sxsw Breakouts DMb in the studio
Our picks: From Little Boots’ electro- “People who don’t like us will like this
pop to Deer Tick’s hillbilly rock. Page 20
Allman Brothers and
Friends Take New York
Clapton, Sheryl Crow,
Phish help band
celebrate 40 years
By David Browne
B
ackstage before the
eighth night of the All-
man Brothers Band’s re-
cent 15-night run of shows at
New York’s Beacon Theatre,
61-year-old drummer Butch
Trucks can barely contain his
excitement about tonight’s se-
cret guest. “We’ve been try-
ing to do this for 40 years!” he
says, referring to the first time
the Allmans will share a stage
with Eric Clapton. “He’s been
borrowing our guitar players
since the Layla rec­ord,” says
Gregg Allman with a chuckle.
“So he kinda owed us.”
For two nights, Clapton
joined the band to tear through
tunes including “Anyday,” “Why
Does Love Got to Be So Sad?”
“Little Wing” and, of course,
“Layla.” His unannounced (but
widely rumored) appearance
helped the Allmans celebrate
their 40th anniversary – and
honor co-founder and guitar-
ist Duane Allman, who died in
a motorcycle crash in 1971. “To
be honest, one of the reasons
we’re doing this is that Duane
doesn’t loom big enough,” says
Trucks. “Too many people don’t
even know who he is.”
During the 15 nights, an as-
tonishing list of old friends
joined the A llmans. “We
tried to get everybody that my
brother had played with,” says
Gregg. Boz Scaggs played his
Derek McCabe, 2
1969 classic “Loan Me a Dime,”
which originally featured one
of Duane’s [Cont. on 16]
Q&A: Karen o
Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer on crying at the
record,” says Dave Matthews. Page 22
in memory of duane “We tried to get everybody that my brother
had played with,” says Gregg Allman (top, at New York’s Beacon
Theatre). Clapton (above, with Derek Trucks) sat in for two nights.
club and cutting back on booze. Page 32
Where
Do All
the Best
Tix Go?
How artists profit by
scalping the top seats
to their own shows
By Steve Knopper
F
ans have long won­
dered why it’s near-
ly impossible to get
good seats to big shows
– and now they’re begin-
ning to get some answers,
as Ticketmaster’s attempt
to merge with Live Na-
tion has brought congres-
sional scrutiny to ticketing
industry
and scalping issues in re-
cent months. Top concert-
industry sources confirm
to Rolling Stone that
the practice of skimming
the best seats off the top of
the pool and selling them
at huge markups happens
at nearly all concerts.
Even some artists are
going public with their con-
cerns. “The venue, the pro-
moter, the ticketing agency
and often the artist camp
(artist, management and
agent) take tickets from the
pool of available seats and
feed them directly to the re-
seller,” NIN frontman Trent
Reznor wrote on his blog re-
cently. “This is a very com-
mon practice that happens
more often than not.”
In recent testimony to
Congress, Ticketmaster
CEO Irving [Cont. on 18]
Rolling Stone, April 16, 2009 • 15
 R&R
allman brothers
[Cont. from 15] greatest solos;
Levon Helm sang “The Weight”
and “Ophelia,” and Taj Mahal
brought the house down with
a lead vocal on “Statesboro
Blues.” After initially reject-
ing the idea of inviting guitar-
ist Dickey Betts, who was fired
from the band in 2000, the All-
mans sent him an invitation;
at press time, Betts’ participa-
tion was still undetermined.
“If he does come, it’s not gonna
be easy,” says Trucks. “There’s
a lot of bad blood. But for the
sake of Duane, we decided we
would ask.”
Most nights began with a
photo montage of Duane and
a rendition of “Little Martha,”
from the classic 1972 disc Eat a
Peach, centered around current
guitarists Warren Haynes and
Derek Trucks. The Allmans
also made sure to invite young-
er musicians who are breathing
life into jam-band traditions,
including Phish’s Trey Anas-
tasio and Page McConnell,
who elevated “Southbound”
and “In Memory of Elizabeth
Reed.” “I’ve been playing All-
man Brothers songs more years
than I care to count,” says Mc-
Connell. “After being in a band
a number of years, you respect
more and more the longevity
and stamina it takes to do what
they do year after year.”
Sheryl Crow sang a verse
of “Midnight Rider” (“One of
the quintessential great piec-
es of songwriting,” she says)
and took the lead on versions
of Blind Faith’s “Can’t Find My
Way Home” and Bob Dylan’s “It
Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a
Train to Cry.” When she wasn’t
onstage, Crow spent most of the
show in the audience. “I walked
in, and there were clouds of
16 • Rolling Stone, April 16, 2009
Dummy
caption fill
about picture
in the box
here this is
the space for
the caption.
old friends, new
friends Sheryl Crow
(with Warren Haynes,
left, and Derek Trucks)
and Buddy Guy (below,
with Haynes) were
among the guests at
the New York shows.
weed floating around the room,
and everyone was standing on
their feet from the second they
started playing,” she says. “I felt
like I was 16.”
Working up all that materi-
al – about 100 songs over the
course of the run – became as
much a part of the nightly ritu-
al as the shows themselves. The
band set up a separate practice
space at the Beacon for last-
minute rehearsals. At Clapton’s
rehearsal – which finished two
hours before the doors opened
– the guitarist told everyone
the story of how Derek and the
Dominos drummer Jim Gor-
don came up with the song’s
timeless piano coda. “I’d heard
about some of that before, but it
was great hearing it from him,”
says Haynes.
The Beacon shows mark the
beginning of a year of exten-
sive touring for the Allmans –
but also a finale of sorts. Start-
ing in 2010, the band will cut
back its road schedule, possibly
playing only a dozen summer
shows. “We’re winding down,”
says Butch Trucks. “The end is
coming. We know that. I had to
have a knee replacement two
years ago. I can’t straighten my
right arm because of arthritis.
No matter how much fun I’ve
been having, it’s taking its toll.”
Although Allman has recov-
ered from a bout with hepati-
tis C last year, he admits he still
deals with “layers of tired.”
For the moment, though,
the Allmans are reveling in the
warm musical afterglow of the
Beacon shows. “I just figured
this year would be probably
the capper to all of ’em,” says
Allman. “But I didn’t know it
would be to this extent.” After
one of the two Clapton nights,
Allman bumped into the gui-
tarist, whose dressing room
was next to his. “He had the
most warm smile on his face,”
Allman says. “And he said,
‘Thank you so much for letting
me come and be a part of this.’ I
said, ‘Man, anytime.’ ”
HOT
LIST
Fill this with a
caption people
Bob dylan
“Beyond Here Lies
Nothin’ ”
Ever dreamed of riding
out the end times in a
South Texas roadhouse
with a killer band? Us too!
And that’s the vibe of Dyl­
an’s new single – with its
Tex-Mex accordion, blues
guitar and doomy lyrics, it
goes down like chipotle-
spiced apocalypse.
white lies
“Death”
This Wembley-size mope
rocker is the best Killers
song of the year – even
though this British buzz
band’s pompous, pasty
frontman sings like he
swallowed a Joy Division
box set.
Conor Oberst
“Slowly (Oh So
Slowly)”
Our bro Conor’s new jam
with the Mystic Valley
Band hits on a recipe for
roots-rock orgasm: two
parts John Mellencamp,
one dash Uncle Tupelo.
Mmm, earthy!
Rye rye
Clockwise from Top left: kirk west; APR 150/Most Wanted/ZUMA Press; Derek McCabe
feat. M.I.A.
“Bang ”
This gloriously showoffy
track from M.I.A.’s speed-
rapping protégée features
a monstrously syncopated
break beat – it’s hotter
than a blonde and a bru­
nette double-teaming an
ice cream cone.
phoenix
“1901”
Our favorite French dudes
since Jacques Pépin are
back with a poppy burst
of bliss – it’s like the first
breeze of spring, except
with more synthesizers.
Rock shows you shouldn't miss
—Greg Kot
April 3, 2009

Morrissey: The U.K. singer is back on familiar turf with his latest album, "Years of Refusal"
(Attack/Lost Highway), which means he's a bit fed up with, well, everything. His acerbic wit is
matched by the attack in his arrangements, the hardest-hitting Morrissey album in at least a
decade. Here's hoping he brings some of that intensity to the stage, Saturday at the Aragon,
1106 W. Lawrence, $37.50; 312-559-1212.

Ting Tings: After a breakout performance at last year's South by Southwest Music Conference in
Austin, Texas, the U.K. duo of Jules De Martino and Katie White has ridden the wave of the
single "That's Not My Name" into a club tour. They've got plenty of hooks, energy and smarts,
which is all you can ask from pop music, Sunday at Metro, 3730 N. Clark St., $18, $16;
ticketweb.com.

The Derek Trucks Band: The nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks and the
husband of rising blues star Susan Tedeschi, Trucks has evolved into one of the great guitarists
of his generation through his work with the Allmans and Eric Clapton. His latest solo release,
"Already Free" (RCA), is saturated in the blues/soul/raga/rock stew that is practically a family
birthright, Wednesday-Thursday at Park West, 322 W. Armitage, $25; 312-559-1212.

Andrew Bird: The wordsmith/whistler/violinist started out playing quirky jazz-swing tunes and
slowly built a cult following that has mushroomed. His intelligently constructed, richly textured
songs can sound a bit off-putting to non-believers, but there's little doubt that he's carved out his
own niche as one of indie-pop's unlikeliest success stories, Thursday-April 10 at Civic Opera
House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, $33, $25.50; 312-559-1212.
He keeps on truckin'

''
By Joan Anderman
Globe Staff / March 31, 2009

Guitarist Derek Trucks, who turns 30 this year, is an 18-year veteran of the road. For
the math-challenged, that puts him at the tender age of 11 when he started jamming
with Buddy Guy and the Allman Brothers, a group he officially joined in 1999.
(Truck's uncle Butch is the band's founding drummer.) The prodigal roots player
formed his eponymous group at 15, and earlier this year released the sixth Derek
Trucks Band studio album, "Already Free." They perform at House of Blues on
Thursday. We reached Trucks midway through the Allman Brothers' recent 15-night
residency at New York's Beacon Theatre, where he was waiting to greet the evening's
special guest: his former employer Eric Clapton.

Q. "Already Free" is your first self-produced record. How does a musician know
when it's time to take on that task?
A. If you have a vision, and can communicate it to the people around you, you're
ready. It really comes down to having a certain amount of faith in your own taste.
After being on tour with Clapton and the Allmans and my wife [Susan Tedeschi] and
my own band, I had so much music floating around in my head.

Q. You went on tour while you were still in elementary school. Looking back now, as
a father, would you have done it differently?

A. I don't know if I would change it. It's a great thing to travel the world at a young
age. You don't get that as a roofer's son, so we always felt lucky. It hasn't come easy.
It's been a grind. But I've been amazingly fortunate and I don't know if it could have
happened any other way.

Q. Do your kids play music?

A. My daughter, she's 4, is singing and dancing all the time. She knows the words to
all the Rodgers and Hammerstein songs. My son is a clone of me at that age [7], and
he loves what boys love: football, fishing, and baseball.

Q. Do you take special care of your hands? Are they insured?

A. [Laughing] No, I don't have them insured. But I stopped skiing and
snowboarding.

Q. Do you have one guitar that's nearest and dearest to your heart?

A. Yes. It's the guitar I play all the time. I have a lot of great signatures on it: Little
Milton, Johnny Winter, Otis Rush, Clapton, Santana, Roy Haynes, Jimmy Cobb,
Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Les Paul. . .

Q. Wow. If money gets tight you can sell it on eBay.

A. Oh, no.
THE BERKELY BEACON

Blues master Derek Trucks slides into

Boston's House of Blues April 2
The Derek Trucks Band will unleash a combination of
new sounds and Dylanesque style at the HOB
By: Mike Desjardin

Posted: 4/2/09

Ask any guitarist: Playing slide is tough. Real tough. One of the backbone elements of
the blues, slide guitarists don't simply hit punctuated notes by pressing down on different.
frets.

The guitarist instead will use a "bottleneck" (named after the literal glass bottlenecks that
traveling bluesman used to use) around their finger, running his hands up and down the
neck of the instrument, creating seamless, steady notes that change in pitch.

The style is a staple of the genre and one that, in the grand scheme of things, very few
people have mastered.

Derek Trucks, performing at the House of Blues on Thursday, April 2, is one of those
people.

Still under 30 years old, the musician has spent his life mastering the blues and working
alongside some of the greatest guitarists of all time.

Five years ago, Rolling Stone placed Derek Trucks on its list of the "100 Greatest
Guitarists of All Time," calling his work "fluid…[moving] easily between Southern rock,
reggae, gospel, jazz and African music."

Fans of artists that have drawn from modern blues music such as John Mayer and John
Butler owe quite a bit to the career of Trucks, a career that started at a very young age.

Nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks, Derek was a childhood prodigy,
mastering the guitar with uncanny precision at age nine.

By 12, he was playing with the band. Before the age of 20, the Derek Trucks Band had
already released their second album (Out of the Madness, 1998).

In early 2009, the album Already Free was met with positive reviews. It opens with a
cover of "Down in the Flood" by Bob Dylan, one of several artists Derek Truck had
shared a stage with before he could legally drink in the United States.

Aside from recording and touring with the legendary Allman Brothers Band for several
years, Trucks has released over five albums with the Derek Trucks band. Their
discography is eclectic, including 2006's Songlines, a brilliant collage of New World rock
instrumentals and blues ballads.

If the description of Songlines sounds a bit like "musical jambalaya," it's actually a
marginally successful rundown of the record's nature.

Some tracks, like the ten minute "Sahib Teri Bandi/Maki Madni," blend Eastern-
influenced percussions with traditional blues guitar work.

Immediately following "Maki Madni" is "Chevrolet," which resembles, quite simply, an

authentic southern slice of musical Americana.

"I Wish I Knew (How It Would Feel to Be Free)," meanwhile, is a powerhouse gospel
number with enough emotion to blow the doors off the back of a church.

It's about this time in the record that you've completely forgotten that, four songs prior,
the album was gleaning most of its elements from a completely different corner of the
globe.

Somehow, amidst all of the style bending and genre flip-flopping, a cohesive sound
emerges that feels both one-of-a-kind and right at home.

This Thursday, the Derek Trucks Band will be playing at the House of Blues to promote
their newest release, Already Free.

If the group's eclectic history is any indication, do not expect your run-of-the-mill blues
show.

© Copyright 2009 The Berkeley Beacon

Derek Trucks is constantly switching gears
Preview
Thursday, April 02, 2009
By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Guitarist Derek Trucks started jamming with the Allman Brothers when he was 10. Now 29, he is
on tour promoting his sixth studio album with the Derek Trucks Band.

He's an Allman brother. Frontman of the Derek Trucks Band. Husband to blues woman
Susan Tedeschi. And father to a 7-year-old boy and 4-year-old girl.

So, Derek Trucks has a pretty full schedule these days, especially with a new solo album
out and the Allman Brothers celebrating their 40th anniversary.

When things get hectic, the 29-year-old guitar hero remembers his dad, a roofer, having
to be up at 5:30 each morning.

"You just have to get very comfortable wearing different hats in different situations," he
says. "My dad was up early every day and it helps puts things in perspective. I've been
touring close to 20 years now, so I don't really know any other way. The traveling isn't as
easy and carefree as it was before having children but it's like reading -- it's intellectually
stimulating. We also have an incredibly strong support unit with our own families. My
parents and brothers and sister all live within 10 miles, so 'it takes a village.' Most
importantly the kids are great, and they know even though Susan and I work a lot we are
still very connected."

Trucks, a guitar prodigy and nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks, started
jamming with the Allman Brothers when he was 10 years old and became an official
member in 1999 when he was 20, jamming opposite Warren Haynes. The Allmans just
finished a run of 15 dates at the Beacon Theatre in New York, with special guest spots by
the likes of Kid Rock, Sheryl Crow, Buddy Guy, Phish members Trey Anastasio and
Page McConnell and Eric Clapton.

Derek Trucks Band

 Where: Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse, Burgettstown.

 When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday.
 Tickets: $39-$59; 412-323-1919.

Asked about Clapton, who played with Duane Allman in Derek and the Dominos, Trucks
says, "It was great to play with Eric again. He has a long history with members of the
Allmans and he went out of his way to be there. It was a monumental couple of shows, in
fact the whole Beacon run was pretty amazing."

Now, Trucks is switching gears back into the Derek Trucks Band, with a tour that stops at
the Pepsi Roadhouse Sunday promoting "Already Free," a sixth studio album of swampy,
funky blues-rock with Trucks playing lots of dirty slide. Among the highlights are a
cover of Dylan's "Down in the Flood," the Little Feat-like "Maybe This Time" and lead
vocals by Tedeschi on "Down Don't Bother Me" and Doyle Bramhall II on "Our Love."

" 'Already Free' is the most song-oriented record we've ever done and has more vocals
then we've had before -- [DTB singer] Mike [Mattison] appears on every track with the
exception of the songs Susan and Doyle sing. We really feel like this album is a serious
step forward for the band and our sound and what we can do together. The fact that we
did it ourselves means a lot. I got to produce the album from home without any time
constraints which allowed the vibe in the room to constantly flow."

Trucks had the luxury of finishing the sessions with 25 tracks and then distilling them
down to the best 12. The creative burst was due in part to having a new, high-end studio
right in his backyard.

"I built it for the sole purpose of not touring as much and working at home," he says. "For
the most part I could wake up in the morning and drive the kids to school and then get
right back into the studio and start working. We didn't have to fit into a schedule, so we
were able to make a record that is really organic. Susan and I are really fortunate in that
most of our friends happen to be world-class musicians. We just started inviting friends
down, like Doyle came out to the house for a week and [we] wrote together, then Warren
[Haynes] came and we wrote a few songs together. This past year has been a really
creative time for us on so many levels. Ultimately, this has been kind of a jumping off
point for what we want to do with the studio and with the next handful of records that we
do."

Scott Mervis can be reached at smervis@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2576.

First published on April 2, 2009 at 12:00 am
BURLINGTON FREE PRESS
April 2, 2009

Derek Trucks brings his fluid guitar skills to Higher Ground

By Brent Hallenbeck, Free Press Staff Writer

No one was more surprised than Derek Trucks when he found

out his solo band’s new disc, “Already Free,” reached number
19 on the Billboard Top 200 album charts when it came out in
January.

“That was a shocker to me,” the guitarist said recently by

phone from New York City. “I thought they meant 19 on the
blues chart; 19 on the full Billboard chart was way beyond my
expectations. It’s done a lot better than anything we’ve been a
part of up until now.”

Trucks, performing with his band April 3 at Higher Ground, said the difficulty in categorizing his
band has something to do with the band’s growing success. His sound, shaped by his work with
the Allman Brothers Band and honed in his own group, is most accurately described as blues
rock, but his music catches the ears of jam-rock and jazz fans as well.

“Part of what we’ve been able to do as a group — some of it consciously and some of it just the
nature of it — is we’ve kept our feet in a lot of different camps but never really been accepted by
any of them,” Trucks said. “We’ve made it a point not to get bogged down in any one of those
scenes.”

His most recent appearance in Burlington demonstrated that musical dexterity. The Derek Trucks
Band concluded the three nights of music in August during the Lake Champlain Maritime Festival,
following a couple of Vermont-based acts, jam-rocking Phish bass player Mike Gordon and retro-
blues-rockers Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.

Trucks, from Jacksonville, Fla., showed his fluid guitar skills at that the festival without showing
off. While most guitarists would make those grimacing rock-star faces when reaching for a
soaring note, the tall, blond, ponytailed Trucks remains boyishly calm.

He said he learned his style in part by watching restrained performances by musicians who
preceded him such as Duane Allman, Elmore James and John Coltrane. “I saw footage of John
Coltrane (when Trucks was) 14 or 15 years old and it was just all business, the look in his eye.
There was no showmanship,” Trucks said. “Part of it is those influences and part of it is my
nature. There’s definitely some musicians that are showmen and I love them for it, but a lot of
times it feels kind of like a cop-out to me.”

He might look stoic, but Trucks was having fun looking out toward Lake Champlain and the
Adirondacks during the Maritime Festival. “We’ve always had a good time in Burlington,” he said.
“We’ve played there a few times over the years, from that upstairs club, Club Metronome, and all
the different Higher Grounds. Burlington’s been good to us for a long time. It’s a beautiful place,
too, which definitely helps.”

Additional Facts
If you go

The Derek Trucks Band, 8:30 p.m. April 3, Higher Ground Ballroom, South Burlington. $25 in
advance, $27 day of show. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.
With 'Already Free,' Derek Trucks begins
expanding his horizons
By Alan Sculley, FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, April 2, 2009

Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks Band

With: The Bridge

When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday

Admission: $39-$59

Where: Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse, Burgettstown

Details: 724-947-1900

Up to now, guitarist Derek Trucks probably has been better known as a member of the Allman
Brothers Band than as a band leader, despite the fact that the new Derek Trucks Band CD,
"Already Free," is the group's sixth album.

But in talking with Trucks, the guitarist leaves little doubt about how important his band is to him
and, perhaps more tellingly, how much he wants the group to leave a lasting stamp on the music
world. Trucks and the band perform Sunday at the Pepsi-Cola Roadhouse.

"Already Free" stands apart from the other Derek Trucks Band albums for having a much larger
percentage of songs written or co-written by Trucks or the other band members. This facet of the
CD says a lot about how Trucks' interest in the music-making process has expanded, as has his
larger goals for his band.

"It wasn't really until the last three or four years that I really started appreciating the art of writing
songs," Trucks says. "Up to that point, most of what inspired and moved me were performances. I
appreciated great songs, but what mattered to me more was Stevie Wonder singing on a great
song that he wrote or Mahalia (Jackson) singing on a great gospel tune or (John) Coltrane
playing. It was usually the performer and the tone and the sound that I got into. It was really only
in the last three or four years that I was really struck by Leonard Cohen's songwriting or (Bob)
Dylan's songwriting, not the performances, but the depth, the multilayered ideas and just the
beauty of some of these lyrics and just the song structure."

Trucks also came to a related realization as his appreciation for songwriting grew.

"I'd definitely been thinking about the fact that, to make a band's legacy or a musician's legacy
really last, I feel like there's got to be a healthy amount of original compositions to make it hold
up," Trucks says. "There are great artists and legendary artists that didn't write a lot of tunes, but
for the most part, the ones that changed things wrote a good deal of their stuff. It's something I
was thinking about."

So Trucks -- one of the most humble artists one can encounter, despite his prodigious talent as a
guitarist -- might have taken a major step toward making important music with "Already Free."

"Already Free" mixes elements of soul, jazz, world beat, country, blues and rock. But the new CD
is edgier, and particularly on songs such as "Something to Make You Happy," "Get What You
Deserve" and "Don't Miss Me," the group emphasizes the rock/blues/soul side of its sound more
than on earlier albums.

Meanwhile, the high quality of the material, coupled with the fast growth Trucks has made with
songwriting, suggests that "Already Free" might be the start of a fruitful phase for the band, which
includes Trucks, bassist Todd Smallie, drummer Yonrico Scott, keyboardist Kofi Burbridge, singer
Mike Mattison and percussionist Count M'Butu.

With "Already Free" having only arrived in stores in January, it is no surprise to hear Trucks say
that the new CD figures to be a centerpiece of his group's shows this spring.

"We'll probably be playing a lot of those (new) tunes," he says.