A visit with some of Rock and Roll's true royalty turns out to be a relationship started long ago with our tour proven Multipin Assemblies, and our legendary indestructible drop boxes.
By Will Young
There's a great feeling you get when you first walk out on to a freshly struck stage, and right out of the gate you spot Whirlwind products neatly tucked under drum risers, keyboard rigs, a set behind the bass rig, and those unmistakable W-series multipin assemblies! Almost brings a tear to my eye! Well that's exactly what happened last night where CMAC played host to a group of time proven legends of rock and roll. The Black Crowes, and The Tedeschi Trucks Band. These two bands have an integrity to their sound, both in feel as well as in the gear that they choose that is second to none. This is a personal win for us in that they didn't choose just anyone to handle their signal and get it where it needed to go, they chose Whirlwind. It was just as refreshing to find that regardless of the millions of album sales, and countless performances that they have notched in their guitar necks, these guys were as professional, and as down to earth as any group of musicians I've had the pleasure to work with. Thank you everyone from The Black Crowes, as well as the Tedeschi Trucks Band, for decades of heartfelt music, and thank you for choosing Whirlwind.
THE BLACK CROWES have sold over 35 million albums and are known as one of rock’s best live acts. They’re currently touring the U.S. on their “Lay Down With Number 13” tour, their first tour since recently ending a two-year hiatus. The in-progress tour launched with five sold-out U.K. shows and began this week in the U.S. and continues through June 2. After that, the group will return to Europe for a leg of dates June 18 to July 6, including headlining shows, festivals and two stadium concerts with Bruce Springsteen. The iconic and influential band–Chris Robinson (lead vocals, guitar), Rich Robinson (guitar, vocals), Steve Gorman (drums), Sven Pipien (bass), Adam MacDougall (keyboards) and new member Jackie Greene (guitar, vocals)–are reaching deep inside their songbook and extensive catalog, performing greatly varied set lists.
The band recently released WISER FOR THE TIME, which features a mammoth eight sides on four vinyl albums containing 26 songs–15 acoustic and 11 electric–from THE BLACK CROWES’ five-night, sold-out NYC performances in the fall of 2010. These never-released-before versions are also available as a double album digital download. The WISER FOR THE TIME track listing can be found on www.blackcrowes.com
What a difference 365 days can make. Only one year ago Tedeschi Trucks Band, the 11-piece group led by the husband-wife team of Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeschi, debuted with the album Revelator. TTB -- as their fans have come to know them -- and their set list were new, itching to be road-tested. Within a few months, the group had proven themselves one of the hottest, most uplifting acts on the road today - playing concerts that drew tens of thousands of fans and, through radio, TV, and internet-play, reached hundreds of thousands more. In just the past few months, they reached pinnacles of accomplishment that most bands spend a career trying to reach.
In February, Revelator won a Grammy for Best Blues Album of the Year, while Trucks himself, along with TTB bandmate Oteil Burbridge, were honored with lifetime Grammys for their membership in The Allman Brothers Band. In March, Tedeschi and Trucks were invited to perform at the White House with Mick Jagger, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and yes, President Barack Obama himself (who sang a verse of “Sweet Home Chicago”). A week later, they appeared at the Apollo Theater, joining Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, and a host of guitar heavyweights in an all-star tribute to bluesman Hubert Sumlin.
