Tuesday, August 2nd, 2022 at the Armory Music Hall, Deco Music Group and Vootie Productions will present a one-of-a-kind show featuring members of the widely acclaimed Tedeschi-Trucks Band. Tedeschi Trucks Fireside Live, a slimmed down version of the usual band line-up of twelve, hits the stage at 8pm (doors at 7pm). After close to a year-and-a-half of challenging logistics, canceled concerts and other pandemic-related issues, blues/rock artists Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks are live on tour again, and their return brings an exciting twist. Rather than the twelve-piece band that Tedeschi-Trucks is known for, the Fireside Live group is comprised of Tedeschi, Trucks and four or five other band members joining in, depending on each evening’s show. This modified line-up creates the opportunity for every Fireside Live show to be different and unique from night to night and venue to venue. Also unique is that August 2nd marks Bozeman’s first time hosting a Tedeschi-Trucks performance. The band has played nearby venues like Targhee, but never Bozeman itself. For this special performance the line up will be Derek and Susan, Mike Mattison (vocals), Brandon Boone (Bass Guitar), Gabe Dixon (Keyboard, Vocals) and Tyler Greenwell on drums, according to Tom Garnsey of Vootie Productions.

By the time the band makes it to Bozeman they will already be ¾ of the way into the release of their ambitious new “I Am The Moon” project, which revolves around four albums with four corresponding films and 24 original songs. According to the band’s website, this project was “inspired by a mythic Persian tale of star-crossed lovers, and emotionally driven by the isolation and disconnection of the pandemic era.” This new project takes the band in a somewhat new creative direction, although with Tedeschi-Trucks, unchartered musical territory has always been an essential driver of their success. To quote Marc Maron (of WTF podcast fame), “ I saw them live and it was mind blowing. (Derek) has taken the guitar, specifically slide guitar, somewhere it has never been. His phrasing, both with and without slide, is uniquely his and just odd and jarring and exciting to listen to. (Susan) is an earnest blues player as well, and her voice is astounding. They take a form that is arguably tired and turn it inside out with originality and musicianship and make it totally their own.” For Tedeschi-Trucks fans, this is a must-see show.

Getting the band back on tour took some special finesse in post-pandemic 2022. The Fireside Live line-up was initiated by Tedeschi-Trucks Band to tackle some entertainment related obstacles brought on by the pandemic. “The way I understand it is the original online/virtual Fireside Sessions were started because, due to the pandemic, band members could not all be in the same room together at once, so they did a handful of virtual shows as a way to get themselves back into live performance and found it to be really rewarding and amazing musically,” explains Garnsey. “I had the opportunity last September to do an event with a four-piece version of Tedeschi Trucks Band with Susan and Derek, along with drums and bass, and it was like a distillation of the larger band. The larger band is so expansive, so rich and layered… to see it stripped down to the core of what they do was just extraordinary. Tedeschi Trucks is not just Derek and Susan and whomever they hire on as musicians. Unlike some bands, they are not, “Well, we hired some horns to go on tour with us.” They are a band. They create together and take care of each other. They are really genuine people.”

Garnsey isn’t merely paying lip service to this iconic act with that compliment, as his history with at least one of the band members goes way, way back. “I started working with Derek Trucks when I think he was 18, maybe. We worked with him at Targhee a couple of times. Derek’s band played Montana Ale Works nineteen years ago and they have always been about family. When I met Derek, his mom and dad were on tour with him, taking care of merchandise and that kind of stuff. They are really a family-based unit, and they care about the people they work with.”

The family and community sentiment that Tedeschi-Trucks emanates goes hand in hand with the recipient of the upcoming fundraiser, local non-profit, Haven. Selecting Tedeschi-Trucks to play this event was an easy choice for Garnsey to make. “I am not in the concert promotion business anymore. I do want to do things that are meaningful to the community from time to time with people that I like to work with. This fit both of those things in that the Armory and Cory’s vision (Cory Lawrence, owner/manager of both The Armory Hotel and Deco Music Group), has always been about trying to be a community-based venue, not a concert promoter. My interest in that room is that it’s a lovely room to do good work in. I had decided that Haven was a great first place to blend flags, so to speak, because it’s a great outfit. I know people who do the work Haven does and I know people who have benefitted from that work. I reached out to the Tedeschi-Trucks Band to help us out here in Bozeman and they were enthusiastically positive about it. So I called Erica Coyle (Haven Executive Director) and said, “Hey, we want to do this for you guys.” Coyle’s reaction was equally as enthusiastically positive as the band’s reaction to Garnsey’s invite, “Wow. Tedeschi-Trucks is a fantastic band choice to play Haven’s fundraiser. We are so grateful.”

The way that Vootie and the Armory and the Bozeman community beautifully came together to make this event happen is amazing. Anytime the community shows support for Haven, they are also showing support for the community of domestic violence survivors that Haven serves. Each year, Haven provides support and resources for over a thousand clients from Gallatin County. This event is going to provide much needed funds to put towards those efforts. According to their website, “Haven provides confidential support, legal advocacy, counseling, and a safe place to stay for anyone and everyone impacted by domestic violence, sexual assault, sex trafficking, and stalking. HAVEN works to empower survivors, elevate their voices, strengthen our community, hold abusers accountable, and stop the cycle of abuse.” Havenmt.org

Due to the generosity of Garnsey and Lawrence and other area businesses helping to put on this concert fundraiser, event costs are minimal. In fact, Lawrence was more than eager and honored to host the event at The Armory Music Hall. Garnsey may have come up with the concept of a Haven fundraiser, but Lawrence was instrumental in bringing this event to life. “Cory and I have been talking about this event forever. He kept saying, “We need to do this, we need to do this.” This event is not a business venture. This is a great band, a great cause and a great venue. Bozeman always steps up for these things and we are very grateful for the community’s support. We hope to do more fun events like this to help out organizations in Bozeman in the future.”

Lawrence shares Garnsey’s sentiments, “When this thing happens for Haven we are going to bring the town in to see a band that they might otherwise have not been able to see in this form and we are going to raise this money for Haven. And I have never felt more humbled and gratified than in these moments, on behalf of Haven and other worthy nonprofits like Eagle Mount and Heroes and Horses, when we all work together, for us to share that “give back” component, which was always the intent in our connection with Tom Garnsey. We really try to maintain humility and a sense of responsibility to make sure that what we offer is authentic and real. That is what drove us to design the Armory Music Hall the way we did for the community. I was intentional that it be an authentic reflection of place. You can design it, but if you don’t make the space relevant to the local people, you will always be missing that critical last piece of the puzzle. That is why Armory Music Hall exists. We built the room up acoustically and we put the right levels of professional light and sound into it using Jereco Studios and Emmy Award-winning Jeremiah Slovarp to be more than just competent; it is a really good room to watch and experience live music in. To have Haven here is so huge for our small community. When you need help and it is not there in the community, it’s crushing. In the case of Haven it is a lifeline, a really big difference-maker. We are quite proud to be involved with them. “

Ticket sales are going steady and on track to sell out. To purchase your tickets and get more info go to: https://www.armorymusichall.com/events/tedeschi-trucks-fireside