I’ve always loved the connections that link musicians and bands together over time. You get hooked on a band…then learn that their keyboard player used to play in this other band before that…you dig into that band…you love it…and eventually find a live recording from 5 years ago that features a sit-in by a guitarist you’ve never heard of before and instantly love…you dig into that person’s back-catalog and learn that they were heavily influenced by a jazz musician you’ve never heard of and also, deeply steeped on the blues records of another artist that you’ve yet to discover…so you dive headfirst into the catalogs of those two musical worlds…and eventually, your head and shelf-space quickly become overpopulated with all of the musical links, side-tangents and rabbit-holes that are now currently bowing every shelf in the house with the weight of their collected recordings.
For example…
i got hooked on the Grateful Dead in 1994 > then proceeded to nerd-out on other, similar bands from that era & went full-hog into collecting GD bootlegs > got blown away by the cassettes that featured the live GD/Allman Brothers Band-related collaborations of 2/11/70, 6/10/73, 7/28/73, 12/31/73 > saw my 1st ABB concert in 1996, introducing me to Warren Haynes in the process > picked up the new release “Live From Roseland”, by his side-project Gov’t Mule…was absolutely blindsided by his blistering instrumental take on the primal lysergic GD staple “St Stephen” during their extended jam “Trane” that instantly secured the Mule’s permanent place in my personal musical pantheon (it would be another 12-18 months before i got into John McLaughlin/Mahavishnu Orchestra via his work on the historical Miles Davis albums “In A Silent Way” & “Tribute to Jack Johnson”…and realized that the Mule’s “Trane” also featured an eyebrow searing take on Mahavishnu’s “Eternity’s Breath”…pushing my love & respect for this “side-project” band to soaring new levels) > immediately bought tickets to their upcoming local show @ Roseland on 5/13/1998, with another outfit - the Derek Trucks Band - as opener > had my mind liquified by live music all night long and even witnessed Allen’s bass- playing bow the front windows of Rosebud outward with the brute, sternum-shaking force of his low end…setting the bar unbelievably HIGH for the next 50+ Mule shows i’d attend over the years.
But above all else, i was absolutely thrown…and honestly, spooked…by the playing and overall style of the 18 year-old guitarist that opened the show. The combination of youth & skill he displayed that night was something my brain simply couldn’t and flat-out refused-to comprehend. It was like 2 + 2 suddenly equaled 3. He built universes of relentlessly explosive sounds and sinewy melodies, only to tear them apart, flip them upside-down and turn them inside-out to the delight of my puddled brain…all while maintaining the most peaceful, beatific look as he played…eyes closed, body still…essentially shedding his mortal shell to become a conduit...a divine portal almost...thru which transmissions were received from the farthest of galaxies and the highest of spirits. My immediate admiration & respect for him was only matched by my frustration to understand what i just saw. How can he look so young, display such skill, focus so deeply, transport me so far and yet, make it look so GODDAMN easy?!?! Before that night, I had never witnessed a guitarist play with as much fire and passion without also falling into the trope-trap of being an over-emoting cartoon on-stage, assaulting you endlessly with in-your-face flashes of frenetic fret-work fueled more by ego than by soul & spirit.
And now…it’s almost a quarter-century later…and I’ve yet to figure out what I saw that night…let alone, makes sense of everything else Derek has conjured right before my eyes in the 60+ shows i’ve seen him perform (w/the DTB, ABB & TTB) following that introductory night back in ’98. From that point forward, the strong musical connections that I forged that night - from the GD to the ABB to GM to the DTB - planted the seed for me to become the all-in apostle, ride-or-die disciple, full-blooded fanatic of this amazing guitarist who was 4 years my junior...and who i would also embarrassingly nickname - the manchild - for several years to follow...
(which is only slightly less awkward than the more recently embraced “D-Train” moniker I’ve been using)
(…i’m so sorry, Derek.)
His transitive music has always spoken to me as much as his humble & grounded demeanor has acted as a shining example of humanity and husbandry in the process, continually inspiring me to catch him wherever and as often as I can in the process. The rewards of which have been nothing short of pure joy & satisfaction for my mind/body/soul at every new show I attend. Not to mention, having a few occasions of magic and luck help to color my always wonderful experiences through years of fandom. Two of such examples I'll elaborate on in the next few posts/days to mark & celebrate getting to attend this weekend's Tedeschi Trucks Band shows at the Beacon Theater...so stay tuned!
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