For Melody Trucks, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree when it comes to making music. As the daughter of late Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks, she got a later start in the family business than cousin Derek, who began playing as a pre-teen. In a recent interview in Florida’s Sun Sentinel, Melody admitted to being a musical ‘late bloomer.’
“I started my first band when I was 45 years old,” she said. “I never thought I was going to do this. But after dad passed, I felt like it was time for me to do something for myself. It’s been very healing.”
Trucks is a lifelong student of music. Being born into a musical family, she was surrounded by incredible musicians from the start. She began studying flute at the age of 7, but expanded to all woodwinds as she progressed through high school. She switched to percussion in college, studying ethnomusicology with a focus in Balinese and Brazilian music. While she did sing occasionally with her brother, Vaylor Trucks of the Yeti Trio, it was not her main focus. After deciding to surprise her father by singing at an open jam hosted by Hub Chason at the Bradfordville Blues Club in Tallahassee, Melody was invited to tour with his latest group, Butch Trucks and the Freight Train. The Melody Trucks Band emerged as a way for her to carry on the legacy he began, as well as a way for her to voice her own musical ideas.
After touring with Butch Trucks and the Freight Train, the younger Trucks immersed herself in the increasingly rich and diverse music scene in Jacksonville. The Melody Trucks Band came together in early 2017 as she encountered each member within this extended musical family. Their individual styles and influences run the entire span of every music genre—rock, blues, jazz, funk, classical, country, thrash metal, and even world music. This has culminated in fresh and unique interpretations of iconic songs from the genre of Melody’s extended family.
In addition to Melody Trucks on vocals and percussion, the group includes Westbrook (slide guitar), Brady Clampitt (guitar/vocals), Isaac Corbitt (harp), Willis Gore (guitar), Shane Platten (bass/vocals) and Shaun Taunton (drums).
The Melody Trucks Band will be appearing on Aug. 11 at The Space at Westbury Theater, 250 Post Ave., Westbury. Visit www.thespaceatwestbury.com or call 516-283-5566 for more information.
