Drive-By Truckers - Patterson Hood Interview

by Tina Whelski

Drive-By Truckers switch gears on The Dirt Underneath Tour, sitting down for a semi-acoustic joy ride alongside legendary keyboardist and songwriter Spooner Oldham. Together they perform hushed versions of the Southern rock band’s gritty tales, spotlighting the storytelling. Because Oldham shares DBT’s Muscle Shoals, Alabama musical heritage you can expect a soulful homage.

Singer-guitarist Patterson Hood discusses the tour, the critically acclaimed A Blessing and a Curse CD, and the record he and band mates Mike Cooley, Brad Morgan, John Neff and Shonna Tucker just finished about a minute ago.

You've wanted to do a tour like The Dirt Underneath for quite a while. What makes these dates satisfying creatively?

I wanted a chance to do a "turned down" (for us that is) tour where the focus was more on the lyrics and stories as opposed to the big loud ROCKSHOW type thing. We were in the midst of writing a bunch of new songs and kind of reinventing ourselves and it made sense to strip it down to the essentials and rebuild from there. It went so great that we ended up working up 75% of what has become our new album, mostly live in front of audiences, so the new album comes already somewhat road-tested. The tour was so fun and successful that we wanted to do one more leg (next month) before packing it in and retiring it.

Can you hint a bit at what we can expect on DBT's upcoming album?

We literally finished it yesterday. It's called BRIGHTER THAN CREATION'S DARK and has nearly 20 songs. Stylistically it’s all over the map, yet it’s the most cohesive album we've ever made. It’s definitely all our favorite. Everyone was being really creative and the songs just kept coming so we kept recording them. I think it is a huge leap from anything else we've ever done. Can't wait for folks to hear it.

How do you feel when people attach themselves so closely to your music?

Blessed. Sometimes a little confused.

You’re constantly writing. What kinds of things inspire you to pick up your guitar?

I've never really understood where they come from. Sometimes it might be something I've been thinking about for a long time. Sometimes it feels like I'm being struck by lightning.

Will you discuss a song from A Blessing and a Curse lyrically?

Damn, I really haven't given that one much thought lately, as we're in a really different mode right now. I'm proud of that album, overall, I think it has some of our best moments, (and perhaps some of our weakest too), but we're all in a diametrically different place right now. I think we've only been playing 2-3 of those songs at all this year, and two of those are Cooley's songs, which are as usual my favorites. I am, however extra proud of "World of Hurt.” That was my best song on that album. It started off being about someone else and became about me. Personal as hell. Guess I’m more self centered than I want to be. (laughs).

How about a song musically?

Again, we're totally someplace else now. We're doing this semi-acoustic tour with Spooner Oldham. It was supposed to just be a 3-week thing last spring, but it kinda morphed into something else and we felt like we had to take it to a few more cities. New York has always been so great to us and has always been one of our very favorite places to play. Doing that tour really affected a lot of things about our new album (the upcoming DBT album, coming out in Feb) although it is definitely a Rock and Roll record, just in some different ways than the others.

Can you talk about the influence Muscle Shoals, Alabama has had on your sound?

Growing up around that much great music, especially the Soul albums cut there was bound to affect us a lot. The food is only gonna be as good as the ingredients (as Grandma would say) and we grew up around some really good stuff. It's a tough town to live in. The economy was really bad (still is) and the tough times sometimes bring out the best and worst in people. There is toughness, and honestly sometimes meanness, about a lot of the folks there and that was all a big part of who we became too. Some of the things inspired us, some things we loved and pursued and some things we rebelled against. Those things sat in the front seat for a long time (songs like “Buttholeville” and much of Southern Rock Opera and The Dirty South especially). Making the Bettye LaVette album this year really influenced a lot of things we're doing right now also. (It was recorded in Muscle Shoals and is coming out 9/25 on Anti Records).

Describe one of your earliest music memories.

This dates me, but I remember the album cover to Magical Mystery Tour (I was 3). Neil Young's guitar harmonics on Buffalo Springfield's “For What It's Worth” (I was 4 and didn't know what that sound was, but I was in love with it). Led Zeppelin's “Immigrant Song” when I was 5. My Dad is a musician, so I heard a lot of really cool music from a very early age.

What’s next for the band?

Our NYC shows for The Dirt Underneath will be the end of that tour. After that we'll be moving back to our fully electric tricks. The new album is being mixed as I answer this…It’s coming out in February.

Drive-By Truckers perform October 26 at Bowery Ballroom.

Watch Drive-By Truckers perform "Easy On Yourself."

and plugged in performing "Never Gonna Change."



Interview originally published in The Aquarian Weekly.

Jason Isbell - Interview

Drive-By Truckers’ Jason Isbell leaves the band after six years to hit the road with his debut solo album, Sirens Of The Ditch, but he doesn’t leave his former band mates or influences too far behind. The record was co-produced by DBT’s Patterson Hood and musicians appearing on it include Hood and his father David Hood, DBT’s Shonna Tucker (bass), Brad Morgan (drums), Spooner Oldham, John Neff and others. Recorded over the past four years at FAME Studios in Isbell’s Muscle Shoals, Alabama hometown, Sirens Of The Ditch draws on the region’s infamous soul roots and incorporates elements of rock and blues into a heartfelt mix of songs that favor piano and pedal steel over buzzing guitars. Jason Isbell talked to me about Sirens Of The Ditch.

You had been a Drive-By Truckers front man for the past six years. Can you talk about your thinking going into Sirens Of The Ditch?

It was important for me to make an album that sounded different from the Drive-By Truckers' work, but I also wanted to stay true to the spirit of what we were doing in that band. We always tried to be honest with our audience. We tried to write about the things we knew on a personal basis, and that gave our work a southern accent. I feel like I have the same job now. I just work with different people.

Will you talk about some new songs, what you're writing about lyrically?

Since this record has been finished, I've been writing songs that are a bit more introspective. I feel like "Dress Blues" dealt with the outside world about as well as anything I've written, and there's been a lot of change in my life this year, so lately I'm focusing on my personal battles. I still have room in these songs for my family, and anything that makes for a good story is fair game, but I have a lot to think about these days. I write songs primarily to show myself how I feel.

How about a song on the record musically?

Musically I'm very fond of “Chicago Promenade'.” I think the simplicity of the chord progression and the movement in the rhythm section fits very well with the lyric. Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers) helped a lot on that one by suggesting that the drums be in half time when they entered the song. That really added an emotional angle that a straight 4/4 beat wouldn't have accomplished. The layered guitars on the outro also give me a really good feeling.

This record was a few years in the making and was influenced by your life growing up in Alabama and the Muscle Shoals sound. Will you describe that musical background?

I was heavily influenced by players like David Hood, Spooner Oldham, Scott Boyer, Mike Dillon, and Kelvin Holly when I was a teenager. These guys were very open to the new generation of Muscle Shoals musicians, and they told a lot of stories. To me, their presence and character were more important than even the music they'd made in the past. Obviously I love many of the recordings that came out of my hometown, but knowing these people on a personal level taught me a great deal about spending your life in this world.

Jason Isbell plays Bowery Ballroom on October 10.

Watch Jason perform "Dress Blues."



Interview originally published in The Aquarian Weekly.