Tedeschi Truckin': August concert adventures and new friends

Lots of shows including Charley Crockett, John Fogerty, Jason Isbell, The Band of Heathens and the Tedeschi Trucks Band

From left, Shawn, Brittnie, Bill and me at the Broadway Oyster Bar in St. Louis after the Tedeschi Trucks Band show.

It was a little after 11 p.m. when Bill innocently suggested heading over to the Broadway Oyster Bar for a little post-concert live music to finish the night.

Four hours later, I was exhausted, stuffed, maybe a little disoriented … and without question wiser for the time.

When I first made it a mission in life to see more live shows, I didn’t expect to meet so many new friends, including a truly unique individual like Bill. And I definitely didn’t think I’d have an adventure like the night of the Tedeschi Trucks Band show at the Fox Theater in St. Louis. I may not meet someone new at every show, but sometimes — like that night in St. Louis or a couple weeks later at Danenberger Family Vineyards in New Berlin, Ill. — I meet several new and interesting people.

Bill is my friend Brittnie’s dad. My regular readers and State of Amorica buddies may remember Brittnie from when she surprised us by showing up to the Black Crowes show in Chicago after Shawn and I had first met her at the Evolution Festival in St. Louis. Bill, who works at legendary St. Louis blues and party joint BB’s, could fill volumes of books with his knowledge of the St. Louis music scene. He’s instilled his love of music into his daughter, and for four hours he imparted as much of that knowledge as he could on Shawn and I … plus an impromptu tour of St. Louis libraries and other landmarks.

But that show was only one of FIVE I saw from Aug. 1 through Aug. 17. Here’s a look at all five, beginning with the Tedeschi Trucks adventure.

Tedeschi Trucks Band, Fox Theater (St. Louis), with Margo Price

The beautiful Fabulous Fox Theater in St. Louis.

This took a lot of life rearranging to make happen — a show in St. Louis on a weeknight and a hotel stay with concert buddy Shawn — which made the end-of-the-night adventure all the more satisfying.

But this show wasn’t without its problems. Though the Fox Theater is one of the most beautiful I’ve been in, from where we were on the left-hand side the sound was the worst I’ve experienced at a major show — particularly on the main vocals. And, it was dark — at times it was difficult to see the different band members on stage.

Margo Price opened for Tedeschi Trucks Band.

I had only first listened to opener Margo Price in the days leading up to the show and liked what I heard a lot. But she seemed to take the worst of the sound problems — I couldn’t understand a word Price was singing. Her strong, classic country voice sounded like it was coming from the bottom of a well.

Tedeschi Trucks is a 12-piece band in the spirit of Joe Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen, with some Allman Brothers mixed in. Derek Trucks, who is the nephew of Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks and himself played slide guitar with the Allmans for many years, is considered one of the finest slide players.

Trucks did not disappoint. I’ve seen close to 50 mostly guitar-based acts in the last year-plus and Trucks ranks along with Marc Ford, Luther Dickinson and The Steepwater Band’s Jeff Massey as the best guitar performers I’ve witnessed.

The band’s primary singer is Susan Tedeschi. Her voice is so strong — stealing a line from State of Amorica host David Hudson — it could cut through a Category 5 hurricane. She fared better than Price as far as being able to hear her, but it still wasn’t easy to make out lyrics. And when she talked, it was garbled.

It’s hard to highlight everyone in a 12-piece band, but drummers Tyler Greenwell and Isaac Eady played off each other well and keyboardist/vocalist Gabe Dixon shined in particular on a version of the Allman Brothers’ “Dreams” that would have had Gregg, Duane and Dickey nodding their heads in approval.

The Tedeschi Trucks Band.

The other highlights were one of my favorites, “Hear My Dear,” and also a cover of Wet Willie’s “Keep On Smilin’,” which never fails to bring happy tears to my eyes.

One of the real treats of the show was the guitar interplay between Trucks and Tedeschi, who holds her own with Trucks on some beautiful guitar harmonies.

Shawn and I stood for the whole show, but we were the only ones in our section who did — disappointing for a band the caliber of Tedeschi Trucks.

Post-show

Me, Brittnie, Bill and Shawn in the lobby of the Fox Theater.

In the lobby, Shawn and I found Brittnie and met her dad, Bill, for the first time. The conversation eventually moved outside, and included Black Crowes talk between Brittnie, Shawn and I in which we broke down our group love/hate relationship with them.

That’s when Bill set us up for a night of adventure.

“Hey, let’s go over to the Broadway Oyster Bar for some more live music,” he said. “I’ll drive.”

I looked at Shawn. We both had to be up somewhat early to head back, but … what the hell? We both shrugged and said, “Yeah, sure.”

Shawn, Brittnie and some woman from Philadelphia who had been at the Cardinals game earlier in the night with her husband.

After some detours for Bill to show us city highlights and tell some stories, we arrived at the Broadway Oyster Bar, grabbed drinks and settled in to watch a couple guys playing guitar, along with an interesting cast of characters in the crowd. Brittnie requested the Black Crowes … they didn’t play them. But we still sang along and had a fun time.

I think these guys are Steve Bauer and Matt Rudolf — Rudolf can really play.

From there, it was time to get some late night eats — Bill said the best place to go was The Buttery, so off we went … with more detours and stories. Bill told SO MANY great stories that I’d need to hang out with him multiple times for them all to sink in. Brittnie certainly knew the stories … .

We finally arrived at The Buttery. I’ve been to some greasy spoons, but this was the greasiest. There was only one man working, and he had a gun on his hip. It took a long time to get waited on, and even longer for the food, but it was worth it — nothing better than late night breakfast food!

By the time Bill dropped us off at our hotel, it was 3 a.m. … and Bill was ready to keep going.

— With Shawn, Aug 4

Charley Crockett, The Factory (Chesterfield, Mo.) with Nat Myers

The Factory in Chesterfield.

Crockett has released two albums so far in 2024 — both excellent — and after a positive review from fellow State of Amorica Patreon Ryan Oleskey from Crockett’s Seattle show, I decided to head to St. Louis to check him out.

Crockett looks like an old-time country music singer and much of his music is traditional country, but there’s also plenty of blues, soul and folk mixed with a heavy dose of New Orleans. And even within traditional country, there’s a lot of ground to tread and Crockett’s feet don’t stay still.

Charley Crockett and the Blue Drifters.

Crockett uses various musicians on his records, but mostly members of his live band — the Blue Drifters. Kullen Fox is the standout, playing some fine honky tonk piano and also picking up the trumpet at times as he’s playing the keys.

Crockett performed for two hours to a big, enthusiastic crowd — not quite sold out, but close. The highlight was one of his best songs from his new album, “Getting Tired Again,” with particularly spirited singing and playing.

I tire a little of “lone player with a guitar” as the opener, but Nat Myers is highly talented — I’d love to see him with Crockett’s band.

This was my first show at the Factory, and while the sound wasn’t bad, the floor is huge — unless you’re on the rail or in the first few rows behind, your view won’t be close or unobstructed by other fans. I got a spot on what was called the “premium deck,” which was at the back of the floor and one foot off the ground. The balcony was also set far back — it didn’t have that feel of hanging above the stage a proper balcony has. For the Allman Betts Family Revival in December, I’m just going to have to get there early and find a spot on the rail.

— Alone, Aug. 1

John Fogerty, Family Arena (St. Charles, Mo.) with Hearty Har and George Thorogood

From left, me, mom (Sandy), Aunt Pam and Uncle Mike.

I really did not expect this show to be as high-quality as it was. Fogerty is 79 and Thorogood is 74, but both gave energetic performances and sounded fantastic.

Though Fogerty has been performing Creedence Clearwater Revival songs live since the 1990s, he went close to 20 years without playing them out of protest that he didn’t own the songs. Only in the last year has Fogerty, for the first time in his life, gained ownership of the songs he wrote as a member of CCR.

John Fogerty jamming out with his sons, Tyler and Shane. I think that’s his wife (and Tyler and Shane’s mom), Julie, taking photos to their right.

Fogerty is happy about that. He’s playing with his sons, Tyler and Shane (who are also part of opener Hearty Har), and his wife, Julie — a major force in getting his songs back — sat proudly offstage.

That joy showed through in Fogerty’s performance as he ran around the stage, jumped, blew the harmonica and showed off his guitar chops, complete with a Van Halen-like intro for one of his songs. He played several types of guitars and told a story about the Rickenbacker he played for much of his time with CCR that he gave away, and eventually got back many years later and played at the show — though his guitar of choice seemed to be a Gibson Gold Top.

Early in the show, Fogerty announced he’d gotten ownership of his songs back and he was going to play “every last one of them.” He didn’t, but he did most of the hits plus some of his solo material and a couple deeper CCR cuts like “Effigy” and “Keep on Chooglin’.”

A big draw to this concert was going with my mom, aunt Pam and uncle Mike. I’ve been listening to CCR with Mike since I can remember. At one point, my mom turned to me and said, “This is awesome. We’re watching a legend.” I felt the same way.

CCR and Thorogood were both big parts of my teenage years. Thorogood always sounded like an old guy, so his voice isn’t significantly different. His backing band (the Destroyers) was great as well — it would be fun to hear Thorogood and Destroyers do a night of blues songs that weren’t his hits. Thorogood also had a lot of fun with the crowd, flirting with women up front. He said to one of them: “Leave the key under the backdoor mat … only you and I know if I’m joking.”

This was my first time at the Family Arena, which is basically a hockey facility. But the sound was fine, and the view from front row balcony seat was nice — even though these seats didn’t leave near enough leg room.

— With Mom, Aunt Pam and Uncle Mike, Aug. 10

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Illinois State Fair (Springfield, Ill.) with Ashley McBryde

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at the Illinois State Fair … as the large screen behind the band says.

For 21 of my 50 years, I’ve lived within 40 minutes of Springfield, been a big fan of fair food and rides, and, of course, live music. But somehow, I’d never been to the Illinois State Fair.

After stuffing down fried food and a lemonade shakeup, I met up with several friends who were also there to see Isbell, including two of my oldest most tenured friends Mike and Elizabeth, and also longtime work friends Allison and her husband Adam, and Clay and his wife Leslie.

I’d never heard of opener Ashley McBryde, and while her brand of country isn't my favorite, she put on an entertaining show. She had a song about bras, and women were throwing their bras on the stage. McBryde was picking them up, throwing them around and putting them on over her clothes. Hey, if she’s connecting with the audience, that’s a good thing.

My main issue with the McBryde portion of the night wasn’t her, but an extremely uncomfortable chair and a view that wasn’t what I’d envisioned. I decided to walk around a little and ended up finding my way down to the track and only about 10 or 12 rows from center stage for Isbell. The track, which is graded slightly, wasn’t the most comfortable surface for my back and feet, but it was better than that chair, and the view was great.

I like but don’t love Isbell’s music. He won me over with the live show, though the slower, more depressing songs still didn’t connect with me live (I noticed those were the ones the rest of the audience seemed most into). But this was a rock show, and even after bringing everyone down with “Cast Iron Skillet” as the penultimate song, finishing with “This Ain’t It” — my favorite song from his latest album, 2023’s Weathervanes — was the perfect choice, and the band did it justice complete with jamming and guitar harmonies. Isbell is a better guitar player than I gave him credit for, and he has a great partner in Sadler Vaden as the 400 Unit’s other guitarist.

— Alone, Aug. 11

The Band of Heathens, Danenberger Family Vineyards (New Berlin, Ill.) with Edward David Anderson

The Band of Heathens performs at Danenberger Family Vineyards in New Berlin.

When GPS took me to what looked like someone’s farm house off a gravel road, I grew skeptical of what this show was going to be like.

Circumstances caused me to get to Danenberger Family Vineyards — my first time at the venue — about 45 minutes before the tickets said doors opened. There was no one there and it didn’t look anything like a concert venue.

I went inside, found a large, white dog laying on the floor and a young bartender who got me a glass of the vineyard’s wine, asked what kind of music The Band of Heathens played and said she didn’t figure there would be much of a crowd considering it was the final weekend of the state fair. That didn’t sound promising.

I began wandering around the inside part of the facility, which included a bar, several random areas of seating, a kitchen serving Mexican food and an indoor stage/concert area.

Outside featured more seating and areas to explore leading up to a table where the crowd was cut off from watching the outdoor stage being prepared for the show. We were told The Band of Heathens arrived 4 1/2 hours late — we could hear them during sound check as they did a song they didn’t do during the show (“Girl With Indigo Eyes”), so that turned out to be a cool bonus.

While it was by no means sold out, the bartender’s prediction of light attendance was wrong. It turned out to be a crowd of music lovers from all over the region. I met a couple from Antioch who loved the band and were also big fans of JJ Grey & Mofro and Blackberry Smoke.

I also met Beth and Dottie from St. Louis. Beth had surprised Dottie with the trip, and Dottie didn’t know who they were seeing until she walked in the door and saw “The Band of Heathens” on the sign. It was the first time for both seeing the band, and it was a joy experiencing the show with them.

It was also fun to meet up with my cousin Matt, who lives in New Berlin and had been to Danenberger several times. Matt wasn’t familiar with The Band of Heathens before this, but this performance and experience converted him.

Edward David Anderson, right, enjoys taking the stage and performing with The Band of Heathens.

While waiting to get in, I spotted a man wearing a Steepwater Band shirt. I shouted, “I love The Steepwater Band! Those are my guys.” He responded, “Any friend of The Steepwater Band is a friend of mine.”

About an hour later, when we were seated in our lawn chairs, the opening act came out and … it was the guy wearing the Steepwater shirt — Edward David Anderson. Anderson’s songs had interesting lyrics, strong vocals and the addition of a percussion instrument that added depth to his sound.

Following his set, I approached Anderson and found out a little more about him. Anderson is from Bloomington and, along with his wife Kim Anderson, runs the Black Dirt Music label and books the music at Destihl Brewery, where I’ve seen both The Steepwater Band and John Prine tribute The Illegal Smiles. Anderson has known the Steepwater guys for years and played with them multiple times with his band, Backyard Tire Fire.

Anderson has a solo album coming out next month — he’s having album release shows at the Normal Theater on Friday, Sept. 20, and HeyNonny in Arlington Heights on Saturday, Sept. 21.

The Band of Heathens at the Danenberger Family Vineyards in New Berlin.

This was my second time seeing The Band of Heathens and, like the first show, I planted myself on the rail and the band sounded even better than the first time I saw them at the Castle Theater in Bloomington last year. It was an idyllic night for outdoor music, and even though there was a nice crowd of a couple hundred, it felt a little like a bunch of friends in someone’s backyard who just happens to have a stage and a top-notch band playing on it.

Things were going great on the rail until — and you’re not going to believe this — a man right behind me started playing a harmonica. He was playing along with the song and sounded like he knew how to play, but … NO. The hardest no. It’s rude to the other spectators and, especially, to the band. If they had wanted you on stage, they would have hired you. I shot some looks back, and looked at the others around me, but there didn’t seem to be any support for group action. Eventually, I decided the best bet was to find a new spot to watch the show.

I took a break in my lawn chair by Matt, who had made friends with the people next to him, who were from New York — they traveled to the Midwest to follow the band on tour.

The band gave notice they didn’t mind stretching some songs out when they invited Anderson on stage for “You’re Gonna Miss Me.” “Look at Miss Ohio” remains a highlight live. They surprised by finishing with “Night Moves,” which thrilled Dottie, who has seen Bob Seger more than 20 times.

It was a tough tour for The Band of Heathens. Their first show was canceled by a hurricane, and their bus broke down during the tour — blown engine with a $3,000 repair price. But after the show, the band’s Ed Jurdi talked to fans from the stage and said to expect new music soon —a full album — from The Band of Heathens and Hayes Carll, known as Hayes & the Heathens. From there, they plan on getting in the studio in October to start making a new The Band of Heathens album.

Danenberger is everything you’d want out of a rural setting — lots of space, serene and picturesque — plus good food and selection of drinks. I’ll be back, and also look forward to seeing shows inside the venue.

— With cousin Matt, Aug. 17