The Daily Cardinal had a chance to speak with vocalist Mike Mattison of the Tedeschi Trucks Band before they embarked on a lengthy tour.
Before Mattison joined the Tedeschi Trucks Band, he was the lead singer of the Derek Trucks Band. But in 2009, band leader and lead guitarist Derek Trucks put the band on an indefinite hiatus, leaving Mattison in the dark as to what was coming next.
“We knew Derek wanted to work with Susan and we tried something similar,” Mattison said. “A kind of melding [the Derek Trucks Band and the Susan Tedeschi Band] together a few years before that, the Soul Stew Revival, and this time, the conception had been talked about a little bit more and it wasn’t just kind of a throw-and-go thing. The transition was just like any transition. There were some lumps and bumps but generally it was pretty smooth.”
With 11 people already in the band, one might think that adding another into the fold would be a near impossible undertaking. However, the band often breaks out its Rolodexes for special collaborations.
Last month’s Beacon Theatre run was no exception, as former The Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts, Doyle Bramhall II, Lee Fields and others helped out over the course of their three night run.
“It’s very unspontaneous, it’s thought out and you figure out who you would be interested in having because you want to make it interesting for the audience and not just your normal day-to-day show,” Mattison said. “We talk about material beforehand and work it up, but you never know, you can do all the planning you want but it is music, so you just make sure that you’re prepared and the band’s prepared and hopefully the guest is prepared—and if they are not, then you take long sound checks and there’s no choice but to make it work.”
This past summer, while still hitting its normal festival circuit, the band embarked on a lengthy co-headlining tour with The Black Crowes.
“I said to the Robinson brothers at the end of the tour, ‘That was the most fun I’ve had on a tour,’ or at least touring with another band,” Mattison said. “I think we had a lot to learn from those guys, they are very down to earth, very cool, their whole organization is so welcoming, and you forget they are bona fide rock stars.”
And while the band has been charging full speed ahead over the past year, it has been without founding member and The Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge since October of 2012 when he cut back his yearly touring schedule. Since then, the band has used a variety of very accomplished bass players to fill in.
“For now we have Tim Lefebvre playing bass with us, at least this fall and this tour,” Mattison said. “We just played with [Eric] Krasno, but he just has a million things going on, he’s got his own band, his own record coming out, he’s a crazy producer, he’s got the Soulive and Lettuce stuff, so we were just glad he could come out with us and I hope he will be back.”
Though the band is on the road constantly, Mattison is always grateful for the time he gets to spend back at home.
“I live in Georgia, outside of Atlanta and have a family, and so you have to kind of check in, and apologize every time I come home,” Mattison said.
But time off the road is not necessarily free time as Mattison is always working on something.
“I also have my own band called Scrapomatic, so we’re doing some writing and recording and we are actually in the studio right now,” Mattison said. “I’m also doing a record that’s coming out under my own name probably next year and there’s a lot of work on that, so there’s always something going on.”
When he is on the road, Mattison is always on the lookout for great places to eat.
“The drummers and myself, and Derek and Susan, like to go out and explore the food when we’re in places and now it’s at the point where we look at the calendar and think ‘Hmm, what are we going to eat here? What are we going to eat there?'” Mattison said. “I really like to eat in Maine—when we get to Maine it turns into a competition to see who can eat lobster the most meals in a row.”
While the band has toured around the world, Madison is always a great place to play for Mattison, who grew up in Minneapolis.
“We would always road trip down to ‘Mad town’ as we called it back then, to visit people’s older brothers and sisters, and I’m very familiar with Madison. I think it’s a terrific town,” Mattison said. “I’ve always had a great time there and I’ve always left feeling good.”
The Tedeschi Trucks Band is set to play at the Overture Hall in the Overture Center for the Arts Oct. 15 at 8 p.m.
