Derek Trucks Band

Jim Richardson invited me to join him to go see Derek Trucks last Sunday night at Starr Hill Music Hall in C'ville. Trucks is one of the guitarists in the Allman Brothers Band, and he has been playing in his own band for quite some time. He's been playing since he was a child, and his talent is awe-inspiring.

He plugs his red Gibson SG directly into his amp - no pedals, no effects, no nothing. He gets a very pure Gibson tone, and does not use a pick. Seems that he uses his thumb and first two fingers to pick. He also uses a bottleneck slide.

The guy is frighteningly good. He showed a lot of versatility, playing everything from a sweet jazzy arrangement of "Greensleeves" to a raunchy encore of Derek and the Dominos' "Anyday." Derek will be touring as part of Eric Clapton's band this summer, and he (and the Allmans) have been playing several D&D tunes recently - hopefully EC will dig those tunes out for the coming tour. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing what he, Doyle Bramhall II, and Derek Trucks can do together.

Derek's band is super-tight. As an ensemble they're terrific, and it's very obvious that they have a great time playing together. This show was very soul/blues-based, which is a great platform for a guitarist such as Trucks.

Bottom line: if you appreciate guitarists, see him now.