Tedeschi Trucks brings intimate Fireside Live tour to Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 18
From a press release:
After 15 months, blues rock guitarist Derek Trucks and his wife, singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi, are returning to the stage this summer with Fireside Live, a special series of performances that includes a visit to the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday, Aug. 18.
They will be joined by varying members of Tedeschi Trucks Band each night, with the total band configuration ranging between four and seven musicians depending on the show. The modified lineup will perform under the name “Tedeschi Trucks” for the first time as a nod to their band members who are unable to join the tour because of the challenging conditions of the current COVID-19 pandemic.
These live appearances will offer a rare, possibly one-of-a-kind experience for fans to enjoy until the extended band can return in its full 12-piece form as soon as safety permits.
Doors at the Kirby Center (71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre) open at 6 p.m., and the concert starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, which are $39.50, $59.50, $69.50, and $99, plus applicable fees, go on sale this Friday, June 11 at 10 a.m.
Due to the pandemic, tickets are only available online at kirbycenter.org, ticketmaster.com, and by phone at 570-826-1100. A Kirby Member pre-sale begins on Thursday, June 10 at 10 a.m. Members can call 570-826-1100 to purchase tickets.
Fireside Live was inspired by Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi’s very successful at-home online performance series from earlier this year, the Fireside Sessions. These shows will be the first fully live public performances for the ensemble since February of 2020 and come on the heels of the recent postponement of their annual summer Wheels of Soul Tour to 2022. Venues will include a mix of small or reduced-capacity outdoor amphitheaters, drive-ins, and pod setups, all of which are COVID-19 compliant and taking precautions to ensure the safety of fans, staff, band, and crew.
The tour kicks off in Jacksonville, Florida with a two-night run on June 11-12, then hits cities across the South and Northeast through the months of June and July.
“We’re really looking forward to getting on the road and seeing everybody’s beautiful faces,” Tedeschi said.
“Getting together earlier this year to record the Fireside Sessions was really re-energizing, and we are excited to play live in front of fans again. As much as we love performing as the full Tedeschi Trucks Band, current conditions just don’t allow for us to do that.”
The decision as to which members will join for each show will be decided week to week, depending on local conditions at the time.
Fireside Live brings to the stage the same intimate window into the band’s creative chemistry that was on display during the Fireside Sessions, which streamed back in Feb-March on nugs.net. Packed with deep cuts, reimagined songs, and several premieres of rare covers and new original songs that the band has been working on during the break, the six-episode streaming series was enthusiastically received for delivering something new and unique each week.
For fans who missed the original broadcasts or want to watch it again, TTB and nugs.net will offer a rebroadcast of all six Fireside Sessions. Fans who originally purchased the six-episode bundle will be able to view the shows for free. Details on the broadcasting schedule for the encore presentation of the Fireside Sessions will be announced shortly.
On Dec. 31, 2008, Trucks and Tedeschi were preparing to ring in the New Year. Married since 1999, these two soulmates, equally steeped in the musical roots of blues, jazz, and gospel, had finally decided the time was right to set aside their successful solo careers and commit to a new band melding their vision and talent. It wasn’t the first time they had collaborated; they had shared a stage countless times and traded album guest appearances, all while starting a family together. But on that night, hitting the stage together with members of the Derek Trucks Band and a guest horn section, they heard the future.
Two years later, the couple debuted the Tedeschi Trucks Band. The nation’s economy was heading into recession. The popular music landscape was filled with technological theatrics and auto-tuned singers. And here were Tedeschi and Trucks, along with their (then) eight-member band, loading up two tour buses and hitting the road with a sound that defied conventional genre boundaries and traditional labels, a gypsy caravan on the rock and roll highway. To call it ambitious was an understatement.
In pursuit of their ideal sound driven by world-class musicianship, Tedeschi and Trucks put together a musical collaborative like no other, flying in the face of any practical or economic considerations. There have been evolutionary changes to the band along the way, but the freight-train force of veteran drummers J.J. Johnson and Tyler Greenwell were there from the start, along with two brilliant Trucks Band veterans to amplify the rhythm section – Kofi Burbridge with his prodigious talent on keys and flute and Mike Mattison with his dynamic vocals and songwriting skills. A three-piece horn section brought on for studio work proved indispensable to the group’s sound and became a permanent addition, now composed of Kebbi Williams’ intergalactic saxophone, Ephraim Owens on trumpet, and Elizabeth Lea on trombone. Industry-renowned bassist Tim Lefebvre (David Bowie, Elvis Costello, Sting) joined in 2013, and two years later, a third incredible voice, Alecia Chakour, was added to the background vocals provided by Mark Rivers and Mattison, each more than capable of delivering a stirring turn as a lead vocalist.
During their five-year rise, the group toured incessantly, raising their profile and being handpicked to play with the likes of Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, and Santana. On the road for upwards of 200 days a year, the TTB family has grown strong, bonding over backyard BBQs and long bus rides, all the while developing a growing repertoire of original material and paying homage to an extensive canon of influences ranging from Sly & the Family Stone, Miles Davis, and George Jones to Joe Cocker, Nina Simone, and even Indian sarod master Ali Akbar Khan. Embracing improvisation over convention and setlists rarely repeated, the collective is adept at exploring almost any musical territory. The genuine respect within its ranks is evident on stage. Trucks’ masterful guitar skills and Tedeschi’s soaring vocals and bluesy guitar shine but don’t overpower the breadth of talent, happily yielding the spotlight as needed in service of what the song deserves.
Their uncompromising vision has paid off. Now 12-members strong, and with a catalog of studio and live albums and over a decade of steady touring in the U.S. and abroad, Tedeschi Trucks Band carries a distinguished reputation earned from both audiences and critics as one of the premier live bands in the world. Sold-out multi-night runs at venerable venues like the Beacon Theatre, Ryman Auditorium, and Red Rocks Amphitheater are a testament to the can’t-miss concert experience fans have come to anticipate. The band’s own Wheels of Soul Tour has become a sought-after summer experience from promoters across the country, bringing TTB’s unique stew of upbeat rock and soul together on stage with a slew of guests, sit-ins, and supporting bands that have included the late Sharon Jones, Los Lobos, The Wood Brothers, and Hot Tuna. They also have the TTB-curated Sunshine Music Festival, hosted each January in their home state of Florida.
It’s clear that the leaders have no intention of slowing down now. As Trucks remarked to Mark Maron on his “WTF” podcast, “I haven’t found this band’s ceiling yet.” For the Tedeschi Trucks Band, there may not be one.
