I'd like to see what Derek Trucks sees when he closes his eyes.
The humble guitar hero is known to close his eyes during a solo to focus inward and tune down outward distractions. I like to think a line-up of blues greats in grainy black and white flashes with each stroke of his slide. Or that scale charts realign into encrypted puzzles that only Derek can decipher with his playing. Or maybe he sees the soul of a man broke down, redeemed, and risen anew all in the time span of his solo.
With his mild mannered stage presence, we might never be able to tell, but Trucks paints pictures with a sound that is dirty and raunchy, assertive and confident, funky and soulful while remaining tight, concise and focused, all without the use of any equipment tricks, pedals, or effects.
On Roadsongs, the second live album from the band, recorded over two nights in April of 2009 at Chicago's Park West Theater, the music is aware and alive, living and breathing in the city that birthed the modern electric blues. On tour in support of Already Free (which would go on to win a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album, beating Derek's wife Susan Tedeschi who was also nominated in the same category) the band sounds like a aural action figure out to save the world, wielding only an arsenal of instruments.
Already Free, The Derek Trucks Band's sixth studio album since forming in 1994, was a unified statement for the band, solidifying the myriad of influences and styles into a cohesive, balanced, and thoughtful record that still rocked and grooved. The well crafted songs lift their own weight, but are elevated further by the tight, unified playing and skilled musicianship.
Coming off the success of their best album as a band, the tour to support the Already Free, as documented on Roadsongs, shows the band at a creative peak. Derek Trucks clearly leads but is supported by the driving rhythm section of Todd Smallie and Yonrico Scott, with copious additions from Kofi Burbridge on keys and flute. Mike Mattison's gritty vocals extend the emotion of the sound in a more human way, beyond the reaches of the instruments.
The range of The Derek Trucks Band is astounding. They do Americana - rocking the basement with Dylan's "Down in the Flood"; building, destroying and remaking Coltrane jazz standard "Afro Blue"; gliding through a reggae breeze on Bob Marley's "Rastaman Chant" and coming back home to Big Bill Broonzy's blues in "Key to the Highway". The horns of Paul Garrett on trumpet, Mace Hibbard on sax, and Kevin Hyde on trombone are a welcome addition. Allen Toussaint's "Get Out of My Life Woman" gets funked up and down here, with the horns adding some Louisiana to the stew, and eventually sliding into Jimi Hendrix's "Who Knows" before re-circling to their starting point.
The live work of a band defines who they are.
Roadsongs tells us this about The Derek Trucks Band: The Derek Trucks Band knows the blues. They know it is more than just Chicago or the Mississippi Delta; it is more than a defined structure, meter, or key; more than a time or place. It isn't sad and static, rather the blues is an acknowledgment of each others burden of life. The blues is an honesty, shaped by people (some musicians and some not) who are able to sing the struggle with a smile on their face.
When I close my eyes, I see Derek Trucks smiling.
