The Tedeschi Trucks Band are a band on another level, a twelve-piece rock and soul band that create the most wonderful sonic tapestries going in today’s modern music industry. Now, how you get to a twelve-piece band only they will know, and how you decide that twelve is the magic number and not eleven or thirteen I’ll never know, but these twelve make the most beautiful music.
Their latest undertaking I am The Moon sees the band split its release across four separate releases and Derek Trucks explains when looking at some of his favourite recordings, The Jimi Hendrix Experience and Axis: Bold As Love, he says “It’s 36 minutes long, that’s the way to digest a record” and he’s not wrong. This modern world is an absolute killer for musicians far and wide. If we think back to the days of LPs, vinyl where you had to be dedicated, actually turn on your record player, unsheathe an album, carefully place that recording on your record player and drop that needle and wait to absorb the 5 or 6 songs on the A-side.
That was an experience in itself, today it’s Alexa play, or Hey Google play, the connection is lost, lost In translation, lost in space? Who knows, but the way we access and absorb music now is literally depressing. That religious experience we grew up with is gone for the new millennials, they’re playing labours of love through mobile phone speakers, Alexa speakers, or $10 bluetooth speakers #shootmenow All that effort that bands like TTB slave over, the tone of the guitar, capturing an honest recreation of the vocals, mic choices, studios, producers, mastering all for us to bastardise it at home. Welcome to 2022.
Whilst how we choose to listen to it at home is out of the artist’s hands, what we absorb isn’t. I Am The Moon: Crescent is a Tapas sized portion of this stunning recording to allow you to fully absorb, connect with and understand the love and attention that goes into a recording such as this. Born out of the pandemic, the first instalment explores romantic relationships, collective struggles, faith and the human experience. A collective collaborative project with multiple layers that run deep throughout, the initial piece takes you on a sonic rollercoaster that will keep you on your toes, starting at a canter with the signature sultry sound that Susan Tedeschi’s voice is infamous for, it lures you in, builds up in layers and leaves you breathless. You get uplifted and carried through this musical journey along with the members of the band who poured their heart and soul into every nuance across a glorious 36-minute masterpiece.
I Am The Moon: Crescent is available now:
TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND PREMIERE
I AM THE MOON: CRESCENT – THE FIRST OF THE BAND’S EPIC 4-ALBUM AND 4 COMPANION FILM SERIES
Tedeschi Trucks Band — the revered, GRAMMY-winning, twelve-piece rock and soul band headed by Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi have premiered I Am The Moon: Crescent, the first episode of their epic four-part I Am The Moon album series with an LP length companion visual directed by the noted filmmaker Alix Lambert.
An immersive audio-visual experience, the film serves both as a companion piece to Crescent — and as a collective first listen experience for the band and fans alike before the album is released in stores and on digital platforms later this week, Friday, June 3rd.
What began as a pandemic related writing exercise transformed into a career defining artistic statement as TTB reimagined Layla and Majnun, the mythic Persian tale of star-crossed lovers through a modern-day lens: grappling with grief, fate, and romance as a way to process the emotional and isolating effects of the era.
Featuring I Am the Moon’s affecting title track and the project’s lone instrumental called, “Pasaquan,” I Am The Moon: Crescent was borne of riffs and ideas developed collectively at the Trucks’ family farm in rural Georgia and their home studio in Jacksonville, FL. Across its five tracks, I Am the Moon: Crescent traverses life and love through a robust tapestry of blues, funk, country, jazz and gospel: the perfect introduction to the grand saga that Tedeschi Trucks Band have in store over next few months.
In this new thrilling and creative chapter for TTB, the four albums that comprise I Am The Moon — I. Crescent, II. Ascension, III. The Fall, and IV. Farewell — will be released in successive months beginning with I. Crescent, available June 3rd digitally and on CD. (All vinyl configurations, including individual LPs and the 4-LP I Am The Moon Deluxe Box will be available on September 9th, 2022.)
In addition, each installment of I Am the Moon features its own album length companion film that will debut three days prior to each audio release. The films present the music communally online in an unbroken chain. Full film and audio release dates below.
Pre-order I AM THE MOON HERE and watch the project trailer HERE
The concept behind I Am The Moon, the band’s fifth studio recording, was suggested by TTB vocalist Mike Mattison in May 2020, two months after the band was forced off the road by the pandemic. Layla & Majnun was the title inspiration for Derek and the Dominos’ Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs – an influential album for TTB. Written collectively and collaboratively, by January 2021 the band was recording I Am The Moon at Tedeschi and Trucks’ home studio, Swamp Raga, in Jacksonville, FL, with Derek behind the soundboard as producer and long-time studio engineer Bobby Tis in charge of recording and mixing.
The limited-edition, I Am The Moon Deluxe Box Set, including all four albums in the I Am The Moon series on 180g black vinyl, plus additional special items, will be available September 9th, 2022 — order EXCLUSIVELY through the TTB store and the Fantasy Records store.
Tedeschi Trucks Band have extensive tour dates planned for 2022. See below for the complete list. For ticket information, please visit tedeschitrucksband.com.
TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND – I AM THE MOON: ALBUM + FILM RELEASE DATES:
I Am The Moon: I. Crescent
Film Premiere: May 31st
Album Release: June 3rd
I Am The Moon: II. Ascension
Film Premiere: June 28th
Album Release: July 1st
I Am The Moon: III. The Fall
Film Premiere: July 26th
Album Release: July 29th
I Am The Moon: IV. Farewell
Film Premiere: August 23rd
Album Release: August 26th
I Am The Moon – All Vinyl Configurations: individual LPs + the 4-LP Deluxe Box
Available September 9th, 2022.
Tedeschi Trucks Band:
Susan Tedeschi: Guitar and Vocals
Derek Trucks: Guitar
Gabe Dixon: Keys and Vocals
Brandon Boone: Bass Guitar
Tyler Greenwell: Drums and Percussion
Isaac Eady: Drums and Percussion
Mike Mattison: Guitar and Vocals
Mark Rivers: Vocals
Alecia Chakour: Vocals
Kebbi Williams: Saxophone
Ephraim Owens: Trumpet
Elizabeth Lea: Trombone
Tedeschi Trucks Band Tour Dates
June 24 Jacksonville, FL Daily’s Place Amphitheater
June 25 Mobile, AL Mobile Civic Center
June 26 Tuscaloosa, AL. Tuscaloosa Amphitheater
June 28 Indianapolis, IN The Amphitheater at White River State Park
June 29 Detroit, MI Fox Theatre
July 1 Canandaigua, NY Constellation Brands – Marvin Sands
Performing Arts Center
July 2 Gilford, NH Banks of New Hampshire Pavilion
July 3 Saratoga Springs, NY Saratoga Performing Arts Center
July 6 New Haven, CT Westville Music Bowl
July 8 Philadelphia, PA The Mann Center for the Performing Arts
July 9 Essex Junction, VT Midway Lawn
July 10 Patchogue, NY Great South Bay Music Festival
July 12 Lewiston, NY ArtPark
July 13 Cincinnati, OH PNC Pavilion at Riverbend
July 15 – 16 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre
July 19 Vienna, VA Wolf Trap
July 20 Richmond, VA Virginia Credit Union LIVE!
July 21 Raleigh, NC Coastal Credit Union Music Park
July 23 Charlotte, NC PNC Music Pavilion
July 24 Huber Heights, OH Rose Music Center at The Heights
July 26 Aurora, IL RiverEdge Park
July 27 St. Louis, MO Fabulous Fox Theatre
July 29 – 30 Morrison, CO Red Rocks Amphitheatre
August 18 San Diego, CA Cal Coast Credit Union Amphitheater
August 19 Los Angeles, CA The Greek Theatre
August 20 Berkeley, CA The Greek Theatre
August 23 Sacramento, CA Sacramento Memorial Auditorium
August 24 Eugene, OR Cuthbert Amphitheater
August 26 Auburn, WA White River Amphitheater
August 27 Bend, OR Hayden Homes Amphitheater
August 28 Reno, NV Grand Sierra Resort & Casino
August 31 Boise, ID Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical Garden
September 1 Bonner, MT Kettlehouse Amphitheater
September 3 Moorhead, MN Bluestem Center for the Arts Amphitheater
September 29 – Oct 8 New York, NY Beacon Theatre
October 17 Copenhagen, DK. Amager Bio
October 18 Copenhagen, DK Amager Bio
October 20 Randers, DK Vaerket
October 21 Oslo, NO Sentrum Scene
October 22 Stockholm, SE Annexet
October 25 Berlin, DE Verti Music Hall
October 26 Hamburg, DE Edel-optics.de Arena
October 27 Prague, CZ Forum Karlin
October 30 Rotterdam, NL RTM Stage
November 2 Dublin, IE The Helix
November 4 London, UK The London Palladium
November 5 London, UK The London Palladium
November 6 London, UK The London Palladium
November 9 Manchester, UK Manchester Academy
November 10 Glasgow, UK O2 Academy Glasgow
November 12 Paris, FR Le Trianon
November 13 Paris, FR Le Trianon
November 15 Paris, FR Bataclan
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