The Derek Trucks Band

The Derek Trucks Band was an American jam band founded by young slide guitar prodigy, Derek Trucks, who began playing guitar and touring with some of blues and rock music's elite when he was just nine years old. After experimenting as an adolescent with musicians he met between tours and recording sessions, Trucks founded The Derek Trucks Band in 1994. With family ties to The Allman Brothers Band, Trucks continued to experiment and play with others, carefully assembling his own band over a period of several years. Loosely based in his family home in Jacksonville, Florida, with Trucks as unquestionable bandleader, the band is made up of six individuals. The band has drawn upon the wide variety of the influences and musical preferences of its band members. Together, they have gained increasing public notice and critical acclaim for developing a unique sound of their own. Melding together blues, southern rock, jazz, rhythm and blues, gospel, soul, funk with Hindustani classical music, afro-beat and world fusion, the band has released nine albums as of 2009. Increasingly, the bandmates have combined their talents to perform pieces from some of the most highly regarded musicians before them, while at the same time collaborating on writing the songs they have recorded. Their sound has become, with maturity, a way for Trucks to explore his own creativity. Rather than focus all his energy into his increasing role as a guest (and eventually, a permanent membership in The Allman Brothers Band) Trucks has nurtured a different eclectic sound as bandleader of what is now The Derek Trucks Band.