Derek Trucks – HuffPost 6.6.12

Mike Ragogna: What is your advice for new artists?

Derek Trucks: You know, I think it stays pretty consistent. You’ve got to find what moves you and you’ve just got to keep that inspiration lit. You’ve got to listen and play. You’ve got to pay your dues. There really are no shortcuts. There are no magic bullets. You’ve got to get out there and do it. If you get bit with the bug, you’re going to do it regardless of how much money you’re making or any of that. Once you get that music disease, it’s there, and you do it. If it works, it works, and if it doesn’t, you’re probably going to do it anyway. I remember having that realization when I first put our band together. I was probably fourteen or fifteen and a few years into it. We’re in a fifteen-passenger van with a trailer and we’ve already put a hundred thousand miles on it giggin’ and I was like, “You know what? I’m fine with this. It’s forty people a night maybe, some nights it’s not” and I was like, “I’m perfectly happy doing this forever. If it gets better, great. If not, it works.” It’s a great thing when you find what you love to do. I’ve thought of that; you just have to keep your eye on the prize musically. You can’t let the career and all those things get in the way of why you got into it in the first place. I think that’s where a lot of people get derailed. The important things start getting overshadowed by the less important things. It’s easy to do. But I think to have a long career, as long as you’re keeping the music in mind, you’ll be alright.