> 0:02:35.716 makes us it's a twelve piece bad. It's a lot 0:02:35.716 --> 0:02:38.556 of moving parts. It Actually it's good because it really 0:02:38.556 --> 0:02:40.476 just forces us to all be in the room together 0:02:40.556 --> 0:02:43.076 and get like our minds kind of as one and 0:02:43.636 --> 0:02:46.196 just kind of started as that as just just getting 0:02:46.196 --> 0:02:49.156 together with twelve people. You don't want to first see 0:02:49.156 --> 0:02:51.316 each other when you hit the stage, like we want 0:02:51.356 --> 0:02:53.636 to spend a little time together, so we kind of 0:02:53.756 --> 0:02:57.876 we set up like a forty minute rehearsal leading up 0:02:57.916 --> 0:03:00.796 to the gig every night, where I mean sometimes you 0:03:00.796 --> 0:03:03.196 play two or three songs, sometimes you play one or two, 0:03:03.276 --> 0:03:04.996 but it's really just to get everyone in there and 0:03:05.436 --> 0:03:07.156 kind of you might play one or two songs for 0:03:07.156 --> 0:03:08.716 forty minutes now, I mean there's a lot of just 0:03:08.796 --> 0:03:11.396 hanging and kind of talking about the set and we 0:03:11.436 --> 0:03:13.516 don't always use all it depends on how many like 0:03:13.596 --> 0:03:15.396 when we after we write our set list, how many 0:03:15.396 --> 0:03:17.396 songs we need to go over and if we're rusty 0:03:17.476 --> 0:03:19.636 or not, or if we have new songs to work out, 0:03:19.716 --> 0:03:21.716 so it can be one or two songs, or can 0:03:21.796 --> 0:03:24.596 be ten. Yeah. The first show with US West Coast run, 0:03:25.156 --> 0:03:26.956 we wrote a set list and we're like, oh, there's 0:03:26.996 --> 0:03:28.876 three or four we've only played one time. We should 0:03:28.916 --> 0:03:31.836 probably run over those. So you know, you get the 0:03:31.876 --> 0:03:33.876 whole band in a room and you play through the 0:03:33.876 --> 0:03:36.076 tunes one time to make sure there's something you need 0:03:36.116 --> 0:03:38.916 to work on. The time goes quick. Was that one 0:03:38.916 --> 0:03:40.276 of the new songs or some of the new songs 0:03:40.276 --> 0:03:42.596 that you guys had only played once or two? Yeah? Yeah, 0:03:42.596 --> 0:03:44.556 I mean that's kind of the beauty of all these 0:03:44.676 --> 0:03:46.916 records coming out, as there's so much new material for 0:03:46.996 --> 0:03:49.596 us to dig into, so the shows are really fresh. 0:03:49.636 --> 0:03:52.196 Like we're writing set list now, you kind of can't 0:03:52.196 --> 0:03:53.916 get everything you want to play in. You have to 0:03:54.036 --> 0:03:56.676 kind of pick and choose what goes into making a 0:03:56.676 --> 0:03:58.996 set list for you guys. If we're on the road 0:03:59.036 --> 0:04:01.396 playing multiple nights in a row, I know there's certain 0:04:01.436 --> 0:04:04.076 songs that take it out of Sue or the singers, 0:04:04.116 --> 0:04:06.876 so you put those on the third night of a 0:04:06.876 --> 0:04:09.876 three night run, or you don't do them every or yeah, 0:04:09.916 --> 0:04:11.836 but we I mean we keep track of what we 0:04:11.916 --> 0:04:14.876 played in the venue or in a town the last 0:04:14.916 --> 0:04:16.676 five ten years we were here, and you look at 0:04:16.756 --> 0:04:18.916 it and if you repeat it a song every year, 0:04:18.916 --> 0:04:20.676 you kind of leave it all for Yeah, we try 0:04:20.716 --> 0:04:22.836 to mix it up and make it different every time 0:04:22.876 --> 0:04:24.356 we play somewhere, you know, and if you're playing in 0:04:24.476 --> 0:04:27.076 San Diego, LA, it's like a few hours away, like 0:04:27.116 --> 0:04:28.676 this is a lot of people that will make the trip, 0:04:28.756 --> 0:04:30.596 so you don't want to repeat the show. There's a 0:04:30.636 --> 0:04:32.796 lot of bands that play the exact same set every night. 0:04:33.196 --> 0:04:35.716 We are not one of those bands. I know this 0:04:35.876 --> 0:04:38.836 from experience that you guys are not that they are not. 0:04:38.996 --> 0:04:40.876 But we do have a lot of songs that will 0:04:40.916 --> 0:04:43.756 put in the rotation. You know. We'll definitely have songs 0:04:43.756 --> 0:04:47.436 that people usually request or like, like Midnight and Harlem 0:04:47.556 --> 0:04:50.316 or Bound for Glory, Made Up Mind, you know, some 0:04:50.396 --> 0:04:52.396 of those will just throw in the mix and then 0:04:52.396 --> 0:04:54.156 we'll do all the new stuff. I mean, now we 0:04:54.196 --> 0:04:56.276 have all these new songs. We have three of the 0:04:56.596 --> 0:04:58.796 four records we just released it are out, so we 0:04:58.876 --> 0:05:02.716 have what fifteen songs that we can play. Now. You 0:05:02.716 --> 0:05:04.436 don't want to wear tunes out, So if you play 0:05:04.436 --> 0:05:07.596 a tune starts seeing a little less than inspired, you 0:05:07.596 --> 0:05:09.636 just shove it for a minute. I've been and a 0:05:09.676 --> 0:05:11.556 lot of bands that have been around a long time, 0:05:11.556 --> 0:05:14.236 and when you see somebody fall out of love with 0:05:14.276 --> 0:05:16.916 an incredible song, it's kind of heartbreaking. Like, yeah, there 0:05:16.916 --> 0:05:18.876 were certain songs Greg Aman just didn't want to do 0:05:18.916 --> 0:05:21.436 because he did it so long, and I was like, yeah, 0:05:21.436 --> 0:05:23.076 I don't want to get to that point. I mean, 0:05:23.116 --> 0:05:25.276 sometimes it's the arrangement. Sometimes you have to shake it 0:05:25.356 --> 0:05:28.996 up and rethink it. And sometimes songs start in a 0:05:29.036 --> 0:05:31.596 place maybe it's a four minute song and then before 0:05:31.596 --> 0:05:33.436 you know it, it's a twenty minute song and Greg's like, 0:05:33.516 --> 0:05:36.116 that's not really what I wrote? Can we get back 0:05:36.156 --> 0:05:38.876 to that thing? And so, you know, these things go 0:05:38.996 --> 0:05:41.476 through a lot of lives and changes, so we try 0:05:41.516 --> 0:05:44.836 to constantly stay on those things. And it's a creative band. 0:05:44.956 --> 0:05:49.116 Part of having improvisational players on stage and people that 0:05:49.156 --> 0:05:51.596 can think quick and thinking around the corners, they also 0:05:51.636 --> 0:05:53.956 get bored easily. That's always been a challenge. I mean, 0:05:54.196 --> 0:05:56.756 back when Kofe Burbage is in the band, probably the 0:05:56.796 --> 0:06:00.116 greatest musician I've ever played with, you want to constantly 0:06:00.196 --> 0:06:03.116 throw things at him. So he's it's first thought, best thought. 0:06:03.116 --> 0:06:06.196 That's where the greatest stuff happened. So we challenge ourselves 0:06:06.276 --> 0:06:09.236 that way too, which is saying something if he's the 0:06:09.276 --> 0:06:12.076 best musician, because you've played with Eric Clapton and all 0:06:12.116 --> 0:06:16.236 my brothers and Herbie Hancock and Santana, there's there's I 0:06:16.236 --> 0:06:20.756 mean people. Yeah, I mean Kobe was different. He was 0:06:20.796 --> 0:06:25.956 an alien. I don't know where he came from. Yeah, man, 0:06:26.116 --> 0:06:30.156 I mean Elvin and McCoy, I mean those are all 0:06:30.196 --> 0:06:32.596 of that was incredible. I had seen McCoy a handful 0:06:32.596 --> 0:06:35.156 of times that the Blue Note in New York, and 0:06:35.156 --> 0:06:36.756 and the guy that ran the Blue Note was doing 0:06:36.796 --> 0:06:39.956 a record with McCoy called Guitars where he had different 0:06:39.956 --> 0:06:43.156 guitar players I think Scofield and it wasn't just it 0:06:43.196 --> 0:06:47.756 was called Guitars, but Baila Flag. It was interesting. But 0:06:47.916 --> 0:06:51.236 uh he asked me, and I was like, of course, intimidated, 0:06:51.276 --> 0:06:52.876 but I'd love to do it. I got to go 0:06:52.916 --> 0:06:55.196 buy McCoy Tyner's apartment and hang with him for a 0:06:55.196 --> 0:06:57.156 bit and we went out to lunch, and the whole 0:06:57.156 --> 0:07:00.196 time I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm not gonna ask him 0:07:00.276 --> 0:07:03.036 John Coldrank question they're just not gonna be that guy. 0:07:03.276 --> 0:07:06.436 And we sit down at lunch having coffee and he 0:07:06.516 --> 0:07:12.516 just starts telling Coltrane stories that I'm thinking, yes, but 0:07:12.556 --> 0:07:14.996 it was beautiful, Like his eyes just lit up, man, 0:07:15.116 --> 0:07:17.276 like he was twenty years younger when he was talking 0:07:17.316 --> 0:07:20.116 about that stuff. It's just and I heard a similar 0:07:20.196 --> 0:07:24.316 thing about the Muscle Shoals, guys like David Hood and 0:07:24.316 --> 0:07:26.436 and Roger Hawkins and all those guys that played on 0:07:26.436 --> 0:07:29.636 those Aretha records, Like when they talked about those sessions 0:07:29.756 --> 0:07:32.836 in particular, like just this thing happened to it just 0:07:33.236 --> 0:07:34.596 they got a look in their eye and it was 0:07:34.636 --> 0:07:36.996 away with my uncle with Butch Trucks when he talked 0:07:36.996 --> 0:07:39.716 about playing with delayne Ahmand in those two or three 0:07:39.796 --> 0:07:42.356 years that they were a banded Like, it's just every 0:07:42.356 --> 0:07:44.796 once in a while when you really ring the bell, 0:07:45.596 --> 0:07:47.996 that stuff stays with you. I wonder by the like 0:07:47.996 --> 0:07:49.716 I wonder if it's like a chicken or egg thing, 0:07:49.756 --> 0:07:52.476 Like is it that intensity and love for each other 0:07:52.596 --> 0:07:55.276 and music that they had that made that music so 0:07:55.316 --> 0:07:57.956 incredible or is it the fact that they somehow made 0:07:57.956 --> 0:08:02.276 this like celestial, divine music. I mean, I think it's 0:08:02.276 --> 0:08:04.476 all of it. I really think it's you know, it's 0:08:04.476 --> 0:08:07.796 the right people, right time, right place. The right chemistry 0:08:07.836 --> 0:08:11.516 definitely will help ate the music because it frees you up, 0:08:11.716 --> 0:08:12.956 you know what I mean, It frees you up to 0:08:13.036 --> 0:08:15.796 just let it flow out of you. I think, especially 0:08:15.836 --> 0:08:17.556 if you're on the same page, like those guys were 0:08:17.556 --> 0:08:20.036 on the same wavelength. Yeah, you know they can read 0:08:20.076 --> 0:08:22.276 each other's behind them lost at that point. There's that 0:08:22.356 --> 0:08:25.236 Elvin Jones quote talking about that quartet and he's like, 0:08:25.316 --> 0:08:26.956 to play the way we play together, you had to 0:08:26.996 --> 0:08:29.676 be willing to die with a motherfucker. You're like, that's 0:08:29.676 --> 0:08:32.236 what it sounds like, that's what it and that's how. 0:08:32.356 --> 0:08:35.316 That's how those Almond brothers, those are that original band 0:08:35.356 --> 0:08:37.396 and the crew they were that way, I mean Red 0:08:37.396 --> 0:08:39.356 Dogs the ROADI he would have taken a bullet for 0:08:39.756 --> 0:08:43.556 any one of them without thinking. And they're all I mean, 0:08:43.676 --> 0:08:46.516 Duyne Almond and Barry Oakley are buried together in a 0:08:46.596 --> 0:08:49.796 cemetery in Making And now Greg's there, and now my 0:08:49.876 --> 0:08:52.556 uncle's ashes are there like the six original Yeah, the 0:08:52.596 --> 0:08:56.276 original six members are all going to be I've never 0:08:56.316 --> 0:09:00.796 heard of that beautiful and Chank who just passed away, 0:09:00.796 --> 0:09:04.636 who was Gregory's best friend for many years. He used 0:09:04.676 --> 0:09:07.076 to go and he told Derek too, like he didn't 0:09:07.076 --> 0:09:09.476 he bring you? He picked me up there after after 0:09:09.516 --> 0:09:12.716 greg passed away, we went by the graves and he's like, 0:09:12.716 --> 0:09:15.076 I've been coming here for like forty years at least 0:09:15.116 --> 0:09:16.836 once a week when I'm home, and I'll just come. 0:09:17.156 --> 0:09:19.156 He just go roll a joint smoke and just talk 0:09:19.236 --> 0:09:21.196 to them, like just fill them in on things I was. 0:09:21.636 --> 0:09:23.476 I was like changing if I ever have a friend 0:09:23.476 --> 0:09:30.356 that's one thousand, Like, how lucky well I by, you know, 0:09:31.956 --> 0:09:39.876 having a smoke. I'm almost ten years old. Speaking of 0:09:39.876 --> 0:09:42.276 like chemistry, Like it's kind of amazing that you guys 0:09:42.276 --> 0:09:47.276 have a twelve piece band forty minute rehearsals aside, Like 0:09:47.316 --> 0:09:49.596 how do you find a way to get twelve people 0:09:50.076 --> 0:09:53.276 in a room in a room on the same page, 0:09:54.076 --> 0:09:58.836 communicating until the back engaged, wanting to push themselves? You know, yeah, 0:09:58.876 --> 0:10:01.956 it seems an impossible task. Sometimes we don't all fit 0:10:01.996 --> 0:10:03.796 in a room. Sometimes, you know, you have like the 0:10:03.796 --> 0:10:06.276 horns in the hallway and singers in the bathroom, and 0:10:06.356 --> 0:10:08.316 you know, everyone kind of bleeding into a room because 0:10:08.316 --> 0:10:10.996 we don't always f into backstage rooms. But for the 0:10:11.036 --> 0:10:13.876 most part, we're kind of in like little groups. So 0:10:13.916 --> 0:10:15.996 you'll have like the horn section together, you'll have the 0:10:15.996 --> 0:10:18.596 three singers together, then you have Derek and I and Brandon, 0:10:18.956 --> 0:10:22.556 and then you'll have the drummers. It feels more streamlined 0:10:22.596 --> 0:10:25.956 because the drummers are a unit and the horns are 0:10:25.996 --> 0:10:28.876 a unit, and the singers are a unit like so 0:10:28.956 --> 0:10:31.236 it makes it almost feel like a six piece fan 0:10:32.596 --> 0:10:35.396 everyone's thinking that way. Even more than that, it really 0:10:35.436 --> 0:10:38.156 is about the chemistry, and it's about when you're on 0:10:38.196 --> 0:10:40.396 the road for years and years you meet people along 0:10:40.436 --> 0:10:42.876 the way and you think, someday I want to play 0:10:42.916 --> 0:10:44.956 with that person, and you kind of keep that in 0:10:44.996 --> 0:10:46.596 the back of your head. It's like when we started 0:10:46.636 --> 0:10:49.316 talking about this band and we started talking about a 0:10:49.316 --> 0:10:52.036 horn section, she was like, do you know Kebby Williams. 0:10:52.036 --> 0:10:53.956 I was like, yeahs who I was thinking about. Kevin. 0:10:53.956 --> 0:10:56.796 He's the guy like he's just got five for days. 0:10:57.276 --> 0:11:00.316 He's just he's got such a unique so tone and 0:11:00.476 --> 0:11:02.916 melody and he can play anything, any kind of style 0:11:02.956 --> 0:11:06.716 of music, anything. But he also just the vibe, like 0:11:06.756 --> 0:11:09.116 you said, his chemistry with everybody. Is such a good 0:11:09.236 --> 0:11:12.836 person and he's so sweet and yeah, and that has 0:11:12.836 --> 0:11:13.956 to be a big part of it, right, It's a 0:11:13.996 --> 0:11:19.036 big part of big personality, that good attitude to each other. 0:11:19.236 --> 0:11:21.356 He definitely likes to party, get out there and sit 0:11:21.476 --> 0:11:23.516 in and you know, play with different people all the 0:11:23.596 --> 0:11:26.276 time too, which is really nice. He has a lot 0:11:26.276 --> 0:11:28.676 of friends and a lot of places, and we're very 0:11:28.716 --> 0:11:31.196 lucky to have him. I mean, and it's great. Like 0:11:31.196 --> 0:11:33.316 this band, we'll get done with the show and if 0:11:33.356 --> 0:11:37.556 we're staying overnight, sometimes within fifteen twenty minutes of the 0:11:37.556 --> 0:11:40.716 gig being over, somebody will call, like, I'm at this 0:11:40.796 --> 0:11:43.476 jazz club and Ephraim and Kevy are here sitting in already. 0:11:44.836 --> 0:11:48.076 They're incredible, man. They just like they're just always looking 0:11:48.116 --> 0:11:52.036 for me. They they are looking. They're like they're mixing 0:11:52.076 --> 0:11:54.276 it up you wherever we are in the world. Like 0:11:54.316 --> 0:11:58.396 I've ran into Kevy on the street playing some guys trombone. 0:11:59.516 --> 0:12:02.356 It's incredible he does they I mean, they beat people 0:12:02.396 --> 0:12:05.396 everywhere and it's it's a fun band that way. Actually, 0:12:05.476 --> 0:12:09.716 we have band members literally ranging in four decades because 0:12:09.756 --> 0:12:13.036 we had people born in the sixties, seventies, eighties, and nineties. Wow, 0:12:13.156 --> 0:12:15.196 in this band, so if you think of it that way, 0:12:15.236 --> 0:12:19.076 it's kind of not only it's an American band, and 0:12:19.116 --> 0:12:23.956 it's very diverse, you know, ethnically, religiously, all of that, 0:12:24.076 --> 0:12:27.036 which is so beautiful, and you know, it also just 0:12:27.076 --> 0:12:31.676 helps the audience understand, you know, this can be done, 0:12:31.996 --> 0:12:34.356 like we can do better in this world, like look 0:12:34.396 --> 0:12:36.516 at us, Look how much we love each other. And 0:12:36.516 --> 0:12:38.596 then they're like, holy crap, you do, and then they 0:12:38.636 --> 0:12:40.356 have a more open mind, and then they start to 0:12:40.396 --> 0:12:42.676 love more people, and you know, we're just trying to 0:12:42.876 --> 0:12:44.716 spread love. At the end of the day, we're trying 0:12:44.756 --> 0:12:48.396 to make people get along. You know, I became aware 0:12:49.316 --> 0:12:52.596 of you guys. Maybe I must have been sixteen, two 0:12:52.596 --> 0:12:56.076 thousand and six, twousand and seven, twenty ten. You gotts 0:12:56.076 --> 0:12:58.436 start to dusky trucks by that point, and you guys 0:12:58.476 --> 0:13:00.716 were married. But it quite realize you guys have been 0:13:00.756 --> 0:13:02.916 married so long since two thousand and one. You guys 0:13:02.996 --> 0:13:05.996 really are like a family band. Like I imagine why 0:13:05.996 --> 0:13:08.516 you guys ended up merging your two separate bands is 0:13:08.556 --> 0:13:12.796 because you wanted to spend more more time together. Yeah, totally. 0:13:12.916 --> 0:13:15.156 He was ready to do this project. And then when 0:13:15.156 --> 0:13:16.956 he asked me, I was like, well, I better hop 0:13:16.956 --> 0:13:18.916 on the bandwagon. I don't want to miss out, you know, 0:13:19.116 --> 0:13:22.156 even though I was like finally getting centered and you 0:13:22.196 --> 0:13:24.156 know what, having my solo band do good. But at 0:13:24.156 --> 0:13:26.676 the same time, I was like, heck, yeah, the idea 0:13:26.716 --> 0:13:29.276 of like creating art with your spouse or with any 0:13:29.316 --> 0:13:31.836 family and you must know this from your time with 0:13:31.836 --> 0:13:33.756 the Allman Brothers, like it feels like that can be 0:13:33.796 --> 0:13:36.276 a fraud experience. Well, I mean we waited a long 0:13:36.276 --> 0:13:38.676 time to jump into this. I mean we bought a 0:13:38.716 --> 0:13:41.756 house together, we got pregnant, and then we got married. 0:13:42.156 --> 0:13:44.316 We were together for ten years, and we were like, 0:13:44.676 --> 0:13:47.316 I think maybe we could probably start thinking about putting 0:13:47.316 --> 0:13:50.236 a band together. Like were like, we didn't jump into it. 0:13:50.356 --> 0:13:53.076 You know, we thought long and hard about it, and 0:13:53.236 --> 0:13:54.956 you know, we had been on the road. We'd even 0:13:55.196 --> 0:13:58.236 experimented going out with her solo band and mine, and 0:13:58.236 --> 0:14:01.236 then we put a before the Tadesky Trucks band, we 0:14:01.316 --> 0:14:04.516 did like the Revival, which is kind of half of 0:14:04.516 --> 0:14:06.876 her band, half of my band, and just to kind 0:14:06.876 --> 0:14:09.356 of feel out how it would go. When you're that 0:14:09.436 --> 0:14:12.236 passionate about what you do and your sole focus when 0:14:12.236 --> 0:14:13.876 you're on the road, is that you have to make 0:14:13.916 --> 0:14:16.316 sure that your thing is compatible because you know, you 0:14:16.396 --> 0:14:18.036 both love what you do, but you don't know if 0:14:18.076 --> 0:14:20.436 it's gonna work. And it took us a while to 0:14:20.516 --> 0:14:24.396 really find our thing, but a good portion of it 0:14:24.476 --> 0:14:26.716 existed right out of the gate, like our chemistry when 0:14:26.716 --> 0:14:28.996 we played together. It's kind of one of the things 0:14:28.996 --> 0:14:30.876 that brought us together. So I think we always knew 0:14:30.916 --> 0:14:33.996 that we wanted to do something. It was kind of inevitable. Well, 0:14:34.036 --> 0:14:36.516 his guitar playing in my vocals, like it was always 0:14:36.636 --> 0:14:39.396 very easy and natural, like almost like we could finish 0:14:39.436 --> 0:14:42.236 each other sentences, you know, on stage. That was kind 0:14:42.236 --> 0:14:43.796 of right out of the gate. Yeah, right out of 0:14:43.836 --> 0:14:46.636 the gate. So we definitely have that connection. But then 0:14:46.676 --> 0:14:48.956 it was cool too because you know, he obviously comes 0:14:48.996 --> 0:14:51.556 from more of a jazz world. Even though I went 0:14:51.556 --> 0:14:53.796 to jazz college. He knows a lot more than I 0:14:53.836 --> 0:14:57.076 do about jazz. It's just more in his wheelhouse where 0:14:57.116 --> 0:14:59.516 I think with me, it was more I guess country 0:14:59.516 --> 0:15:03.116 and gospel music. You know, folk music people like Bob Dylan, 0:15:03.156 --> 0:15:06.396 Willie Nelson are just like that, Mahali Jackson, stuff like that. 0:15:06.436 --> 0:15:08.556 But then he also loved Mahealia, so he's like, you 0:15:08.596 --> 0:15:11.356 love Mahle, Yeah, I love Mehelia. You know, I'd be like, oh, 0:15:11.396 --> 0:15:13.316 do you have this record? He's like, yeah, I love 0:15:13.396 --> 0:15:16.516 Beeby King and Albert King and Freddie King and you know. 0:15:16.556 --> 0:15:18.476 So we realized a lot of the things that we 0:15:18.516 --> 0:15:20.516 had in common, but then also we turned each other 0:15:20.516 --> 0:15:22.276 on to stuff. He turned me on to Sun Raw. 0:15:22.676 --> 0:15:24.716 That's a good first date. Yeah, He's like, do you 0:15:24.756 --> 0:15:31.516 know this. I'm like, no, space is the place. It was. Well, 0:15:31.516 --> 0:15:33.636 actually we brought her on the bus. It was me 0:15:33.716 --> 0:15:36.956 and Otel Burbridge and we would travel with Greg on 0:15:36.996 --> 0:15:40.116 his bus. Yeah, Greg Alvin, And then we brought Susan 0:15:40.156 --> 0:15:43.556 over for a hang and had this sun Rob film. 0:15:43.716 --> 0:15:45.316 We watched some of that, and then we put on 0:15:45.396 --> 0:15:53.276 like a Liberaci Christmas like this is incredible, wow it 0:15:53.316 --> 0:15:56.876 this is the place. Yeah. Yeah, well my Favorites was 0:15:57.596 --> 0:16:00.516 totally bizarre, like makes no sense, but it's like such 0:16:00.516 --> 0:16:06.556 a cool one. Yeah, like history is history, mystery is 0:16:06.596 --> 0:16:10.156 my story. I was like, yeah, I love this guy 0:16:11.196 --> 0:16:13.996 so fantastic. I was like, wait, he's got tinfoil on 0:16:14.076 --> 0:16:16.356 his head and he's talking of Saturn. This is great. 0:16:16.556 --> 0:16:18.836 I'm in And he doesn't even do drugs. It doesn't 0:16:18.836 --> 0:16:22.876 do drugs. The youth center in Oakland. Yeah, of course 0:16:22.916 --> 0:16:25.116 had to try to turn you onto people. I think 0:16:25.116 --> 0:16:27.796 I turned you on a Magic Sam, you know, Sam 0:16:27.796 --> 0:16:31.196 Maguettah and h and Funny enough, Magic Sam and Sunra 0:16:31.316 --> 0:16:33.716 were on the same label in Chicago. I would not 0:16:33.796 --> 0:16:35.396 think that you're the one turning her onto a sun 0:16:35.476 --> 0:16:37.796 Run and she's turning you on the Magic. You know. 0:16:37.916 --> 0:16:42.156 Between starting playing and where we met, I ran into 0:16:42.356 --> 0:16:44.956 Colonel Bruce Hampton at about twelve years old. And who 0:16:45.036 --> 0:16:48.836 is he? So? Colonel is from Atlanta, Georgia. He's kind 0:16:48.836 --> 0:16:52.916 of like a Frank Zappa character but different, more southern 0:16:52.916 --> 0:16:56.076 and mystical and out. But he just man. A lot 0:16:56.116 --> 0:16:59.236 of incredible music came through the Colonel. He would always say, 0:16:59.276 --> 0:17:01.876 I'm a I'm a minor league baseball coach, just getting 0:17:01.876 --> 0:17:04.556 people ready. But at twelve years old, I met him 0:17:04.556 --> 0:17:06.756 and he just turned me onto the most incredible music. 0:17:06.796 --> 0:17:09.436 I mean, he bought me my first son Ra record. 0:17:09.436 --> 0:17:11.596 He bought me a Love Supreme when I was thirteen 0:17:11.676 --> 0:17:14.396 or fourteen. He turned me on to Christian Murdy like 0:17:14.716 --> 0:17:16.356 he was. He was always one of those guys that 0:17:16.876 --> 0:17:19.556 he would find young musicians. And his thing was all 0:17:19.556 --> 0:17:22.516 about intention and about you know, why are you doing it? 0:17:22.556 --> 0:17:24.116 Where is it coming from? He didn't care all good. 0:17:24.156 --> 0:17:26.436 You were like if you mean it, and you were 0:17:26.556 --> 0:17:29.356 and you were not bs And then he was your 0:17:29.396 --> 0:17:31.876 biggest fan on the planet. And he I mean, he 0:17:31.916 --> 0:17:35.516 was an incredible human being, incredible life he lived. But yeah, 0:17:35.596 --> 0:17:38.876 he took list entertainer. He played on Frank Zappa's first record, 0:17:38.956 --> 0:17:41.796 Oh No what. Yeah, he was just a fascinating character man, 0:17:41.836 --> 0:17:44.996 and he he changed a lot of musicians lives like 0:17:44.996 --> 0:17:48.596 Oteel Burbridge and Jimmy Herring came through Colonel the Quare 0:17:48.636 --> 0:17:51.916 and Rescue Unit. A lot of US guys, yeah, fish 0:17:53.996 --> 0:17:57.316 that whole scene. They all revered Colonel Bruce. And I 0:17:57.476 --> 0:18:00.236 knew Colonel before I knew Derek. Really, yeah, we both did. 0:18:00.276 --> 0:18:02.436 I knew him when I was like twenty six. I 0:18:02.476 --> 0:18:05.276 didn't meet Derek to us twenty eight, So I met 0:18:05.316 --> 0:18:07.156 Colonel about two years before I met Derek, and he 0:18:07.196 --> 0:18:09.876 had taken you under his wing. Yeah as well. Yeah, 0:18:09.916 --> 0:18:11.276 he would let me sit in with him and he 0:18:11.356 --> 0:18:14.836 was like, God, what I've never seen this is outrageous. 0:18:15.356 --> 0:18:19.276 You're a girl doing what blues. Unbelievable. I didn't even 0:18:19.316 --> 0:18:21.876 know that you even knew what that was or whatever. 0:18:21.956 --> 0:18:24.356 You know, he just say slowly stuff. Yeah. He was 0:18:24.396 --> 0:18:26.956 so sweet and so fun and he was a one 0:18:26.956 --> 0:18:28.956 of a kind. They only made one of him and 0:18:28.996 --> 0:18:31.476 he went out on stage with you guys, right. He 0:18:31.596 --> 0:18:34.636 had a lot of the people that were influenced by 0:18:34.716 --> 0:18:37.236 him on that stage with him and a sold out 0:18:37.236 --> 0:18:41.556 show and everybody in the audience screaming his name. Bruce 0:18:41.676 --> 0:18:45.956 seventieth birthday, seventh birthday, seventy a birthday party, and in 0:18:45.996 --> 0:18:47.996 the middle of his favorite song, turned on Your Love 0:18:48.076 --> 0:18:51.596 Light he ever sang on stage and the last song 0:18:52.636 --> 0:18:55.836 pretty wild, fourth song on he made it to the encore. 0:18:56.156 --> 0:19:00.836 Yeah to his favorite song, seventieth Birthday and yeah, yeah, 0:19:00.876 --> 0:19:04.276 and that was that, which was what happened. He had 0:19:04.316 --> 0:19:07.756 a massive hearted Yeah. But you know, he was such 0:19:07.796 --> 0:19:09.636 a he was such a character or like he just 0:19:09.676 --> 0:19:12.636 did he did outland his stuff his whole career. He 0:19:12.756 --> 0:19:15.796 was like almost Andy Kaufman esque with some of his stuff, 0:19:15.836 --> 0:19:18.876 Like he would just do just the most absurd stuff. 0:19:19.796 --> 0:19:22.516 I mean. At one point early on he opened for 0:19:22.756 --> 0:19:25.236 three Dog Night at this festival, and he had his 0:19:25.276 --> 0:19:28.716 band play all three dog Night songs, but just but 0:19:28.916 --> 0:19:31.796 just bent, just bent of it got so bad that 0:19:31.956 --> 0:19:33.916 to get a police escort out of there. Like he 0:19:34.036 --> 0:19:36.556 was he was just fearless man. He was like he 0:19:36.636 --> 0:19:40.116 was just out of head. Yeah, So he would do 0:19:40.196 --> 0:19:43.356 stuff like old drummer Yon Rico Scott. He played with 0:19:43.396 --> 0:19:45.236