The break that the pandemic forced upon the world of music required artists of every genre to rethink their approach to recording and touring. This chaotic period also brought forward an overwhelming amount of creativity and a renewed sense of collaboration. There’s perhaps no better expression of this than the four-part musical monument of rock, jazz, blues and folk that the Tedeschi Trucks Band (TTB) call I Am the Moon.
From a total of 24 tracks, the band began releasing singular multi-song “episodes.” The first arrived in May, and the last dropped in August. Together they create a remarkable narrative that was inspired by the 12th century Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi’s “Layla and Majnun.”
This poem also sits at the center of Eric Clapton and Jim Gordon’s song “Layla.” After a rousing performance of “Layla” at the Lockn’ Festival with guitarist Trey Anastasio, TTB band member Mike Mattison approached the band with the idea of further exploring the song’s meaning and perhaps even looking at the entire Romeo and Juliet-type story line from Layla’s perspective.
The idea fell to the side until the pandemic put a stop to everyone’s touring and band members returned to their respective homes. Mattison then approached Susan Tedeschi, Derek Trucks, new keyboardist Gabe Dixon and bassist Brandon Boone with a summary of the 80-page poem and asked everyone to reconsider his original idea. What began as a “book club” of sorts armed the band members with material that would fuel a creative process and result in what most are calling their most stunning work
