She formed the Susan Tedeschi Band in 1994, featuring Tom Hambridge and Adrienne Hayes. In 1995 she began playing guitar and honed her skills and in December the band released Better Days to regional audiences. Record contracts were difficult to keep together; however, recording sessions from 1997 were acquired by Richard Rosenblatt, and the band was signed to Tone-Cool Records and Just Won't Burn was released in February 1998 to rave reviews from blues publications.