Derek Trucks isn’t your average guitar player. Since his debut album in 1997, he’s built up an enviable back catalogue of stellar studio and live records, winning a Grammy Award in 2009 for Already Free and another for the Tedeschi Trucks Band’s 2012 album, Revelator. Along the way, he’s steadily evolved from jam-band beginnings to spearheading his current road-honed 12-piece line-up, where he shares the limelight with his wife, vocalist and guitarist Susan Tedeschi. The Jacksonville native can also lay claim to being a member of The Allman Brothers Band and Eric Clapton’s touring entourage; all by the age of just 39.
Despite a tumultuous few years both on and off the stage, due to the loss of Greg Allman and long-time friend and collaborator Colonel Bruce Hampton, when we speak, he’s in remarkably good spirits. This infectious attitude is due in part to forthcoming studio album Signs, his fourth under the Tedeschi Trucks Band monicker, which sees him revisit analogue tape for the irst time since the 1990s, accompanied by another world tour which includes sold-out shows at London’s Palladium. Signs again showcases the band’s desire to push the boundaries of roots music, incorporating inluences from Qawwali music and delivering lyrics referencing the current global political landscape.