For a Good Cause

Susan Tedeschi will perform in Princeton to benefit Special Olympics New Jersey.

By: Susan Van Dongen
   When you’re a guitarist on tour with Eric Clapton and "Slowhand" calls for an unscheduled rehearsal, you drop everything and go — even if it means breaking the promise that you’d baby-sit.
   That’s what happened to Derek Trucks on a recent weekday morning. He and singer-songwriter Susan Tedeschi, his wife of five years, were having a pleasant but busy morning together. She and her band are also on tour, supporting her latest release, Hope and Desire (Verve Forecast), so she was trying to give some interviews, preferably without interruption from 4-year-old Charlie and 2-year-old Sophia. That was Mr. Trucks’ duty — watch the kids while Mom talked to the media.
   Then Clapton called. Dad left.
   "They’re fine, they’re watching ‘Spy Kids,’" Ms. Tedeschi says during a phone conversation. She does have to break away, once to talk Sophia out of eating something off the floor, then to let Charlie know she was almost done. "Derek’s out with three bands this year, I have my band — it’s hard to keep things together, especially with the kids."
   The two musicians have managed very well in the last few years, however, and both of their careers have flourished. Mr. Trucks is in the midst of an incredibly busy year. In addition to releasing the Derek Trucks Band’s first DVD, Songlines Live, he’s toured as the lead guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, and now is playing slide guitar for Clapton’s tour.
   For the first time, the husband-and-wife bands are also touring together, and will make a stop in Princeton to play Richardson Auditorium Oct. 25. The concert will benefit Special Olympics New Jersey, a nonprofit that provides year-round competition and sports training to more than 15,000 New Jerseyans with intellectual disabilities. It’s the second year for the benefit concert.
   Hope and Desire, Ms. Tedeschi’s fourth album, is a substantial departure, presenting the artist in the role of interpretive vocal stylist. She sets her originals aside — as well as her own fiery guitar work — and puts a soulful spin on songs drawn from such diverse sources as Ray Charles, the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Aretha Franklin.
   "I love to do my own material and create new stuff, but at the same time, there’s so many great songs out there," Ms. Tedeschi says. "What I was really going for was to make a great soul record, and these songs all have soul, in one way or another. They all had different things about them that really stood out for me, and they were all songs that haven’t necessarily been heard by a lot of people."
   "I used to be more focused on blues but this new record shows that I like so many different styles of music — rock, folk, gospel and soul," she continues. "But my approach is still blues or roots-based, so they’ll all have that common thread. It’s a fun record and it was a lot of fun to make."
   The motivation for recording an album of covers initially arose out of circumstance, but Ms. Tedeschi quickly embraced the creative challenge of tackling outside material. She says she had just written some new songs with her band, but then got understandably immersed in family life after the birth of Sophia.
   "I didn’t feel like we were ready to make that record yet," Ms. Tedeschi says. "I’ve wanted to record some old tunes by other artists that I admire for a while and it seemed like the right time.
   "I used to think of myself primarily as a songwriter, but now that I have kids, they’ll just come and jump in my lap and I can’t think about what I’m doing," she continues. "It’s more of a challenge now. I have to figure out how to find some time to be alone and write without being interrupted. I do still write — I just don’t get to finish the songs."
   Growing up in a Boston suburb, Ms. Tedeschi had musical parents, including a mother who did musical theater and a father described as "a huge Dylan fan."
   "My dad played guitar and harmonica and sang and my mom was a singer and actress, so I had great musical roots thanks to my parents, but nothing that was steering me toward a career — more just fun-based," Ms. Tedeschi says. "But I’ve been onstage since 5 or 6, singing in musicals."
   She began singing with bands at age 13 and subsequently pursued her passion for music while studying voice at the Berklee College of Music, performing around the local club scene in Boston. It wasn’t until Ms. Tedeschi began playing clubs that she picked up the guitar.
   "Every weekend, I started to go to blues jams to sit in with friends from Berklee, because they needed singers," Ms. Tedeschi says. "I just started learning how to play guitar and everything I could about these blues artists I’d never heard of. Growing up, I was tortured because I knew I had a passion for music and singing, but I couldn’t find a way to express myself. It wasn’t until I discovered a lot of blues artists — Magic Sam, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Big Mama Thornton, Koko Taylor — that I realized this was what I had been searching for.
   "It really hit home and that’s when I became addicted to guitar," she continues. "I started to play electric guitar and it really changed the way that I approach music."
   After establishing herself as one of New England’s top-drawing live acts, and making her recording debut with the self-released 1995 album Better Days, Ms. Tedeschi had a real breakthrough with Just Won’t Burn (Tone-Cool), which even got her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 2000.
   The careers of both Ms. Tedeschi and Mr. Trucks heated up throughout the last decade and, perhaps to find some quiet place of permanence — a break from the road — they bought a house in Jacksonville, Fla.
   "Neither of us was living anywhere, so we bought a house, got pregnant and then got married," Ms. Tedeschi says with a chuckle. "I think we did it completely backwards. We did everything out of order."
The Susan Tedeschi Band and the Derek Trucks Band will perform at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall on the campus of Princeton University, Princeton, Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $45-$55. Money raised will benefit Special Olympics New Jersey. For information, call (609) 258-5000. On the Web: www.jamforsonj.org. Susan Tedeschi on the Web: www.susantedeschi.com. Derek Trucks on the Web: www.derektrucks.com