The Drive-By Truckers (DBT’s) hail from Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Muscle Shoals has a history of Southern Rock and was the home of  rhythm, blues, soul and rock in the sixties and the seventies. Wilson Pickett. The Allman Brothers. Aretha Franklin. The Rolling Stones. Traffic. Boz Scaggs. Rod Stewart. These are just a few of the ghosts that wander the humid air of this little place in Alabama. This is where they recorded some of their finest work with some of the premium session players ever to be in a recording studio. There be some history down thar’ in that sleepy little part of America and the DBT’s are keeping it alive.

Some things have changed down in that part of the South through the years. The economy has taken a toll on the ability to live comfortably and the war in Iraq (apologies, I don’t think it is a ‘WAR’ now…just some sort of military engagement!) has taken many lives from the beautifully, dirty South, with over 50 souls from Alabama alone. There are some politics down there that really do need a look into, but I think we all know there are some problems in that country of red, white and blue. Let’s not forget what happened to the great city of N’awlins too quickly.  The poverty, the dispossessed, the abandonment of the working class all are easy to see if you’re ever down that way. Sometimes I feel that history certainly does repeat….just look around and it could be 1967 again.

This is the well where Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, the original founders of the DBT (Drive-By Truckers) draw their inspiration.  They compose songs about the people and the existence that surrounds them. This was well evident in the earlier releases, “Gangstabilly” (1998) and “Pizza Deliverance” (1999) where you had songs entitled: “Late For Church”, “18 Wheels of Love”, “Bulldozers and Dirt”, “Too Much Sex (Too Little Jesus)” and the wonderfully entitled “Buttholville” which painted this little slice of life:

Tired of living
Tired of my job and my wife Lucille
Tired of my kids Ronnie and Neil
Tired of my 68 Bonneville
Working down at Billy Bob’s Bar and Grille
The food here tastes like the way I feel
There’s a girl on the dance floor dressed to kill
She’s the best looking woman in Buttholeville.

The band came into the view of critics and punters alike in 2001 when they recorded “Southern Rock Opera”. This record was a unique take on Southern mythology, the seventies and the life and times of Lynyrd Skynrd. A true Southern Rock Opera, that was so expansive, humorous and thought provoking in it’s content that it was heralded by most in the music press as one of the top 10 releases of the year.Today we have a new release that brings it altogether in an amazing gumbo of white boy rhythm and blues and rock and roll with a good lashing of bourbon.

“A Blessing and a Curse” (to be released in April 2006) has the distinctive sounds of the DBT’s, but it is infected with the spirit of many of the previously mentioned ghosts.The CD kicks off with “Feb 14” which is a broken Valentines song with the sound of the DBT’s kicking it out hard and fast. “Aftermath USA” is the Rolling Stones circa “Exile On Main Street” and the epic and temperamental “Goodbye” is an instant classic.

“Little Bonnie” sets an ominous mood with the twanging guitars and bass and the wonderful vocals of the band. The band have honed their sound to perfection, borrowing a bit here and there from that other great Southern Band, The Black Crowes, but making a noise that is truly their own. Check out the spoken lyrics on “World of Hurt” and you can see that the band and the songwriting has definitlely grown up over the last decade. It is a very special song. Two not so easy to distinguish DBT tracks are “Daylight” which sounds like something Bono would be singing and “Easy On Yourself” which draws similarities to a well known song by Blue Oyster Cult. Go figure… or maybe my ears are just playing tricks!

The Drive By Truckers are at their peak, and as they continue to do close to 200 shows a year (Australia please!), this live gig ethic has enabled them to capture these tracks in what sounds like live to tape beauty. Check it out, and investigate their back catalogue, you won’t be disappointed with the journey.