Susan Tedeschi was born in Boston in November 1970 and raised in Norwell, Massachusetts, the great-granddaughter of the founder of the Tedeschi Food Shops chain. Instead of a retail career, she made her public debut at five as an understudy in a Broadway musical, found her Catholic family's church choirs stifling and sought out African American Baptist churches for a more alive gospel sound, and absorbed her father's vinyl collection of acoustic blues legends like Lightnin' Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt. She was in bands by 13, formed The Smokin' Section at 18, and earned a bachelor of music in composition and performance from Berklee College of Music by age 20 while singing in a campus gospel choir and performing show tunes on the Spirit of Boston cruise ship.

This episode follows the Susan Tedeschi Band from its 1993 formation to the  ...