Flying Frog Records came into fruition a year ago when Trucks decided the time was right to create a band-friendly label for jam-friendly musicians. Indeed, those who attended the Jambands.com tour last June will recall the presence of Trucks along with Allman Brothers Band/Frogwings/ ARU/Peacemakers bassist Oteil Burbridge at the first four shows (full disclosure: it was at that time that I began to serve in an amorphous but ever satisfying advisory role to the label, suggesting notable bands to the Pre s.). Trucks' appearances not only yielded ample musical memories for musicians and fans alike, but they also led to the signing of two groups that he first encountered on that tour: Schleigho and The Slip.

The following conversation touches on the development of Flying Frog records, and Trucks' goals for the label, along with a bit on Butch's gig as drummer for the Allman Brothers Band (which currently is in the midst of its annual run at New York's Beacon Theater). For more information on the label, stop by www.flyingfrogrecords.com. For the good word on the Allman Brothers Band, your one-stop source is http://www.allmanbrothersband.com. Also, if you're in Manhattan on the day this article appears, March 15, be sure to stop by Wetlands Preserve where Trucks will be performing with his signees amd labelmates. Schleigho.

DB- How did Flying Frog records come about?

BT- It's a direct derivative of Frogwings. I'd been wanting to work with Derek for a long time. He's my nephew, and the same age as my daughter. As he grew up I watched him get better and better. I wanted to do more than just get together on stage with hi m every few years when he jammed with the Allman Brothers. Well I was having dinner at my house one night, when a friend of mine convinced me to put the band together. Then I called everybody on my wish list- if I had my perfect band, who would it be- and got Oteil, Jimmy, and you know everybody else.

The record company idea came about in a similar way. It began with a dinner conversation. I wanted to create for the first time a label that would be artist friendly and that wouldn't rip off those bands that go out and build their own followings. So we c ame up with this concept, that every band on the label will own stock in the company. Not only that but rather than get the normal dollar to a dollar and a quarter royalty rate, we basically will work out expenses and then just split it. This will be a jo int venture with the bands. In the beginning bands will receive something like three dollars per CD. Then as all the expenses are paid off and the recording costs are paid off, their royalties will just go up. That's the basic philosophy of the label. So mething that's fair and makes sense. Also, we won't sign any groups to any long term contracts, we'll do it one record at a time. So at any time if you don't like the way things are going you're free to leave. I've had years and years of having my life si gned away to a place I didn't want to be, and I couldn't do a thing about it. I was stuck. It's like somebody making you stay married to somebody you hate. You give the label a record, they spend absolutely no money on promotion, then they give you a doll ar and a quarter while they're pocketing six or eight dollars per CD. At some point you just get tired of being screwed when they don't even kiss you. We're going to counter that at Flying Frog and do things a different way. That's the basic philosophy an d how we got started. I've spent the past year putting together a team of experienced people who have the same basic ideas that I do. It's a great bunch of people and I think this is going to be a lot of fun.

DB- I'm sure a lot of people would like to hear your thoughts on the label's inaugural roster. What do you have to say about Schleigho, for starters?

BT- Well I guess Schleigho everybody should know. The guys are fabulous. We set up Schleigho with their own home recording studio. Another thing I want to do, another philosophy of this label is not to waste hundreds of thousand of dollars in recording studios when there is technology available that will allow bands to do it themselves. So we've set up Schleigho with this fabulous recording studio at their house. They're in the process of recording right now. A few weeks I brought in Tom Dowd [legenda ry producer- Allman Brothers Band, John Coltrane] to spend a few days with them, and they really hit it off.

DB- What led you to sign them?

BT- Seeing them play. I came out to your jambands.com tour last June, remember? (laughs) When Jesse [Gibbon] starts playing if you turn your back you think you're listening to Herbie Hancock. They're all great players. That's the main thing about this. I want the best players out there. Those two bands along with Frogwings are among the best bands out there in terms of knowing how to play their instruments.

DB- Can you share your thoughts on The Slip?

BT- Oh man, Jesus, those guys are just so much fun. The concept is very similar to what we did with the Allman Brothers- you turn it up on intense and let it eat. They're free, spontaneous, and when they're on, they ignite. It's about as good as it gets. I love Drew [Barr]. That drummer's a hell of a player. He's a little intimidating to tell you the truth (laughs). Their disc is already done. Bruce Harris [Flying Frog Production Manager] was at the show Friday night, and he finally got a copy of the Slip record on Thursday. Well Friday night we finished our show, and it was a really good one. It was really smoking and Bruce is a big fan, he loves the Allman Brothers. Well we finished the show and everybody is telling me how great it was and then I got to Bruce. He looked at me, shook my hand and said , "That was pretty good, wait until you hear the Slip."

DB- That's some endorsement (laughs). The Frogwings disc will be a live release, right?

BT- Yeah the title is Croaking At Toads. All but one of the cuts we did at Toad's.

DB- I remember when I spoke with Jimmy Herring a few months ago he said that New Haven [Toad's] was his favorite show of that tour.

BT- Toad's was fabulous. When we walked off stage that night, I was talking to Oteil about it, and he said, "You know we might get something else, but I don't think so." The only reason we didn't use the whole night, is there's this one instrumental we do , which until Edwin makes me stop doing it I'm calling "Eddie's Got A Boyfriend." At Wetlands, Derek and Jimmy got into this thing, it was like a couple of old women nattering at each other, they went back and forth and then they ended up together. It's t he damndest thing I've ever heard. I've never heard sounds like that coming out of guitars. And then for them to tie it together in unison to end it. I can't listen to it without falling off the floor laughing, it is just so cool. So I had to use that cu t from Wetlands.

DB- When will that come out?

BT- We're looking at an early June release for the Slip, late June release for Frogwings and July for Schleigho.

DB- Will Frogwings tour? I would imagine it is hard it is with so many active people in the group who are all over the place. Plus you've had two separate vocalists [Edwin Mcain, John Popper], who will come out if the band does play?

BT- Frogwings has had and perhaps always will have a different vocalist every time we go out. I just don't know. Right now Popper is still really into it, it's just matter of whether or not he can make time for it. He's working on a lot of projects of hi s own. He keeps saying he wants to do it but we haven't been able to clear any time when we all could do it. Frogwings is a very instrumentally-oriented band and we may just find the best singer we can find at a given time. There may be some surprises the re too.

DB- I've heard Susan Tedeschi mentioned as a possible candidate.

BT- We'll see, we'll see. She's hard working too. But I do think that would be fun.

DB- Her profile is certainly on the rise.

BT- She's a Goddamn Grammy nominee (laughs).

DB- Couldn't pull it off though [Tedeschi was nominated as Best New Artist]. Christina Aguilera took the honors.

BT- I couldn't believe that girl won. I figured that what's her name, Britney Spears, had a lock on that from day one.

DB- That whole event is real weird.

BT- Listen, we won a Grammy. When we won it, we were rehearsing . Someone came in and said, "You won," and I don't think anybody even looked up. It means nothing. Dickey said, 'Well I got a new doorstop." I'll tell you the first time we were nominated, a long time ago, was for best rock instrumental. Our competition was Dixie Dregs, Frank Zappa and Paul McCartney. Guess who won? McCartney. For best instrumental. He's up against the Dregs and Zappa. McCartney's a great singer and songwriter but he ain't no player. It kind of put it all right into focus.

DB- Since you mentioned the Allman Brothers, let me ask, the band has worked up a number of new songs, for the Beacon run, right?

BT- Well we have two brand new songs along with a few old blues songs that we've rearranged and some songs we haven't done for a while. We spent the first week of rehearsal just working on new material. We're doing a Little Milton tune. There's a new in strumental that Dickey just wrote. We're doing a tune of Dickey's off his solo record, Atlanta's Burning Down. We're also doing Every Hungry Woman, which we haven't played that in twenty, twenty-five years.

DB- What's that experience like?

BT- That's so much fun. When we were working up Every Hungry Woman in rehearsal we kept saying why in the hell haven't we been playing this? It's one of those that we've brought up three or four times in the past but it always came up right at the end of rehearsal and we never had time to finish. This year right at the beginning of rehearsal I said "Dammit, we need to start playing this song again." I just realized now we're playing every song off our first record.

DB- Speaking of records, I hear that you may be recording as well.

BT- Well it looks like we're gong to be doing a live CD. Possibly a Peakin' at the Beacon kind of thing. Maybe a little bit of Warren, a little bit of Jack, a little bit of Derek. We're still not sure exactly what, but it's going to be a live CD.

DB- Let's move back to Flying Frog. How many bands do you intend to sign?

BT- No more than twenty. I've looked and looked at labels, and once we'd get beyond that point we'd become that thing that we hate. And we'll only get twenty if I think there are twenty worth it. There really is a philosophy to this. It's only going to be bands that can play. I've already looked at two or three bands that could probably sell a lot of CDs that I just don't want on the label, they just don't fit what I'm talking about. They just don't have that whole vibe of getting down, knowing how to pla y, settling into a groove, and getting the spontaneous jams going.

DB- So after these three records come out in June and July, what else is planned?