Keep on truckin'
Richard Burnett
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Trucks: No regrets about that busted tail
photo: Michael Schmelling
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On the road with guitar ace Derek Trucks
The pedigree of Derek Trucks is impeccable: Born 30 years ago, Trucks was, indirectly, named after his "uncles" Duane Allman and Eric Clapton, who combined their first names to fashion one of the greatest blues-rock bands of all time, Derek and The Dominoes.By the time Derek was 11 years old, the child prodigy - today hailed as the greatest slide guitarist alive - had already toured with the The Allman Brothers Band, which was co-founded by his uncle and the band's drummer, Butch Trucks.
"I was [also] on tour with my own group then and I was sitting in with different bands, with Buddy Guy and Bob Dylan," Trucks says today. "I didn't feel pressure, it came naturally. My parents were not [showbiz] parents - they weren't living out their dreams through me. In fact, I was still playing little league baseball at the time. It [all] felt strangely normal."
But not all kids can call blues legend B.B. King their personal Santa Claus. "B.B., [when I was] nine or 10 years old, was like Santa Claus - a mythical character. Sometimes you meet your idols and it's a total letdown. Then you meet B.B. and Willie Nelson and they are gracious and humble. Some of my favourite old bluesmen are long gone now - Freddie King, Son House, Bukka White, John Lee Hooker, Little Milton.
"I still feel incredibly fortunate to have the job I have," says Trucks, currently touring to promote his critically
hailed new album, Already Free. He is now a father himself with two kids of his own (Trucks is married to blues singer Susan Tedeschi). "My dad was a roofer and my mom worked in a public school. You bust your tail for something you believe in. I feel lucky to wake up and play music."The Derek Trucks Band
w/ Dawn Tyler Watson and Paul Deslauriers
At Métropolis (59 Ste-Catherine E.), Nov. 7
