On his own role filling the shoes of the Allman Brothers Band:
I’ve been thinking about that a lot, you know. In some ways, I started thinking about it when we did the Mad Dogs and Englishmen thing, and then Leon (Russell) passes and we had been spending a lot of time with him and that music. And then B.B. King passing…By the end of his life, B.B. was really outwardly talking about passing torches and making sure that music keeps rolling…and with someone like B.B., you’re like, ‘Yeah, no one’s taking your place either. I hate to break it to you.’ He’s such a singular character.
But then when Butch’s thing happened, it became really crystal clear. Yeah, there’s not going to be another Allman Brothers show. That is done now. It’s it. We played a few Allmans songs the following week as a tribute to him, and you realize at some point, that music needs to be played when the time is right. At least, that spirit needs to be alive and well.
When the thing with the Colonel happened, you start thinking…It’s kind of your role and your job to keep that spirit and that musical ethos rolling, and it’s daunting if you think about it too specifically that way. But then you step back and go, ‘We’ve all been groomed for this. This is what we’ve done for our whole lives.’ Sitting in with the Allman Brothers at 9 and 10 years old, and being a part of Bruce’s nucleus since I was 12 or 13. This stuff is engrained in you. You really don’t have to do anything differently. You just have to be conscious of it and keep doing it.
Another Bruce thing, he was like, ’80 percent of it is just showing up.’ You’ve just got to do it, you know? I do think a lot of people tap out when the energy gets too strong or it gets too hot or you start thinking about it maybe too macro and it feels like too much. But I think the beauty of all those guys and the music they played is that you just get up and do it. Shooting from the hip is kind of what made all that stuff so great in the first place.
Those influences and those lessons you learned along the way, they’re not going anywhere. They’re a part of your DNA at this point. I think, just by continuing to hit the road and putting as much energy as you can into what you’re doing, I think that becomes your role.
And you know, the perception and the torch bearing aspect, that’s kind of what happens to you. It’s not necessarily something you decide to take up. It’s kind of put on you. And you either keep charging along or you crumble under the weight of it. But I’m not worried about that. When I hear Susan sing or I see the way she plays, or I look around the bandstand at our group, this is what these people do. It’s no different than breathing or raising your kids or other things. This is what we were trained and groomed to do for 20, 30, 40 years for some of the people in the band.
But you know, it is something, it definitely crosses your mind when you see all of your mentors and heroes and contemporaries either slowing down or stopping, and it’s a weird feeling, I guess for me, to start on the road at 9, 10 years old and you’re always the youngest guy in the room, so everyone’s a teacher and a mentor. Everyone you’re surrounded with, there’s something to learn from, and at some point, you blink and you look up across the stage and you realize there are people ten years younger than you on stage. That was a weird feeling for me, the first time it dawned on me like, ‘You’re not the kid here anymore. You better get your shit together.’
On the path ahead for Tedeschi Trucks Band:
To be honest, we just did a European tour that was about a month long, and it was more of a grind that the previous four or five months, playing wise and traveling wise. We had a few weeks off and we’re about to gear back up and reset, and I think it was a good time for a break.
I think with the weight of the year, and this was before the Bruce thing went down, I think everyone needed a little time to breathe and process things.
It’s not a straight line, the trajectory of things cruising along musically. There was a bit of a bump in the road in the middle of the European tour, and by the last two or three gigs, we kind of got back on track, which felt good.
(After playing Jacksonville and Orlando last weekend), we hit the studio for about a week. It’s the band reconnecting and kind of reflecting on what the fuck is going on in the world and what just happened, and I think that’s where we need to be. There’s a long road in front of us and there’s a lot of work to do this year, a lot of touring ahead of us.
We have to make sure we know who we are and what the point is, and what part of the storyline we’re a part of, whether you ask for it or not. There are certain things you have to honor, and there are certain things you have to blast through and destroy.
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