{"id":23476,"date":"2022-08-09T05:30:44","date_gmt":"2022-08-09T09:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=23476"},"modified":"2022-08-01T10:17:55","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T14:17:55","slug":"susan-tedeschi-to-the-moon-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/09\/susan-tedeschi-to-the-moon-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"Susan Tedeschi: To ‘The Moon’ … and Beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the first of two features focusing on Susan Tedeschi and the Tedeschi Trucks Band, the group she leads with husband Derek Trucks.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Taking a page from the classic early \u201870s Mad Dogs and Englishmen musical revue \u2013 and adding its own original songwriting, character and musicianship \u2013 has been a winning approach for the Tedeschi Trucks Band. Led by wife-and-husband duo, guitarists Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, the group has won widespread critical and commercial success.<\/p>\n

After combining popular groups led by Tedeschi and Trucks in 2010, TTB released its debut album, Revelator<\/i>, the following year. Three more studio albums, three live releases and nearly a dozen live archival albums would follow, along with Grammy nominations and wins, Blues Music Awards and other recognition. After a pandemic-imposed break from live performance, the group returned last year with a tour in which it re-created onstage the classic 1970 Derek & the Dominos album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs<\/i>; a live document, Layla Revisited (Live at Lock\u2019n)<\/i> soon followed.<\/p>\n

But even with all that activity, TTB\u2019s prolific nature was only beginning to reveal itself. With a staggering amount of talent contained within the 12-person group, its creative potential seemed unlimited. And that idea is supported by the appearance of I Am the Moon: I. Crescent<\/i>. Released June 3, it\u2019s the first of four<\/i> new albums from Tedeschi Trucks Band, and part of an ambitious suite of songs that hold together conceptually while standing successfully on their own as well.<\/p>\n

As the timed roll-out of Tedeschi Trucks Band\u2019s new music begins, the band is embarking on its 2022 Wheels of Soul Tour, taking to the stage with Los Lobos and Gabe Dixon. And now is an ideal time to take a look back at the creative musical journey \u2013 so far \u2013 of the band\u2019s co-leader, Susan Tedeschi.
\nBorn in Boston and raised in nearby Norwell, Massachusetts, Tedeschi grew up listening to her father\u2019s record collection, and absorbing some of his musical tastes. Tedeschi\u2019s father frequented the region\u2019s folk clubs, and those clubs took a wide and eclectic approach to booking artists. \u201cYou could see Reverend Gary Davis, Taj Mahal and Dave Van Ronk all in the same night,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

He also followed the music and career of artists as varied as The Staple Singers and Joan Baez, and he enjoyed the Beatles \u2018White Album.\u2019 \u201cAnd he went to see Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival the year he \u2018went electric,\u2019\u201d Tedeschi says. Her father sat under a weeping willow tree with Mississippi John Hurt for an hour and a half. The blues legend \u201chad his guitar out, playing songs and talking to my dad,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

All of that made an on young Susan Tedeschi. \u201cAs far back as I can remember,\u201d she says, \u201cI was listening to [music] that my parents had.\u201d Thus inspired, she knew she wanted to pursue music, and began singing when very young. \u201cI was doing plays and musical theater starting at age six, and I auditioned for Broadway when I was 10,\u201d she says. \u201cI met Johnny Cash; I had a lot of experiences around that age that helped shape what I do to this day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tedeschi developed a finely-tuned pop sensibility. She and her childhood friends bonded over a shared appreciation for the Bee Gees, Madonna, Run-D.M.C and Beastie Boys. \u201cI remember going to a yard sale and buying [The Allman Brothers\u2019 1973 album] Brothers and Sisters<\/i> and The Clash<\/i>,\u201d she recalls. And she was a fan of assorted Boston-based acts like the J. Geils Band, Aerosmith and the Cars.<\/p>\n

By age 12, Tedeschi was lead singer in a local band. \u201cWe didn\u2019t really have a name,\u201d she says with a laugh. \u201cWe did everything from Beatles covers to Rush to Bon Jovi to Boston.\u201d She says that group was her first real attempt at going professional. \u201cWe would play private parties and yacht clubs for $50 here and there,\u201d she says. \u201cIt was a good experience at getting out in front of people and seeing what worked and didn\u2019t work.\u201d That group would be the first in a succession of bands for Tedeschi.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until college that she gained a fuller appreciation for the blues. \u201cAnd it wasn’t until I graduated from college that I figured out that there were all these other artists that I didn’t know about,\u201d she admits. \u201cI didn’t know about Koko Taylor and Big Mama Thornton.\u201d But she learned, making up for lost time. And Tedeschi continued to expand her musical horizons. \u201cI learned about gospel artists like Mahalia Jackson,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Tedeschi\u2019s gospel journey started when she was a student at Berklee. \u201cI began part of the gospel choir as a sophomore,\u201d she says. Being a white girl from Massachusetts, it was really cool getting to go sing in [African American] churches.\u201d Her experiences included singing with the James Cleveland mass choir \u201cIt was quite an amazing education,\u201d Tedeschi says. \u201cI was blown away by how the music could make you feel so spiritually moved. I was like, \u2018Shoot! If this was the choir at my church, I would’ve gone to church every day!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Observers of Tedeschi\u2019s own music \u2013 as a solo artist, leading her own group and then eventually co-leading Tedeschi Trucks Band \u2013 might consider her choir experiences among the most important foundations of her soulful style. \u201cI learned how beautiful and communal singing can be,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Primarily a vocalist up to that point, Tedeschi\u2019s main instrument was piano. \u201cI wrote on guitar,\u201d she says, \u201cbut it was mostly \u2018cowboy chords.\u2019\u201d After college, she began to take guitar seriously; today she\u2019s a skilled and expressive player. \u201cI’m a huge fan of Joni Mitchell, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King,\u201d she says, noting that those artists all share a commitment to storytelling and melody, values she sought in her own work. \u201cSo I really started to try to hone my songwriting,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

After college, Tedeschi became immersed in the Boston live music scene, networking and becoming friends with a wide array of the region\u2019s musicians. She eventually put her own band together; between 1995 and 2008 Tedeschi released six well-received albums. She also guested on recordings by other artists including Robben Ford and Little Milton. The Susan Tedeschi Band became an in-demand opening act, sharing stages with Bob Dylan, John Mellencamp, The Rolling Stones and others. As a solo artist, Tedeschi is a five-time Grammy award nominee.<\/p>\n

After marrying guitarist Derek Trucks in 2001, Tedeschi guested on two Derek Trucks Band albums. Her momentum as an artist in her own right continued to grow. But at the end of that decade, she and Trucks decided to put each of their groups on hiatus, instead creating a large ensemble group called Tedeschi Trucks Band.<\/p>\n

\u201cDerek was like, \u2018Do you want to do this band with me?\u2019\u201d Tedeschi recalls. She had momentary misgivings. \u201cHow am I going to co-lead now and still feel like I’m getting to be heard?\u201d she wondered. \u201cBut I thought, \u2018I’ve got to take this opportunity. This is not going to be here forever, so I\u2019d better do it.\u2019 I didn’t want to miss out playing with Derek, because he’s really one of the greatest guitar players I’ve ever heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while Tedeschi allows that getting the balance right was tricky, she and Trucks are clearly making it work. \u201cWe have different takes on things sometimes, but we’ve learned to communicate,\u201d Tedeschi says. \u201cAnd we’ve learned to sacrifice a little bit for each other and to go along with each other’s kind of hope and dreams.\u201d And those dreams have found fruition with I Am the Moon<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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