Drive-By Truckers

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Drive-By Truckers in 2006
Background information
Origin	Athens, Georgia The Shoals, Alabama
Genre(s)	Rock Alt-Country Cowpunk
Years active	1996 - present
Label(s)	New West Records Lost Highway Records Soul Dump Records
Associated acts	Adam's House Cat The SCREWTOPIANS
Website	http://www.drivebytruckers.com
Members
Patterson Hood Mike Cooley Jason Isbell Shonna Tucker Brad "EZB" Morgan
Former members
Rob Mallone Earl Hicks

Drive-By Truckers are a rock/alt-country/cowpunk (their website actually calls them a psychobilly band) band based in Athens, Georgia, though four out of five members originally hail from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama. Their music is characteristically unique due to its “three axe attack,” or three guitars as well as bass and drums. Their lyrics often revolve around drifters and criminals trying to survive in economically-depressed small towns. They currently record for New West Records.

1 History
2 Members
3 Discography
4 See Also
- 4.1 Videos
5 External links

[edit] History

Drive-By Truckers was co-founded by Patterson Hood (son of legendary bassist David Hood of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section) and longtime friend and musical "partner in crime", Mike Cooley in Athens, Georgia, in 1996. The two men had played in various other bands including Adam's House Cat which was chosen as a top ten "Best Unsigned Band" by a Musician's Magazine contest in the late 1980s.

Together with a revolving group of musicians, Drive-By Truckers put out their first two albums, Gangstabilly (1998) and Pizza Deliverance (1999). Following their second release, DBT hit the road on a nationwide tour, resulting in a live album called Alabama Ass-Whuppin' (released in 2000 by Second Heaven Records, re-released in 2002 by Terminus Records). They had an entertaining and informational website long before most bands had begun taking advantage of the internet as a promotional tool, and together with constant touring, they quickly developed a large and dedicated fan base both on and off-line.

After three years on the road a tight-knit group of musicians emerged. They began work on their most ambitious project, 2001's Southern Rock Opera. Southern Rock Opera is a double album executed as a song cycle. The album uses the rise and, literal, fall of Lynyrd Skynyrd as a magnifying glass for the cultural fall of the South as a whole during the 1970s.

Southern Rock Opera, originally released independently on DBT's own Soul Dump Records on September 12, 2001, garnered praise from fans and critics alike. In order to meet new demand brought on by, among other things, a four-star review in Rolling Stone, Southern Rock Opera was re-issued by Mercury/Lost Highway Records in July of 2002. Soon after, Drive-By Truckers were named Band of the Year from No Depression Magazine.

Before Drive-By Truckers could record a follow-up to Southern Rock Opera, they ran into a problem when they were left with only two guitarists (Cooley and Hood) following the departure of Rob Malone. It was during this time that DBT picked up its replacement in fellow Alabamian guitarist and songwriter, Jason Isbell. Though he was only in his mid-twenties when he joined DBT, Isbell has gone on to be as equally praised a songwriter as Cooley or Hood.

After signing a new deal with Austin-based record label New West, DBT set about recording the follow up to Southern Rock Opera. The end result was 2003's Decoration Day, which, like its predecessor, received praise across the board. The album is, in its own way, a concept album in that the characters in all of the songs on Decoration Day are faced with hard decisions to be made; marriage, incest, break-ups, revenge, murder, and suicide are major themes.

After years of producing and playing with DBT, bassist Earl Hicks left the band in late 2003. Hicks was replaced by studio bassist Shonna Tucker, 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 The Dirty South. Like Southern Rock Opera, The Dirty South was a concept album which, once again, explored the dark nature of "The Southern Thing."

Relentlessly touring throughout 2004 and 2005, DBT somehow found their way to The Fidelitorium Recording Studio in North Carolina to record A Blessing and a Curse. Released on April 18, 2006, A Blessing and a Curse showcased DBT's ability to branch out into new territory, and can be seen as the band's attempt at shaking any 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 Skynyrd, and more closely resembles the bare-bones British rock of the early 1970's such as The Rolling Stones and Faces.

A Blessing and a Curse also saw a reunion, both on-stage and on-record, between DBT and Athens-based pedal steel guitarist, John Neff. Neff first collaborated with DBT on their debut, Gangstabilly. Neff is featured heavily on A Blessing and a Curse, and is currently touring with DBT as an unofficial sixth member.

The band's online presence has been maintained by longtime friend Jenn Bryant and cover art and posters are mostly done by another old friend, Wes Freed.

Patterson Hood performing with DBT in Auburn, Alabama in 2005.	Mike "The Stroker Ace" Cooley performing with DBT in Macon, Georgia in 2006.	Jason Isbell performing with DBT in Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2005.	Shonna Tucker performing with DBT at Bonnaroo in 2005.
Brad "The EZB" Morgan performing with DBT in Starkville, Mississippi in 2006.	John Neff performing with DBT in Atlanta, Georgia in 2006.	A promotional poster which doubles as an advertisment for The Truckers' favorite beer, Pabst Blue Ribbon.