In mid-1997, during a break in the Allman Brothers Band's schedule, Butch Trucks decided to put together a side project that would enable him to play with his nephew, guitarist
Derek Trucks, who was then in his late teens. Butch Trucks recalled: "I've wanted to get in a situation where I could do more than just jam with him once every other year. A group like this seemed like the right vehicle... I always wanted to do this with Derek and I knew if I didn't, I'd regret it." He also invited
Aquarium Rescue Unit guitarist
Jimmy Herring, one of Derek Trucks' mentors, to join, and Herring in turn recommended ARU bassist
Oteil Burbridge. According to Butch Trucks, this change resulted in music that had "a lot harder edge," and that was "a lot more rock 'n' roll oriented." Frogwings also performed at the
First Annual Jammy Awards that year, with
Susan Tedeschi as vocalist. (Oteil Burbridge and Derek Trucks had both joined the Allman Brothers on a full-time basis, Burbridge in 1997 and Trucks in 1999, while Herring toured with the Allmans in 2000.) Butch Trucks reflected: "What's really fun about Frogwings is that there's really no pressure at all. We're all making a living doing other things, and this we do plain and simply for the fun of it... We can carve a few weeks out of the year to do it." According to Butch Trucks, the name Frogwings came from "an old story" in which a person lamenting their regrets in life is told "Yeah, well if a frog had wings, he wouldn't bust ass every time he jumped." Trucks stated that, to him, the name is "a symbol of no regrets... If you want to do something, just do it." ==Legacy==