Guitar Player

MOON SHOT

“RHYTHM IS SO IMPORTANT. THAT’S WHERE LISTENING TO GREAT DRUMMERS CAN BE INSPIRING”
—Derek Trucks

As musical acts go, the Tedeschi Trucks Band is a large, family-style affair consisting of a dozen of the finest, top-caliber musicians.

At the front of it all is the husband-and-wife team of slide virtuoso Derek Trucks and singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi. Now some 12 years into their history, the Tedeschi Trucks Band has just issued a quartet of albums as sprawling and packed with musical virtuosity as the group itself. Released under the umbrella title I Am the Moon, it consists of 24 new songs, with a total running time of more than two hours, presented in easily digestible servings as I. Crescent, II. Ascension, III. The Fall and IV. Farewell.

This avalanche of new music is the result of a period of feverish creativity, when the band was forced off the road due to the global shutdown in the wake of COVID-19. The inspiration for the project came after TTB member Mike Mattison suggested the band should read the epic 12th century Persian poem , written by Nizami Ganjavi, which inspired “Layla,” the classic-rock tune penned by Eric Clapton. Connections and coincidences between the song’s history and Trucks’ and Tedeschi’s own backgrounds are many: Trucks was named after Derek and the Dominoes, the banner under which Clapton released on November 9, 1970, the very day Tedeschi was born. Trucks has worked extensively with Clapton in the past, so

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Guitar Player

Guitar Player4 min read
The Pink of Health
WHEN AMERICAN GUITAR brands suffered a dip in quality during the 1970s and ’80s, the door was open for guitar rivals to make inroads to the U.S. market. While many of them came from Japan, at least one homegrown guitar maker saw his “in”: Paul Reed S
Guitar Player4 min read
America At The Crossroads
GUITAR PLAYERS AND enthusiasts will find a coterie of familiar faces adorning the Hall of Fame rotunda at the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience (a.k.a. The MAX), an interactive museum in Meridian that honors the state’s famed writers, actor
Guitar Player3 min read
The Power Of Change
WHEN WE SET out to get an exclusive interview with Gary Clark Jr. for this issue, his new album wasn’t even available for preview yet. But we just knew we’d want to speak once again with the guitarist who reinvigorated the blues movement with his fus

Related Books & Audiobooks