They also join in the New Year’s Eve festivities in Oakland with Grateful Dead alumni Phil Lesh & Friends and Bob Weir’s band, Ratdog. Known for their incessant touring, the Derek Trucks Band have hit the road hard since the beginning, and this ye

ar has proven no exception. For the first half of 2001, the band shared a co-headlining tour with Eric Johnson & Alien Love Child.

After that gig, they slowed down just a bit and played several shows over the summer.

As a nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks, it was almost inevitable that Derek showed an interest in music. He picked up the guitar at age nine and quickly showed his prowess with the instrument, joining the Allman Brothers on stage by age 12.

Trucks ventured out and formed his namesake band while still in high school. In the few years they’ve been together, the group can boast of playing alongside Bob Dylan, Buddy Guy, Chuck Leavell, Leftover Salmon, Widespread Panic, and of course, the Allman Brothers.