Made Up Mind – Tedeschi Trucks Band

Review by ~ Shawn Perry

It’s cliché to say how today’s music isn’t as deep and heartfelt as it was back in “the day” (whichever day that was). Then again, you can’t ignore the resurgence of roots music—thanks to the huge success of Mumford & Sons and The Lumineers.

But if you want musicians who can play their instruments, touch your soul and rock out, Tedeschi Trucks Band’s Made Up Mind (2013) drives it home right to your sweet spot — an album confection of blues, soul, country, bluegrass and rock that helps you savor some genuine music played from the heart.

Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi bring a youthful exuberance mixed with an old-school sensibility to the record’s 11 songs. The title track, which opens the album, is a perfect example of a song driven by a Cream-like riff set, pumped up full of rhythm and blues, which highlights Tedeschi’s smooth, sultry gin-soaked vocals and Trucks’ hypnotic slide guitar work. Left curves lie ahead as the band cuts sharp into the confident blues of “Do I Looked Worried?,” tiptoes through the breezy, pastoral, almost jazzy sway driving “Idle Wind,” then gets down and funky on “Misunderstood.”

 

But wait – there’s more unexpected fun ahead. “Whiskey Legs” starts off as another funk-inspired back-scratcher that snaps and crackles with a digestible groove. Bringing the festive mood down a notch or two, “It’s So Heavy,” “Sweet and Low” and the acoustic blues finale “Calling Out to You” wield inescapable trancelike powers that bring you to your knees.

Tedeschi may be the best rock and blues singer since Bonnie Raitt, and these songs capture the essence and profundity of her spectacular voice. Merge in the purr of Trucks’ electric and acoustic slide guitars (such an integral ingredient of his other project, The Allman Brothers Band’s current sound, of course, but given an expanded platform here) and the songs breathe easily, busting with verve and humanity. Simmered and brewed at the real-life couple’s Swamp Raga studios in Jacksonville, Florida, Made Up Mind brings home its cargo of authenticity and becomes as accessible and moving as the beloved classics of yesteryear.

TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | YOU TUBE | MADE UP MIND | AMAZON | ITUNES

SHAWN PERRY | VINTAGEROCK.COM | FACEBOOK

Made Up Mind - TEDESCHI TRUCKS BAND
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