As Tedeschi Trucks Band continues to entertain fans with the Fireside Sessions series, local Boston ABC affiliate WCVB went for a look behind the scenes of the livestreams. In a recent story in which the outlet interviewed Susan Tedeschi, it was revealed that the frontwoman and TTB have been paying the salaries of the band and road crew throughout the entire pandemic despite the fact that they have remained sidelined.
Despite not playing in a live venue since an appearance at Love Rocks NYC at The Beacon Theatre in New York on March 12th, 2020, Tedeschi and her husband/bandmate Derek Trucks have managed to keep the entire Tedeschi Trucks Band operation afloat. Luckily, the band had some emergency funds stashed away which allowed them to keep the 25 members of their road crew on the payroll for the past year. As they approached the one-year anniversary of the pandemic shutting down live music, TTB launched the Fireside Sessions series from Derek and Susan’s Jacksonville, FL home to supplement the emergency fund.
“I knew a lot of people were doing live streaming kind of stuff, and all these different things, but we wanted to do something that was really kind of high-quality for our fans,” Tedeschi told WCVB’s Ted Wayman. “Something fun to do to give people the idea that: ‘Hey, we’re still here, even though you haven’t seen us live.’ But it gives some of our fans something to look forward to, and also an opportunity to try and raise some money to keep continuing to pay the band.”
With Tedeschi Trucks Band still off the road for the foreseeable future—its next show is slated for June 26th in Jacksonville, rescheduled from 2020—the Fireside Sessions remains the band’s primary lifeline to fans, as well as fans back to the musicians.
“People just need live music,” Tedeschi said. “You know, it’s been so hard, so we just wanted to do something just to connect with people and give them something to look forward to.”
The six-part Fireside Sessions series comes to a close on Thursday. To purchase the stream, head over to Nugs. Check out Live For Live Music‘s coverage of the Fireside Sessions episodes one, two, three, four, and five. Watch the full WCVB report below.
Mass. native Susan Tedeschi continues to pay salaries of band, road crew throughout pandemic
[Video: WCVB Channel 5 Boston]