The Derek Trucks Band

The Derek Trucks Band
L to R: Mattison, Trucks, Smallie, Burbridge (Scott, rear)
Background information
Origin	Jacksonville, Florida United States
Genres	Southern rock, blues rock, jazz rock, soul rock, world music, jam rock
Years active	1994–2010 (hiatus)
Labels	Columbia, Legacy, House of Blues
Associated acts	Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Allman Brothers Band, Susan Tedeschi, Scrapomatic
Website	www.derekandsusan.net, The Derek Trucks Band.com
Members	Derek Trucks Todd Smallie Yonrico Scott Kofi Burbridge Mike Mattison Count M'Butu
Past members	Bill McKay Javier Colon

The Derek Trucks Band is 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.

The Derek Trucks Band was founded by Trucks in 1994, with the introduction of Todd Smallie, an Atlanta jazz and blues-based musician playing bass guitar. As the first to join him, Trucks has said he feels that he's "kind of grown up with him."