A dream gig for the Tedeschi Trucks Band

For those of us who were astonished by the talent of Norwell’s Susan Tedeschi when she was playing local venues like the bygone Atlantic Grill in Hull, the Yard Rock in Quincy or the Ranch House in Marshfield, where 40 or 50 people constituted “a good crowd,” the fact that the Tedeschi Trucks Band is headlining Boston’s TD Garden next Wednesday is a head-spinning moment.

This week we caught up with Tedeschi’s husband and partner in the TTB, guitarist Derek Trucks, to talk about this benchmark concert as well as the celebration of the 25th anniversary of “Just Won’t Burn,” the album on Newton’s tiny Tone-Cool Records that was her national breakthrough.

Right after the Boston show, the TTB will be headlining New York’s famed Madison Square Garden, and then next month they’ll head to Japan, where they start off with four consecutive nights in Tokyo.

Perhaps the big news last week was that the TTB will be joined by a special guest during the Boston set. Warren Haynes, leader of Gov’t Mule and Trucks’ former guitar partner in the Allman Brothers Band, will be sitting in with his longtime friends.

“Warren is excited to come hang with us,” said Trucks from the couple’s home near Jacksonville, Florida. “We knew we wanted to try and have a few friends show to make these big arena shows unique, and we’ve known Warren was coming to Boston for a while. We just thought, ‘Who would be fun to reconnect with?’ Obviously, Warren’s and my connection through the Allman Brothers Band is pretty unique, and he was free and is happy to be coming up there.

“It is not lost on us that our band playing TD Garden is pretty incredible,” Trucks said. “The reason we decided to do it this year is partly because of the 25th anniversary of Susan’s record, and also because it has always been a definite goal of her to play that building. We like to take a chance of some kind every year. We’ve gone from community theaters to small arenas, and it has been fun to see venues of every size.

"There may be some we start out with just 10% of their capacity, but then we start filling them up. We’ve seen every side of the business that way, small clubs to small theaters, mid-size arenas and so on. Our Boston dates recently have been multiple nights at The Orpheum Theatre, but we thought the time was right to step it up.”

Susan Tedeschi's auspicious beginning

Before he’d even met his future wife, Trucks had been touring with his own jazz/blues-oriented Derek Trucks Band, and word in the music scene began circulating about this Massachusetts female singer/guitarist whose new album was remarkable.

“I definitely heard about her while on the road with my band,” said Trucks. “I can remember one night a bandmate and I had a double date with two girls we’d met, and all they could talk about was having seen Susan Tedeschi a night or two before, and how good she was. Our dates went nowhere because that’s all we talked about.”

“Not long after that, we realized we’d been playing the same venues, and when we did get together we’d compare schedules and see we’d been missing each other by a day or two at a lot of these places,” Trucks recalled. “But then in 1999-2000 when I was with the Allman Brothers Band, she was opening for us and I got to know her, just as ‘Just Won’t Burn’ was catching fire. She won some best new artist awards, and was suddenly a big deal. I was lucky to be there to see all that happening, and that can be difficult to navigate for people. But the best thing about Susan is that she’s never changed. She really is the same person she’s always been. I’ve always said that I married up.”

More: Norwell's Tedeschi, Marshfield's Geraci earn Blues Music Award nominations

All this time later, Trucks is still impressed with “Just Won’t Burn” (which is being reissued), the way it introduced Tedeschi to the national audience, and the way her talent shone through.

“Susan was around a lot of great musicians at that time,” he remembered. “She had Double Trouble (Stevie Ray Vaughan’s old rhythm section) touring with her on the B.B. King Blues Festival lineup. Jimmie Vaughan was also on that tour and would regularly come out and sit in with her. Nobody had seen anything like her before, and just to see the way the real old-time stars like Little Milton and B.B. himself treated her − like one of the old guard − was really something.

"And to see how audiences responded to Susan and her music. Many people were sleeping on her ability as a guitarist, but I never was. Our friend (the late) Col. Bruce Hampton used to say, ‘I don’t know why anyone would ever want to take a solo after her.’ I get the same feeling playing with her today. When somebody really rings the bell, and operates at that level, it is both challenging and inspiring to play music with them.”

More: Concert review: Norwell's Susan Tedeschi delivers 'invigorating' show for hometown crowd

Very little turnover for 12-piece Tedeschi Trucks Band

Tedeschi previously told us that the model for the TTB was the classic Mad Dogs & Englishmen group that backed Joe Cocker in 1970, with Leon Russell as bandleader. But in the modern music business, the reality is that keeping a 12-person group busy and happy means a lot of touring. Yet the TTB has very little turnover, and the dozen top-notch musicians are a happy family, from all indications.

“We try to make it as much fun as we can,” said Trucks. “We were able to become good friends with Leon Russell. We were talking about him the other day, and also about when we were out on tour with Willie Nelson, and how awesome it has been to know them both. We understand we have to keep this thing rolling along, and those guys and their history? Those are shoes that can never be filled, but we like to try and keep a little bit of that spirit alive. We have a band with 12 people who challenge and inspire us every night. And as skilled as they are, they all know one of the biggest skills is knowing when to step away and do nothing. B.B. was all about phrasing and time, and knowing when to leave a little space in the music can be the best skill to have.

“We’re thinking a lot about what our set list will be for Boston,” Trucks confided. “We will be digging into some of our older stuff, learning and relearning those old parts. We know how much this concert means, and we are going to gear up and really make it count.”

The Tedeschi Trucks Band concert at the TD Garden in Boston is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, with Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real opening. Tickets cost $35 to $99.50 through Ticketmaster. Check tdgarden.com for more information.

Upcoming concerts on the South Shore and beyond

THURSDAY: A big night for country music, with twangy popster Sammy Rae at Roadrunner; Old Dominion at TD Garden; and hot new duo Muscadine Bloodline at Royale. Rocker Marshall Crenshaw is celebrating 40 years in showbiz − catch him at The Spire Center. The Harlem Gospel Travelers, a superb soul trio, at The Narrows Center. The pop of Boy Pablo at The House of Blues. Hip-hop and pop with Macklemore at MGM Music Hall. The Astronomers harmonize at Café 939. Cold Cave rocks The Paradise Rock Club.

FRIDAY: The exquisitely talented Rhiannon Giddens at The House of Blues. Tega and Sara sing at Roadrunner. Punk rock with Jawbreaker at MGM Music Hall. Easton native Kerri Louise tops a bill of female comics at Foxboro’s Rodman Theater. Hardcore punk with Fiddlehead at Royale. Four in a Row heats up The C-Note. The Prog-ject − a band that celebrates prog-rock classics from Yes, Genesis, ELP and more − at The Spire Center. Reggae star Clinton Fearon & The Naya Rockers with Aldous Collins at Soundcheck Studios. World-renowned blues guitarist Walter Trout blazes at The Narrows Center. Folk singer Antje Duvekot at Club Passim.

SATURDAY: Four Sticks, a Led Zep tribute, at Soundcheck Studios. The Gratefuls return to shake up T he C-Note. Pink Talking Fish − with the music of Pink Floyd, Talking Heads and Phish − at The Paradise. The blues of the Racky Thomas Band at The Next Page. Country singer Russell Dickerson at MGM Music Hall. Soul and R&B with Vanessa Collier at The Narrows Center. Aussie house music producer Dom Dolla at Roadrunner. Folk star Cheryl Wheeler at Circle of Friends Coffeehouse. Blues guitarist Paul Nelson, who has played with a long list of stars, brings his own band to The Spire Center. Songsmith Kris Delmhorst at Club Passim. The new-grass sounds of Devil Makes Three at Royale. Popster Lauren Sanderson at Brighton Music Hall.

SUNDAY & BEYOND: Sunday afternoon’s Rhythm Room Afternoons show features disco revivalists Booty Vortex. Sunday night, Toad the Wet Sprocket is at Memorial Hall in Plymouth; The Breeders rock The House of Blues; Maine songsmith Bay Ledges appears at Brighton Music Hall; indie rocker Ani DiFranco is at The Cabot Theater. Monday, look for boygenius − the supergroup of three female songwriters − doing two nights at MGM Music Hall; rapper Ashnikko plays Roadrunner; and Aussie emo rocker Dean Lewis performs at Royale. Tuesday, the Old 97s rock Royale; English soul band Jungle hits Roadrunner; Matt & Kim sing at The House of Blues; and hard rocker Henry Rollins brings his acclaimed spoken word show to The Narrows Center. Wednesday, the British rock of Royal Blood at Roadrunner; jazz/blues titan Eric Johnson is at The Narrows Center; and the Tedeschi Trucks Band uncorks its first headlining gig at the TD Garden with special guest Warren Haynes and opening act Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real.

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Tedeschi Trucks will be rolling into Boston