Tedeschi Trucks Band Debuts New Songs & Welcomes David Hidalgo In Indianapolis

Tedeschi Trucks Band celebrated the release of their I Am The Moon: Episode II – Ascension film on Tuesday by premiering two tracks from the new album live in Indianapolis. The debuts came at the start of the group’s set as part of the Wheels Of Soul tour stop at White River State Park, which also featured a guest appearance from Los Lobos guitarist David Hidalgo.

The seven-song I Am The Moon: Episode II – Ascension is the second installment of the ambitious I Am The Moon project featuring four new studios albums each with an accompanying film. Last month, the 12-piece ensemble unveiled the I Am The Moon: Episode I – Crescent film with audio following on June 3. Yesterday, the TTB shared Alix Lambert’s film for Ascension, a seven-track collection, before the audio arrives this Friday, July 1.

“Playing With My Emotions” begins I Am The Moon: II. Ascension. Tedeschi Trucks Band debuted the song live to kick off their set last night. Susan Tedeschi stars on a track throwing back to the glory days of R&B and soul. “La Di Da,” the penultimate cut from the LP, was played live for the first time following “Playing With My Emotions.”

The set rolled on with “Anyhow” from 2016’s Let Me Get By and “Part Of Me” off 2013’s Made Up Mind. Next came a a pair of Derek & The Dominos covers as “Bell Bottom Blues” led into “Why Does Love Got To Be So Sad?” David Hidalgo emerged for the latter. Los Lobos and TTB keyboardist Gabe Dixon‘s band are the support acts for this year’s Wheels Of Soul tour.

Hidalgo vacated the stage leaving the group to perform I Am The Moon: I. Crescent in its entirety. Crescent was premiered live at the tour opener in Jacksonville on June 24 and has been played from front-to-back at each concert since. Closing track “Pasaquan” was nicely extended in Indianapolis with Derek Trucks shining on the instrumental.

Last night’s main set concluded with a series of four covers along with an original. The group offered a take on Blind Joe Reynolds’ “Outside Woman Blues” before Tedeschi led the group on the frequently paired “Angel From Montgomery” and “Sugaree.” A medley in which TTB original “I Want More” bled into Sly & The Family Stone’s “I Want To Take You Higher” brought the set to a close.

The Tedeschi Trucks Band looked to their debut album, 2011’s Revelator, for the evening’s “Bound For Glory” encore. See fan-shot video footage of last night’s “Pasaquan” below:

Watch the I Am The Moon: Episode II – Ascension film here: