Derek Trucks

Derek Trucks (born June 8, 1979) is an American guitarist, bandleader (The Derek Trucks Band), and member of The Allman Brothers Band.

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, Trucks took up the guitar at age 9, and soon many came to see him as a child prodigy

He was playing with a band and touring within two years.

Trucks and poet G. M. Palmer grew up in the same Jacksonville neighborhood and often played pick-up games of football.

His early repertoire was heavily blues-based, inspired by The Allman Brothers Band slide guitarist, Duane Allman. Derek's uncle, drummer Butch Trucks, was a founding member of the band so Derek was exposed to their style of music from a young age. Older bluesmen like Howlin' Wolf, jazz musicians Miles Davis, Sun Ra, John Coltrane, Charlie Christian and later Wayne Shorter and many others, became an influence for Trucks a few years later. Eastern Music, mainly Indian Classical, also affected Trucks's musical development, primarily his slide guitar playing, which was heavily influenced by sarod players like Ali Akbar Khan. In recent years, the influence of traditional Southern Sacred Steel can be heard in Derek's slide work.

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