Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alabama.[1] The group also has roots in Richmond, Virginia.[2]
Drive-By Truckers
Athens, Georgia, U.S.
1996–present
- ATO
- MapleMusic
- New West
- Lost Highway
- Play It Again Sam
- Ghostmeat
- Soul Dump
Patterson Hood
Mike Cooley
Brad Morgan
Jay Gonzalez
Matt Patton
Jason Isbell
Spooner Oldham
John Neff
Shonna Tucker
Earl Hicks
Rob Malone
Matt Lane
Adam Howell
Barry Sell
The band currently consists of Mike Cooley (lead vocals, guitar, banjo), Patterson Hood (lead vocals, guitar), Brad Morgan (drums), Jay Gonzalez (keys, guitar, accordion, backing vocals), and Matt Patton (bass guitar, backing vocals). The line-up has undergone multiple changes since the band's formation, with Cooley and Hood serving as the sole constants throughout.[3] The band's constant touring has developed a dedicated following.[4]
History[edit]
1996–1999: Early days[edit]
Drive-By Truckers was cofounded by Patterson Hood (son of bassist David Hood of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section) and longtime friend, former roommate, and musical partner Mike Cooley in Athens, Georgia, in 1996. The two had played in various other bands including Adam's House Cat, which was chosen as a top-10 Best Unsigned Band by a Musician contest in the late 1980s. Adam's House Cat recordings, entitled Town Burned Down were released in September 2018 via ATO Records.[5] After the demise of Adam's House Cat, Cooley and Hood performed as a duo under the name Virgil Kane. They eventually started a new band, Horsepussy, with bassist-vocalist Adam Howell (later to join DBT) and Aaron Bryant (brother of DBT webmaster Jenn Bryant) before splitting for a few years. During this split, Hood moved to Athens and began forming what would become Drive-By Truckers, "with the intent of luring Cooley back into the fold".[6]
The band's original lineup was fluid, but it most often included Hood, Cooley, and Howell, along with drummer Matt Lane, pedal steel player John Neff, and mandolin player Barry Sell. They released their first album Gangstabilly in 1998. With Hood and Cooley sometimes playing mandolin and banjo instead of guitar, and Howell playing double bass. After recording their first album, the band added a third guitarist/vocalist, Rob Malone. By the second album, Pizza Deliverance, released in 1999, Howell had left, Malone switched to bass, and Sell had left the band. Neff was also listed as a guest rather than a member, although he plays on much of the album. Hood dominated the songwriting and lead vocals in these early records, but Cooley, Howell, and Malone also contributed songs, with Cooley's songwriting share increasing notably by the second album.
Following their second release, Lane was replaced by drummer Brad Morgan, who had already filled in for Lane during some of the band's shows. Morgan went on to become the band's other constant member along with Hood and Cooley. With Neff also having declined to remain a full-time band contributor, Hood and Cooley were left as the only original members. The band then embarked on a nationwide tour as a four-piece band, resulting in a live album entitled Alabama Ass Whuppin' (released in 2000 by Second Heaven Records, re-released in 2002 by Terminus Records and again in 2013 on ATO Records).[7]
2000–2001: Southern Rock Opera[edit]
After three years on the road, a tight-knit group of musicians had emerged. Malone had switched back to guitar, giving the band a three-member guitar army like Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Earl Hicks, a friend who had previously been involved in the band's production, took over the bass slot. They then began work on 2001's double album, Southern Rock Opera.
The album weaves the history of Lynyrd Skynyrd into a narrative about a fictitious rock band called Betamax Guillotine, whose story unfolds within the context of the South during the 1970s. Southern Rock Opera was originally released independently on Drive-By Truckers' own Soul Dump Records on September 12, 2001, and garnered praise from fans and critics alike. To meet the new demand brought on by, among other things, a four-star review in Rolling Stone, Southern Rock Opera was reissued by Mercury and Lost Highway Records in July 2002. Soon after, Drive-By Truckers were named Band of the Year by No Depression.
While Drive-By Truckers were touring in support of Southern Rock Opera, the band ran into a problem when they were left with only two guitarists (Cooley and Hood) following the departure of Rob Malone in late 2001. The band added fellow Alabamian guitarist and songwriter Jason Isbell to their line-up as the band's third guitarist. During his five years with Drive-By Truckers, Isbell's compositions became as highly praised as those of Cooley and Hood.[8]
2001–2006: With Jason Isbell[edit]
After signing a new deal with Austin-based record label New West, Drive-By Truckers set about recording the follow-up to Southern Rock Opera. The result was 2003's Decoration Day, which like its predecessor, received much critical praise. It is another concept album, containing characters who are faced with hard decisions about marriage, incest, break-ups, revenge, murder, and suicide. The album features an eclectic mix of the band's newer rootsy, hard-rocking sound with some of their older alt-country sound. Former member John Neff returned as a guest to play pedal steel on about half the album, although he did not tour with the band for the album.
After years of producing and playing with Drive-By Truckers, bassist Earl Hicks left the band on December 22, 2003. Hicks was immediately replaced by studio bassist Shonna Tucker, then-wife of guitarist Jason Isbell. Tucker had previously guested on Decoration Day, playing upright bass on the Cooley-penned track "Sounds Better in the Song".
In 2004, Drive-By Truckers released yet another concept album entitled The Dirty South, which further explored the mythology of the South, with songs focusing on Sam Phillips and Sun Records, John Henry, and a three-song suite about Sheriff Buford Pusser. With Cooley and Isbell each contributing 4 songs on the 14-song set, it was the band's first album for which Hood did not write the majority of songs.
After touring throughout 2004 and 2005, Drive-By Truckers found their way to the Fidelitorium Recording Studio in Forsyth County, North Carolina, during late 2005. These recording sessions, once again produced by David Barbe, resulted in the band's seventh LP, A Blessing and a Curse. Released on April 18, 2006, A Blessing and a Curse showcased Drive-By Truckers' ability to branch out into new territory, and can be seen as the band's attempt at shaking labeling by critics, detractors, fans, and followers, particularly the Southern rock label that has haunted the band since Southern Rock Opera. The album sounds less like Lynyrd Skynyrd, and more closely resembles the bare-bones British rock of the early 1970s such as The Rolling Stones and Faces. Tom Petty, Blue Öyster Cult, and Neil Young's influence on the band's sound is more prominent on this album, as well.[9]
On September 1, 2009, Drive-By Truckers released a collection of B-sides and rarities entitled The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities which were recorded during the Decoration Day and Dirty South sessions. Though released after he left the band, the album includes two tracks written by Jason Isbell.
Work with others[edit]
In 2007, Drive-By Truckers backed up Bettye LaVette on her comeback album The Scene of the Crime, which was released on September 25 on Anti Records. Scene of the Crime was mostly recorded at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. On it, LaVette transforms country and rock songs written by Willie Nelson, Elton John, and Don Henley, among others, into devastating mini-dramas. Scene of the Crime was nominated for a Grammy Award for "Best Contemporary Blues Album" and landed on numerous "Best of 2007" lists. Drive-By Truckers frontman Patterson Hood produced the album alongside LaVette. The album also features one song cowritten by LaVette and Hood.
Drive-By Truckers backed up Booker T. Jones on his instrumental album Potato Hole, which was released on April 21, 2009. Neil Young also contributed over-dubbed guitar work to the album; the Drive-By Truckers and he never met in studio. Potato Hole features a re-recording of the Cooley penned track "Space City", which originally was released on the album A Blessing And A Curse. The band performed with Jones as "Booker T and the DBTs" at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival on June 14, 2009. On January 31, 2010, Potato Hole won the Best Pop Instrumental Album award at the 52nd Grammy Awards.
In late 2009, Barr Weissman released a documentary on the Drive-By Truckers entitled The Secret To A Happy Ending. The film follows the band over three particularly straining years of their career, and captures their near break up, as well as the departure of Jason Isbell from the band.