Patterson Hood Interview by Jared Nelson

When two of the works a rock & roll band is most famous for are titled Southern Rock Opera and The Dirty South, it seems inevitable that they would get tagged with the term “Southern rock.” This designation has followed the Drive-By Truckers doggedly since the former record brought them to national attention. Many of the songs explicitly dealt with what Patterson Hood called “the duality of the Southern thing,” and many others were hard and heavy chronicles of various tales from Lynyrd Skynyrd, the archetypical southern-rock band.

But listening to the Truckers, the music seldom ever resembles the progenitors of the genre: Skynyrd, the Allman Brothers, the Marshall Tucker Band. The riffs have more in common with the monolithic will of the Neil Young records with Crazy Horse. The band’s ragged glory is a far cry from the nonstop instrumental fireworks and jazz progressions of the Allman Brothers. The lyrics seem indebted to the storytelling of country and folk music in their depiction of the lives of the non-urbanite down and out.

The Drive-By Truckers’ new album, Brighter than Creation's Dark, contains a song titled “You and Your Crystal Meth,” but to assume that this is simply representative of a specific geographical region is to deny the wider reach of their tales.

“I've always had to struggle a little bit with that being such a big part of how we're perceived and people's perception of our identities,” Hood commented over the phone from his home in Athens, Georgia.

Yes, Hood speaks in a warm, friendly southern drawl and says that his songs are directly affected by the region he lives in. But he also knows that the topics have relevance throughout the nation.

“If you're in beautiful, progressive Seattle but you get in your car and drive 30 minutes outside of town, it's not that different than outside of town here. It may be a different industry that's having troubles, but there's a lot of common ground,” Hood explained. “The earth is becoming more and more of a small town everyday, anyway. I kind of made it a point on the last couple of records to not be as geographically specific on some of the songs.”

This de-localization of Hood’s settings has made it indicative that their tales of fading economies and their results could happen anywhere in the United States.

When discussing albums with similar lyrical perspectives as his own, Hood actually references the Kinks. In the late ’60s, banned from touring the United States, the Kinks recorded a series of albums (The Village Green Preservation Society, Arthur, Lola, Musswell Hillbillies ) depicting the lives of the common British man.

“Village Green is pretty parallel to what we did in a lot of ways with Southern Rock Opera,” Hood explained. “It was talking about the misunderstood community they grew up in.”

The Truckers’ newest album is a sprawling, 19-track record which moves through layered guitar crescendos, after-hour soul jams and folk-rock storytelling. The sheer amount of material bears comparison with Southern Rock Opera, but Hood does not seem to mind. On a recent MySpace blogpost, he invoked images of other caterwauling double albums: the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main Street, Sonic Youth's Daydream Nation , Bruce Springtseen's The River, etc.

“I think song-for-song it's probably our best record,” he commented. “It's certainly the best playing we've ever done on a record and the best recording we've ever done.”

The departure of guitarist/songwriter/singer Jason Isbell in early 2007 does not seem to have curbed the flow of songs. His ex-wife, bassist Shonna Tucker, contributes three tracks and her harmonies are a welcome addition. The band has also been augmented by John Neff, their touring lap steel player, as a permanent member.

In the history of the Truckers, lineup changes have been frequent. Hood, though, is excited about the current configuration and upcoming tour.

“We’re getting along and everybody’s really like-minded right now within the band and kind of pushing in the same direction,” he mused. “Everybody's really enthusiastic and fired up about this new record.”

The band debuted the new songs in three hometown gigs in early January. The first show was a benefit that raised money for an Athens charity the band is involved with.

“It was really kind of fun getting to premier all these new songs, mix it up with some old ones, and turn it up and rock it,” Hood said. “This record was really different than the others had been to me and I wasn't quite sure how it was going to play out in the context of a big, loud rock show, but it seemed to work really well.”

On the upcoming U.S. dates, the Truckers will be joined by the Felice Brothers, a folk-rock group from upstate New York that has previously toured with Bright Eyes. Hood heard of the group from a friend who drums for Bright Eyes.

“I’m excited to see them,” he chimed. “[They] look pretty cool.”

Despite the darkness pervading the new release, Hood himself seemed to be enthusiastic about the new album, the tour and his life.

“I love my family and I love my home life and the house I live in and the community I'm in. I’ve got a great job that I love and that I look forward to every day—almost,” he glowed. “And I get to live this kind of adventure with my favorite people.”

Brighter Than Creation's Dark was released on January 22. The band will be playing the Showbox on February 16 & 17 with the Felice Brothers.