Chris Trucks' life steeped in music, family
Music is all around Chris Trucks.
One son, Derek, is the leader of the Grammy-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band and is widely regarded as one of the best slide guitar players in the world. Another son, Duane, is the drummer for Widespread Panic, a jam band that sells out shows wherever it plays, including three St. Augustine performances later this summer.
Chris is also the brother of the late Butch Trucks, who is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band.
Growing up with an older rock-star brother had its ups and downs, Chris said. He and his wife, Debbie, were there at the Riverside house when the Allman Brothers Band first formed and were at many of the band’s now-legendary shows. They were on hand for the Fillmore East shows in New York that were recorded for the band’s “Live at Fillmore East” album.
Derek said music was always playing in his home when he was a kid.
“My love of music came from their love of music,” Derek said. “I think for my dad, that was his religion. He would talk about seeing Duane [Allman] and Dickey [Betts] at the Fillmore and he’d get chills talking about certain shows. That’s where my appreciation for music came from, he really shaped that.”
Chris himself isn't much of a musician. “I have no clue how they got it,” he said of his sons' talent.
“He played enough guitar to serenade my mom with Bread tunes,” Derek said. “He’s the one who taught me, but I haven’t seen him pick up a guitar in 15 or 20 years.”
"I never saw my dad sit down behind a set of drums," said Duane.
Chris grew up in Jacksonville and attended Landon Junior High and Wolfson High School. When some friends got in trouble, Chris was shipped off to relatives in Kansas to finish high school. That’s where he met Debbie. The couple moved back to Jacksonville after graduation — without, at first, telling her parents — and found work in a pillow factory, where Chris made $1 an hour — “and I was the man in charge.” They’ve been married for 47 years.
TIME FOR LAUNCHING CAREERS
Chris spent most of his career as a roofer, which allowed him to take time off to help his sons launch their careers.
When Derek, the oldest of the couple’s four children, was around 8 or 9, he began bugging his father for a guitar. Chris wasn’t real anxious to feed his son’s passion.
“I said ‘we’ve got one musician in this family, we don’t need another one,’” he said.
Derek wasn’t to be deterred, though, and saved up to get a guitar on his own.
“Everything I know, he learned in 30 minutes,” Chris said.
Within a few years, Derek, then a preteen, was leading his own band. Chris was there, booking shows, driving the van and keeping an eye on him.
“He has a really low tolerance for [BS],” Derek said. “I remember a few times along the way where, I didn’t know it was happening, but he’d point out that he didn’t like the way I was walking lately. It really hurt my feelings, but he was right.”
Chris also encouraged his son during those early days.
“He’d come up and say ‘twice, I cried twice tonight.’ That was always what you were after,” Derek said.
When Derek was 14 or 15, his dad took a job tearing off a roof in Macon, Ga., between shows. He took Derek on the job with him. “That’s when I realized I need to practice more often,” Derek said.
Once Derek was old enough to travel without him, Chris left the road and went back to roofs. He quickly found that he didn’t miss it. “Derek asked if I’d like to come sell merch for him and get off the roofs,” Chris said. “Hell yes.”
Duane said his parents didn't push him into a career in music but they stressed that he would have to work hard to make it in whatever field he chose.
"We didn’t grow up with money," Duane said. "He really taught us the value of work and how to really apply yourself to something to provide for you and yours. He always said that if you’re passionate about this, if you love this, I’ve got your back. But you have to do the work. I’m really glad that I had a father that was supportive of me becoming a musician."
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Those years on the road with his dad paid off for Derek, who turned 40 last week. He led his own band for many years and also played in the Allman Brothers Band and spent a year touring with Eric Clapton's band. He formed the Tedeschi Trucks Band in 2008 with his wife, singer/guitarist Susan Tedeschi.
"Eric Clapton and Carlos Santana both sat us down and said Derek was the best they'd ever played with," said Debbie Trucks.
Meanwhile, their youngest son, Duane, was a rising star on drums. He said "Pops" was always there to help him find shows and to get him where he needed to be. He and his Dad didn't always agree on music — Duane is a big fan of Black Sabbath and metal bands, Chris' favorite guitar player is Dickey Betts — but Duane said his Dad always supported him.
"He hated the fact that I loved pro wrestling, but when it came to town, he’d take me to see pro wrestling," Duane said.
Duane started playing with Widespread Panic in 2014 and Chris and Debbie now make an annual trip to the band’s Halloween shows.
He and Debbie both now travel with the Tedeschi Trucks Band, at least for U.S. dates like the Wheels of Soul Tour that kicks off June 28 at Daily’s Place.
Debbie watches her grandkids, ages 14 and 17.
Chris runs the band’s merchandise table. “I don’t shy away from being Derek’s father,” Chris said. “It really sells the merchandise.”
Chris and Debbie now live a few doors down from Derek and Susan.
Another son, David, also lives in the area and works for the band. The couple's daughter, Lindsey, also lives in Jacksonville.
“That’s what allows us to keep doing what we’re doing now,” Derek said. “It is a small village down here and that’s what it takes.”
Chris, 66, is preparing a celebration later this month for his father, who turns 100.
“I’ve had quite a life,” said Chris. “If I died tomorrow, I’d die happy. It’s been a great life.”
Tom Szaroleta: (904) 359-4548
SEE THE TRUCKS BOYS
• Tedeschi Trucks Band, with Blackberry Smoke and Shovels & Rope, 7 p.m. Friday, June 28, at Daily's Place. $45.75-$149.50.
• Widespread Panic, 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 2, and Saturday, Aug. 3; 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 4, at The Amp, St. Augustine. $59.50-$74.50.