In a new interview with Rolling Stone magazine, guitarist Derek Trucks, the nephew of late Allman Brothers drummer Butch Trucks, says that he is unsure why his uncle committed suicide last month at his Florida home, but that he seemed to be "looking forward."
Derek Trucks, who was also a member of the Allmans as well as his own band and The Tedeschi Trucks Band with singer wife Susan Tedeschi, said he hadn't been that close with Butch since the Allmans disbanded. As he told Rolling Stone's David Fricke online and in the magazine's current issue:
"Our relationship since the split of the band – it didn't get closer. I needed to find some fresh air. But I would read interviews with him. He was as rambunctious as ever, his full Butch-blazing self right to the end."
Trucks told Rolling Stone that he had just read Butch's last interview.
"I read it thinking maybe there was some insight into why it happened, what happened. He was talking about the band he was playing with. There was a lot of looking forward. It didn't seem like a note."
In the article, he credited his uncle with keeping the band focused on co-founder Duane Allman's philosophy of playing with gusto and integrity. He also praised the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer's powerhouse shuffle drum style and called him "the heart in the engine" of the Allman Brothers Band.
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