Months before the country’s leading tech titans came out with doom-filled warnings of AI’s potential to destroy civilization, Tedeschi Trucks Band released their sixth studio album, “Future Soul,” anchored by a title track serving as a clarion call to anyone with ears and a smartphone.
“Hope your future’s got soul in it,” Susan Tedeschi wails against the razor-edged guitar of her husband, Derek Trucks. The phrase, repeated like a mantra, makes the case for the musical genre that the couple’s 12-member traveling roadshow holds dear, and for not letting our essence be usurped by the lure of synthetic overlords.
“The idea that all humanity could be wiped out because of our own ignorance is just absurd, but not shocking,” Tedeschi says over the phone from Jacksonville, Florida, on a rare day off at home before the band’s multi-night residency at the Chicago Theatre begins Friday. “There are, unfortunately, a lot of threats that we haven’t thought of yet. It’s a shame that people are wasting their time and precious water and resources on making stuff up that’s not important.”
Tedeschi isn’t immune to doomscrolling, and AI-generated images of her visage find their way into her Instagram feed: “It’s so weird!” the 55-year-old exclaims. The thought of people commandeering her most precious resource — a Grammy-winning voice that can make the blues torchbearers she calls mentors blush — is a real fear, but she takes some comfort in the job security that touring offers. “You can’t really take live performance away,” she says.
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Tedeschi and Trucks were married for almost a decade and had two children before they meshed their successful solo careers to form their namesake band in 2010. They’ve maintained a relentless schedule on the road ever since — not an easy feat with two drummers, a bevy of horn players and multiple vocalists.
“We do it ‘cause we love it,” Tedeschi says, but admits the rigors of schlepping from city to city take a physical toll. The band had to cancel a couple of dates this summer when she had an “appendix scare” that required surgery.
“You’re never in one place very long. I feel like the Buddhists always say, once you move you have to wait for your soul to catch up,” she explains. “I don’t know if my soul has caught up in 30 years.”
The sprawling performances display a madhouse of talent, with songwriting contributors Mike Mattison and Gabe Dixon getting their turns in the spotlight and fans basking in the revival spirit of it all — even if some prefer to do it from a seated position.
The battle between the dancers and the sitters is as integral to a Tedeschi Trucks Band concert as Truck’s elegant slide guitar breaks. “I don’t know the answer … but I don’t think people should get into fights over it,” Tedeschi says with a hint of exasperation in her voice over crowds who refuse to come to a consensus. “My husband is very vocal about it. He’s always telling me, ‘Get on the mic and say something!’ But our band encourages people to dance. My mom comes to my shows and she’s 80, but she’ll stand and she’ll dance a little and then she’ll sit when she’s tired. That’s what you’re supposed to do.”
The responsibility the band feels toward the audience inspired the album art for “Future Soul.” In the comic book-like rendering (made by an artist, not with AI), Tedeschi and Trucks look as if they’re running from an imposing robot stomping through a city as lasers shoot from UFOs in the sky. But the couple, each armed with a guitar, open their clothes to reveal a secret identity. Tedeschi even tosses off her recognizable cat-eye glasses à la Clark Kent to lean into the “trying to save the world vibes.”
The distance between musician and the heroic box office archetype runs shorter than you’d think. “We’re out here trying to make people happy; we’re trying to give them something to look forward to,” Tedeschi says. “So, in a way, it’s like a superhero where you’re trying to bring and add light and love and you’re not trying to destroy.”
The concept started out as a bit of a joke. “Now we’re like, ‘Oh (expletive), is it just for fun?’” Tedeschi says of robots wreaking havoc.
Produced by Trucks and Mike Elizondo, known for his genre-defying work with 50 Cent, Eminem and Carrie Underwood, “Future Soul” is an explosive, if compact, follow-up to the band’s 2022 release “I Am the Moon,” a quadruple album born of uncertainty and unprecedented downtime in the wake of COVID-19.
“Crazy Cryin’” opens with a swampy funk groove that feels immediately part of the band’s DNA, while “Hero” is a full-tilt hard rocker with Tedeschi pushing her vocals to the limit. “I Got You” takes it easy like an Eagles classic. Aided by Kebbi Williams on saxophone, Emmanuel Echem on trumpet, Elizabeth Lea on trombone, Isaac Eady and Tyler “Falcon” Greenwell on drums and percussion, Brandon Boone on bass, and Mark Rivers and Alecia Chakour on vocals, the band chugs along on “Devil Be Gone” with a destination-anywhere disposition.
Visiting Chicago always makes Tedeschi feel grateful that two of the city’s icons — Mavis Staples and Buddy Guy — still command the stage. “We need them both!” she says. Earlier this month, Tedeschi and Trucks, who have known Guy “before we even knew each other,” were part of his 90th birthday celebration at Radio City Music Hall in New York.
“He’s always a thrill to be around. He’s always been really funny. He’s always got great stories,” Tedeschi says. “We’d both do anything for him.”
Janine Schaults is a freelance writer.
If you go
Tedeschi Trucks Band at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 23-27 at Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St.; tickets from $79.75 at ticketmaster.com