Tedeschi-Trucks Band to Tour Florida with Dr. John and a Slew of Blues Greats

Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi

How great is this? Grammy award winning Florida blues phenoms Tedeschi-Trucks band are announcing 3 dates in Florida this winter, where they will headline among some seriously ass-kicking supporting bands. Tickets go on sale Saturday. 

They are calling the tour the "Sunshine Blues Festival." The tour dates are:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 18 – FT. MYERS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 19 – BOCA RATON

SUNDAY, JANUARY 20 – ST. PETERSBURG


The St. Pete and Boca Raton shows show will include New Orleans Blues Legend Dr. John!

Also playing at the touring Festival: contemporary guitar legend Walter Trout (formerly with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers); Louisiana slide wizard Sonny Landreth; Allman Brothers drummer Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band; The Wood Brothers (featuring Chris from Modeski, Martin & Wood and his well-known singer/songwriter brother Oliver); award-winning British blues guitarist Matt Schofield; the driving force of urban funk, Big Sam’s Funky Nation; Florida guitar favorite Bobby Lee Rodgers; multiple Grammy and Blues Music Award-winner Joe Louis Walker; the no-frills blend of Chicago, Texas, and Delta blues guitarist Sean Chambers.

Tickets are $49.50 and go on sale this Saturday, Oct. 6, at 10 a.m. All shows are general admission. You can get your tickets at www.livenation.com, all TicketMaster outlets or charge-by-phone at 1-800-745-3000. .

Here's what the promoters say:

"Featuring two stages of live bands, the Festival will make its debut at Centennial Park in Fort Myers, Friday, January 18, 2013, with music starting at 12:30PM. Then, Saturday, January 19, 2013, with music starting at 11AM, it comes to Mizner Park Amphitheater, Boca Raton in South Florida and finally Sunday, January 20, 2013, with music starting at 10:45AM, at Vinoy Park, St. Petersburg in the Tampa Bay Area.

"It has been an amazing year for the Tedeschi Trucks Band, or TTB, as their loyal fans prefer to call them. In February their album Revelator won the Grammy Award for “Best Blues Album.” Then in July they dominated the Blues Music Awards (formerly the WC Handy Awards) where they won not only Album of the Year, but also took home trophies for Band of the Year, Gibson Guitar Award (Derek Trucks) and Contemporary Blues Female Artist (Susan Tedeschi). True to Truck's promise, the album delivered a collection of blues-dipped rockers and heart stirring ballads in which the echoes of so many great traditions flowed together naturally, blending with an entirely original, modern sensibility. Critically acclaimed as a 4 Star "masterpiece" by Rolling Stone magazine and simply "Outstanding" by USA Today, Revelator broke into the Billboard Top 200 chart at #12, bringing both artists to their highest first week sales and charting of their careers.

"Their second album, Everybody's Talkin' is a double live disc recorded on the band's fall tour last year. Tedeschi Trucks Band is an 11-member ensemble overflowing with talent and musical familiarity. In addition to Susan Tedeschi (a six time grammy nominee) and Derek Trucks (who is currently #16 on Rolling Stone’s list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time) the band includes harmony singers Mike Mattison and Mark Rivers, brothers Oteil Burbridge (long time bassist for the Allman Brothers Band) and Kofi Burbridge (longtime keyboardist/flutist with The Derek Trucks Band), a pair of drummers J. J. Johnson and Tyler Greenwell, as well as trumpeter Maurice Brown, tenor saxophonist Kebbi Williams, and trombonist Saunders Sermons."

 What a great way to start 2013.