A quarter-century after the release of her breakthrough solo album, Just Won’t Burn, blues guitarist/vocalist Susan Tedeschi has issued an expanded edition of the album. The 16-track reissue features the original album plus five previously unreleased bonus track including an alternate take of “Looking For Answers”, two new album outtakes, and two live versions of Just Won’t Burn album tracks recorded with Tedeschi Trucks Band at NYC’s Beacon Theatre.
Just Won’t Burn eventually went Platinum, a rare milestone for a blues-based album at that time, and earned Tedeschi a nomination for the Best New Artist nomination at the 2000 Grammy Awards alongside an oh-so-very-2000 list of fellow nominees including Britney Spears, Macy Gray, Kid Rock, and Christina Aguilera. Best New Artist in 2000 (alongside the hilariously of-the-moment cast of Britney Spears, Macy Gray, Kid Rock, and Christina Aguilera).
“Making Just Won’t Burn was a pivot,” Tedeschi said of the album, which features guitarists Adrienne Hayes and Sean Costello, harmonica player Annie Raines, percussionist/songwriter Tom Hambridge, and keyboardist Tom West tackling both Susan’s original songs and material written/popularized by Ruth Brown (“Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean”), Junior Wells (“Little by Little”), and John Prine (“Angel From Montgomery”).
“All of a sudden, I was working with different groups of people, new musicians, new songwriting collaborators,” she added. “We had no idea how it was going to turn out. I think the thing that held it all together was the blues. Blues is a language that I love. You can take it anywhere in the world and communicate with people, which isn’t necessarily true about other forms of music. And being a white artist in a black milieu, you just have to let the music speak.”
“The way people react to Just Won’t Burn has always been heartwarming and surprising,” she admitted. “I used to get letters from a prisoner who identified with the songs and found hope in them, and then I started getting letters from the rest of the prisoners on the cell block because it was the only cassette they had.”
“Sometimes when I look back on the 25 years since the release, I think about the places I’ve been and the adventures I’ve had, and I feel like Forrest Gump,” Tedeschi continued. “I say, ‘No! You’re a baseball mom. You didn’t do all that!’ But I must have. The blues has its demands. You have to be honest — musically, emotionally, and personally — above everything else, and that can lead to some uncomfortable truths. But the blues hasn’t burned me. It hasn’t hurt me. It’s my main resource. I can express myself and get stuff out about my life – or, like B.B. always said, ‘whatever ails you.’ The blues got me here.”
Related: Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Drop In On Sacred Steel Summit In Florida [Watch]
Since 2010, Tedeschi’s primary creative vehicle has been the Tedeschi Trucks Band, the ensemble she founded with her husband, guitarist Derek Trucks. Later this month, Tedeschi Trucks Band will host its first two major arena shows. Billed as The Garden Parties, the special performances are set to take place at Boston, MA’s TD Garden (9/27) and New York, NY’s Madison Square Garden (9/29). In addition to opening sets by Lukas Nelson + POTR on both nights, the shows will feature guest appearances by Warren Haynes (Boston), Trey Anastasio (New York), and Norah Jones (New York). For ticketing information, head here.
Listen to the expanded 25th anniversary reissue of Just Won’t Burn by Susan Tedeschi on the platform of your choice here or listen via the player below. Click below for a full track list.
Susan Tedeschi – Just Won’t Burn – 25th Anniversary Edition
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