When the surviving members of the Grateful Dead hit the road as the Other Ones back in 2002, singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi was asked to join the group. It was one of the most unpredictable musical experiences the Tedeschi Trucks Band member ever had.
“You just got to be on your toes, you go to be ready for anything. They don’t even know what they’re going to do until they do it,” she tells Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast.
That was especially true of Bob Weir, who died in January at 78. Before a show, Weir would tell Tedeschi how they were going to perform a song like “Ramble on Rose,” only to change it up once they got onstage. “We get to the show and he starts singing my verse!” Tedeschi laughs.
Perhaps all of the mind-altering substances had something to do with it. Tedeschi, who had just given birth to her son Charles with husband and bandmate Derek Trucks, recalls how Weir was always offering her mushrooms. “I was nursing on that first tour. He’s like, ‘You want some?’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m nursing!’ [And he’d say,] ‘Oh ok, I’ll do yours too,’” Tedeschi says. “I’m like, ‘Wait, you just took a handful of mushrooms. We’re walking out on Madison Square Garden, you’re about to play ‘Shakedown Street,’ and you just did a heroic dose of mushrooms. How do you even perform?’”
According to Trucks, Tedeschi and Weir had a special bond. “His relationship with Sue was really sweet. He’d always light up when she was around. He loved singing with her,” Trucks tells Nashville Now. “That was always fun to watch.”
Tedeschi Trucks Band released their latest album Future Soul earlier this spring. During an appearance at Bonnaroo, they brought their huge band to the stage, making for one of the 2026 festival’s best sets. “When you roll into town with a 12-piece band…people know you mean business,” Trucks says.
Watch their full interview below.
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