Already Free is the sixth and final studio album by The Derek Trucks Band. It was released in the United States on January 13, 2009 by Legacy Recordings. A European release followed on February 20, 2009. The album has received very positive reviews, and debuted at #19 on the Billboard Top 200 reached #1 on the blues chart,[1] #1 on the Internet chart, and #4 on the Rock chart. This marks the band's highest debut on the Billboard Top 200 chart to date. The album won the 2010 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album, marking the band's first Grammy award.[2][3]
Derek Trucks was interviewed by The Washington Post upon the release of Already Free. The interviewer commented that in comparison to past albums by The Derek Trucks Band, this record reflects a more mature sound. Trucks himself responded by commenting that the album has a different feeling because in the past he always felt pressure to make a "guitar album". The difference, he maintains, is that the band has had more time to mature, and the album's sound is more balanced between the different contributions of its members, who developed its overall effect as they arranged the songs that were recorded for this album.[1]
In a review for AllMusic, Thom Jurek wrote: "There is a homegrown organic looseness to these proceedings that sets the album apart from all of Trucks' previous offerings... Its careful attention to feel creates a vibe that is altogether missing from the vast majority of recordings made in the last 30 years, yet it sounds timeless... because of the expert, tasteful nature of the playing and recording."[6]
C. T. Heaney of PopMatters called the album Trucks' "best effort to date," and stated: "Forget the blues; forget genre, at all — Trucks and his crack band are serving up some of the best American music to be had in a fragmented, subgenre-obsessed popular music world."[7]
Glide Magazine's Doug Collette commented: "Trucks' memorable presence, as player and producer, will ultimately compel repeated playings of Already Free. The humility that allows him to be integrated within the band is in direct proportion to the singularity of his individual skills."[11]
Writing for OffBeat, Aaron Lafont described the album as "an intricate, well-conceived affair" with "impeccable production," and noted that Trucks' "ability to explore, seek out, and direct his vision speaks volumes about his growth as a bandleader."[13]
In an article for Classic Rock History, Richard Lipner stated that the "mix of musical styles showcases an even tighter band who are at home as much with straight-ahead soul and funk, as they are with their brilliant more improvisational playing."[14]
MLive's John Sinkevics noted that "It's so rare these days... to hear the kind of organically soulful, bluesy, Southern rock-infused music that Trucks and his commandingly sweet band churn out," and wrote that the album "pays tribute to a host of influential American musicians and artists, from blues to Southern rock, while blazing a trail of its own."[15]
Jason Warburg of Daily Vault remarked: "Whether its distinctively earthy, back-porch-jam vibe fits your personal taste or not, you should take the time to try to understand -- this is what great music sounds like."[12]
Writing for VintageRock.com, Shawn Perry commented: "Spread out on a bed of blues, soul, gospel, jazz and southern-flavored rock, the songs on Already Free are interconnected and part of a bigger tapestry, a mural of colors and pastels for the ears... thanks should go to The Derek Trucks Band for keeping the spirit and imagination of roots music alive and cooking for friends and family everywhere."[16]
