Derek Trucks started his first band at the age of 12. Since then he has gone on to play alongside the legendary Allman Brothers and front his own group
Age isn’t too important in music these days.
But when you’re Derek Trucks and you released your first album at 17 and joined the Allman Brothers Band at 19, age is worth noting.
Trucks grew up eating, sleeping and breathing guitar. He formed his first band at 12. Todd Smallie, bassist and vocalist of the Derek Trucks Band, met a 15-year-old Trucks in 1994. A year later, drummer Yonrico Scott joined, completing the band’s rhythm section. The band has a free-form eclectic style that incorporates jazz, blues, rock, Latin and other world music into its sound.
The Derek Trucks Band released its self-titled debut album in 1997 and followed it up with 1998’s Out of Madness. In 1999, Trucks was given an extraordinary opportunity: he was asked to play slide guitar with the legendary rock outfit, the Allman Brothers Band.
While playing alongside omnipresent guitarist Warren Haynes, bass extraordinaire Oteil Burbridge, as well as Gregg Allman and original drummers Jaimoe and Butch Trucks, Derek’s uncle, he keeps his band going. In 2000 and 2001, Trucks played more than 365 shows between the two bands.
While Trucks balanced two bands, the Derek Trucks Band released two albums in two years: Joyful Noise in 2002 and Soul Serenade a year later.
After spending this summer with the Allman Brothers Band, which included a stop at Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival and a tour with fellow jammers moe., Trucks is taking his band on an extensive tour of the East Coast and Midwest, with some shows in The Netherlands and Germany. Saturday, the Derek Trucks Band plays the Recher Theatre in Towson. Doors open at 8 p.m.; tickets are $20 plus a $3 cover charge if under 21. For more information, call (410) 337-7178.
