The Derek Trucks Band

The Derek Trucks Band was an American blues rock group 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. Led by Trucks and loosely based in his family home in Jacksonville, Florida, the band generally consisted of six members. The band drew 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 six studio albums, two live albums, and a live DVD. 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. The band's eclectic sound is a way for Trucks to explore his own creativity alongside his role as a guest, and eventually a permanent member, in The Allman Brothers Band. History 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." The next year, in 1995, Smallie was followed by drummer Yonrico Scott, who initially filled the role of percussionist, as well as drummer, completing the band's first cohesive rhythm section. Scott began learning to play the drums when still a very young child. Originating in Michigan, with a Motown influence, he graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.A. Degree in percussion performance. His songwriting collaborations with other band members appear from their first eponymous debut album in 1997, followed with Out of the Madness in 1999, and have continued to date. Scott has been playing with Trucks for over 17 years as of 2009. According to Trucks: "We've developed a kind of 'musical ESP'..