Susan Tedeschi
A powerhouse vocalist and guitarist, she leads the Tedeschi Trucks Band, creating a modern soul-blues empire with her husband that revives the spirit of the great American rock caravan.
Born 1970 (age 56)·American blues musician·Birthday: November 9·Generation X
Biography
Susan Tedeschi arrived not as a nostalgia act, but as a full-throated, guitar-slinging force who made the blues feel urgently present. Boston-born and Berklee-trained, she fused a reverence for gospel and blues giants with a rocker's energy. Her early solo work, marked by her searing voice and stinging Telecaster licks, earned Grammy nominations and a fervent following. The true paradigm shift, however, came with her personal and professional union with slide guitar virtuoso Derek Trucks. Merging their bands, they formed the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a sprawling, 12-piece musical collective that operates like a family. On stage, she is the magnetic center—part preacher, part bandleader—her voice a flexible instrument of grit and grace. The band's albums, recorded in their own home studio, are rich tapestries of original songwriting that channel the best of Delaney & Bonnie, Stax soul, and Allman Brothers-style jams, proving the timelessness of roots music when handled with this much heart and horsepower.
Generation X
1965–1980
The latchkey kids. Raised during divorce, recession, and the end of the Cold War. Skeptical, self-reliant, media-literate. They invented indie culture, grunge, and the early internet — then watched the Boomers take credit.
Susan was born in 1970, placing them squarely in the Generation X. The events that shaped this generation — economic uncertainty, the end of the Cold War, and the rise of personal computing — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Susan Was Born
The biggest hits of 1970
#1 Movie
Love Story
Best Picture
Patton
#1 TV Show
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
Susan's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1970Born
First Earth Day; The Beatles break up
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $17,000Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Bridge over Troubled Water" — Simon & GarfunkelBest Picture: Patton
1975Started school
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1983Became a teenager
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1986Could drive
Challenger disaster; Chernobyl nuclear meltdown
Gas: $0.86/galHome: $66,600Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"That's What Friends Are For" — Dionne & FriendsBest Picture: Platoon
1988Could vote
Pan Am Flight 103 bombed over Lockerbie
Gas: $0.90/galHome: $74,800Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Faith" — George MichaelBest Picture: Rain Man
1991Turned 21
Soviet Union dissolves; World Wide Web goes public
Gas: $1.14/galHome: $82,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" — Bryan AdamsBest Picture: The Silence of the Lambs
2000Turned 30
Y2K passes without incident; contested Bush-Gore election
Gas: $1.51/galHome: $119,600Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Breathe" — Faith HillBest Picture: Gladiator
2010Turned 40
Deepwater Horizon oil spill; iPad launched
Gas: $2.79/galHome: $147,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Tik Tok" — KeshaBest Picture: The King's Speech
2020Turned 50
COVID-19 pandemic shuts down the world
Gas: $2.17/galHome: $248,800Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Donald Trump"Blinding Lights" — The WeekndBest Picture: Nomadland
2026Age 56 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Formed the Grammy-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band with her husband, Derek Trucks, in 2010.
- Her 1998 album 'Just Won't Burn' was certified gold and earned her a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist.
- Won a Grammy Award for Best Blues Album for the Tedeschi Trucks Band's debut, 'Revelator.'
- Performed at the White House for President Barack Obama in 2012 as part of the 'Red, White and Blues' concert.
Did You Know?
She studied singing and composition at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.
Tedeschi and Derek Trucks are one of the few married couples to both be on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
She provided the singing voice for the character of Janis Joplin in the 1998 film 'The Rose' for a re-recording.
The Tedeschi Trucks Band records and rehearses at Swamp Raga Studio, a custom-built studio at their home in Jacksonville, Florida.
“The blues is the truth. If you're singing the blues, you're not lying.”
