Trey Anastasio took a moment yesterday during his performance with Trey Anastasio Band at Wanee Festival at Spirit of Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, Florida, to pay tribute to the legendary Allman Brothers drummer and Wanee cofounder, Butch Trucks, who passed away this past January. In an emotional and heartfelt speech, Trey took the time to tell the crowd about being young and looking to being part of a group like the Allman Brothers as a “boyhood dream.”

He then about his experiences playing with the Allman Brothers on the very same Wanee stage in 2014, describing the entire lineup as a “group of musical assassins, all of whom I idolize.”  He continued, “It’s a band that gets a lot of props for having the best guitar players who ever lived. Literally, the greatest singer who ever lived. But when you stand up here and you feel it, you know, like I felt it, there was a guy driving that truck, Butch Trucks. It felt like an eighteen-wheeler going down the street, and I could feel it and I could hear it.”

Trey then went on to talk about Trucks as great guy, mentioning a literal fishing trip that Butch took the members of Phish on, where he told them a bunch of “crazy rock ‘n’ roll stories” and showed himself as a truly kind soul. “My heart is full of love and my heart is full of memories right now,” said the Phish guitarist. Trey then dedicated the next song to Butch Trucks, asking the friends, family, and fans of Trucks to share in a cover of Five Stairsteps’ “Ooh Child.”

You can watch HD videos of Trey’s emotional speech and the band’s cover of “Ooh Child” below, courtesy of Suwannee HD Streams.

Butch Trucks Tribute Speech 

“Ooh Child”