WHO: Butch Trucks with the School of Rock AllStars.
Cresskill High School junior Jason Ross, left, will be one of the School of Rock AllStars performing with Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks this weekend.
WHAT: Rock.
WHEN: 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
WHERE: Mexicali Live, 1409 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck, 201-833-0011 or mexicalilive.com.
HOW MUCH: $20.
MORE INFO:facebook.com/butchtrucksofficialpage and schoolofrock.com.
Play music for the love of it and your dreams of rock stardom may come true. Lose yourself in ambitions of being a rock star and the chances are less likely. These are the life lessons that Allman Brothers Band drummer Butch Trucks hopes to impart this weekend to local teenagers from the School of Rock AllStars.
"We never set out to be rock stars," Trucks said of the legendary, pioneering Southern rockers. "We discovered this way of playing that was absolutely new and original, and it was incredible. Every night we would go in different directions.
"If you're there to entertain and try to get a gig with Lady Gaga that's something different," Trucks said by phone. "There's a place for that, and I'm not going to tell the kids what to do. But I will tell them my experiences."
Trucks will spend today talking privately with more than a dozen aspiring musicians from the School of Rock AllStars and perform a set of Allman Brothers songs with the students at a public concert on Sunday in Teaneck.
The students who will perform with Trucks belong to the Tenafly, Montclair and Chatham Schools of Rock, as well as schools from New York and Pennsylvania. They include musicians from Cresskill, Haworth, Norwood and Harrington Park in Bergen County.
The School of Rock AllStars will perform 10 songs with Trucks plus five non-Allman songs on their own. They will rotate onstage, with each student playing at least two songs with Trucks.
Guitarist Jason Ross of Cresskill said the students have spent the past two months intensely rehearsing Allman Brothers classics, including "Whipping Post," "In Memory of Elizabeth Reed" and "Dreams."
Ross, a Cresskill High School junior, said he loves the Allman Brothers' mix of Southern rock, blues and country rock, and penchant for drawn-out, improvisational jam sessions. "I like how they venture into different territories," said Ross, 17. "They are one of those bands that come around once in a lifetime."
Ross said he is also looking forward to hearing Trucks relate his music business experiences. "It's good to hear from someone who's been through the troubles and turbulent times and knows what it takes to be a successful musician," Ross said.
Trucks said the Allman Brothers, who retired last year, learned firsthand the perils of getting lost in their own fame in the mid-'70s. "We were drinking and doing drugs and got away from playing music and turned into rock stars," he said. As a result, he said, the band's music suffered. The Allman Brothers disbanded in 1976 but regrouped by the end of the decade.
The Allman Brothers were known for their annual month-long spring residencies at Manhattan's Beacon Theatre. They played their final shows in October at the Beacon. Trucks said he felt by then that the band had become too predictable.
"It was a lot of fun, but a lot of the nights were getting tedious and boring, playing a lot of the songs in the same arrangements," Trucks said. "If we do re-form, and we very well may, I hope it would be more spontaneous."
Bass guitarist Graham Orbe, 18, of Harrington Park, said Trucks is a selfless drummer who forgoes flash for feel. "He plays for the good of the song and the good of the band," said Orbe, a senior at Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan.
Trucks also had advice for parents whose children want to play drums. He said they should buy their kids a set of drumsticks and a practice pad and wait a year or two before purchasing a full drum set.
"May" vs. "might".
May - they have permission to do so; re-grouping is allowable (by whatever governing or regulating body).
Might - they have/are giving serious thought to getting back together; chances of doing so are favorable.
If you looked up Loose Cannon - you just might see a picture of Butch alongside the definition. 😉
Seriously, though. It hasn't been a year yet, Butch. Like my mama use to say, "give 'em a chance to miss ya!". I realize that there are a lot of fans who would love to see the Allman Brother's Band return, but personally I feel that doing so (especially so soon) would really tarnish the entire "farewell show" vibe. It might even be felt as a dagger in the sides of all of those who took out second mortgages to be in the same room with the band on their swan song. Or was that really just a money grab after all? 
It's their call, though. Just wonder who might be in the ... new(?) band.
[Edited on 3/8/2015 by Rusty]
I think it's clear Butch wasn't quite ready for it to end and this sort of projection is likely to be a lingering effect for years to come
I'll sit back and enjoy the discussion 
I think if they tried to reform they would realize pretty quickly how difficult it will be to put together and coordinate without Haynes there and I have a feeling Gregg just isn't going to want to deal with it. I could be wrong but I don't see them getting back together without Haynes leading the way especially if Butch says he wants it to be even more spontaneous than they were??? Pretty hard to do IMO. Gonna require a ton of rehearsals to get a new group of musicians together and have them gel anywhere close to what the last version of the band was. These guys going to be up to that at this age???
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I think Gregg (like Dickey) has a core group of songs he is comfortable playing and is not interested in being overly spontaneous. What would be accomplished by coming back?
I wonder if all of the interest and $$ surrounding the Dead's regrouping has anything to do with this...
I don't see it happening.
IMO Gregg isn't all that interested
Aside from being the most vocal (choose another word if you like) member of the original lineup, he's the only one without a working band - he would be the most inclined to push for it.
As long as they still have their health I can see them reforming for one off concerts but not sure I believe they will ever be a working band again.
I'll sit back and enjoy the discussion
I'll be joining you Bird 
😛
Who knows with these guys. Butch is probably bored out of his mind now. I Think if they did reform,Their has got to be a "New" studio album created. He was right the band got boring and to be honest I wouldn't mind seeing 2 new guitar players who could actually take time to write and record new songs.
Sure Grandpa Trucks.
And yeah that is funny, it was the guitar players stopping them from writing new music and not the grumpy old drummer who invented the new paradigm for music delivery. Yes Butch, you really reinvented the wheel.
Hey Tony! People 'round here don't take to kindly to pictures of popcorn. 'Specially about their idols.
Just sayin'... 😉
I don't see it happening.
IMO Gregg isn't all that interested
Aside from being the most vocal (choose another word if you like) member of the original lineup, he's the only one without a working band - he would be the most inclined to push for it.
Exactly.
Sure Grandpa Trucks.
And yeah that is funny, it was the guitar players stopping them from writing new music and not the grumpy old drummer who invented the new paradigm for music delivery. Yes Butch, you really reinvented the wheel.
Just saying derek and warren are using the Creative juices for their own bands. I do love how Butch says they got boring,even though he did not want to record another ABB album.
Is this a PhotoShop image? If it isn't ... and if Butch is bored ... maybe he and Marc could get themselves cast in a new version of Chico and the Man. 😉
This is all Susan's Fault.....jus sayin :P....they probably have to ask her permission..... 😉
Sorry couldn't help myself......They could become AT&T Allman Tedeschi & Trucks...then she won't have to just sit in
[Edited on 3/8/2015 by goldtop]
...thats not surprising. After The Who's final,Final tours & Eagles final,Final,finally tours and all the others....of course it'll happen someday. But probably not for awhile,still too soon to talk about it.If they do,it might be best to somehow include Dickey Betts...or not do it at all.
Personally I'm very pleased with the way they went out,but there are a couple of bands I wouldn't mind seeing finalize their legacy...before they're all dead & gone;
Pink Floyd with Roger Waters being one and perhaps the Derek Trucks Band being another...(just to properly end it & say goodbye to the loyal early fans who followed them and give them all one last show to say goodbye like the Allman Brothers Band did.) There are other less popular bands, I'd like to see but prob won't happen like Poco, Quicksilver, the original Savoy Brown (of Hellbound Train)...
[Edited on 3/9/2015 by bettyhynes]
We're all still here, they are all still there and they wanna play music. I see their retirement as an extended vacation, they will be back when they are ready with some new players. That's my opinion anyways.
And here all this time I thought it was Butch that was pushing for retirement!
And here all this time I thought it was Butch that was pushing for retirement!
😮 😉
butch might not have a working band, but he might have been the one that got the most pleasure out of the group. this isn't money or ego. this is a man who LOVED what he was doing and is rightfully having a hard time coming to terms that it's not happening anymore.
the ABB when out with all cylinders firing (maybe minus the recording cylinder - but other 11 cylinders were working fine). this is a rarity in music and sports, or any profession.
so if Butch wants to, I say go for it. It's gotta include Gregg and Jaimoe. I'd be happy with a NYC run in March. Even if it were three bands - GA&F, JJB with a set at the end with Butch.
butch might not have a working band, but he might have been the one that got the most pleasure out of the group.
Very possibly. It is the rest of the players, most importantly the guitarists who tired of this project.
They went out with dignity and grace.
Thank you.
oh..that would be nice..if they all played together again.
There will never be Another Duane Allman though!!
True Betty, he was the seed from which the field of DREAMS flourished and spread out over the land, creating a legacy even bigger than he knew. They changed music, people emulate and imitate them because they created something that had never been done that way before. But Duane had a higher calling, he is Directing the stringed instruments in paradise.
I'll sit back and enjoy the discussion
I'll be joining you Bird
Make room on the couch for me too....:)
