Tedeschi Trucks Band Plans to “Date a Bunch of Bass Players”

Oteil Burbridge has a long history with guitarist Derek Trucks, starting with the Allman Brothers and later with the Tedeschi Trucks Band.

So when Burbridge announced he was taking a break TTB last October, it was a bit of a surprise.

In a recent interview with Premier Guitar, Trucks shared that Burbridge had reached the point where he didn’t want to be on the road as much.

“…This was something we’d been discussing for a long time,” the guitarist shared. “Once he realized how much we were going to work and how it wasn’t going to be a short-lived project, it became time for him to take a break. My thinking always in a band is that you have to be fully in. It was not an easy transition, in the sense that you have all this momentum going and then you have to find a new bass player. That role is pretty big, especially with Oteil—he’s a serious player.”

When TTB returned to the studio to record their latest effort, Made Up Mind, they recruited four different bass players. Pino Palladino contributed on the most tracks (five), along with Bakithi Kumalo (two tracks), Dave Monsey (two tracks) and George Reiff (one track).

When asked if the bass chair would be a rotating spot or permanent one, Trucks told Premier Guitar that it is going to be permanent – eventually.

“When the situation with Oteil went down, we said half-jokingly, ‘Let’s pretend we just got out of a long relationship. We’ll date a bunch of hot-ass bass players and then we’ll settle down,'” Trucks said with a laugh.

So if you’re looking for a new gig, you might want to try to get TTB’s attention.

Just try not to get hurt.