Raleigh News & Observer
May 9, 2008
Drive-By Truckers are, from left, Brad Morgan, Spooner Oldham, Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, Shonna Tucker and John Neff. (Oldham isn't playing with the band in Carrboro.)
Things are pretty pleasant nowadays for the Drive-By Truckers, who play next week in Carrboro. Back in February, the Truckers hit a chart peak with their latest album, "Brighter Than Creation's Dark" (New West Records), which made it all the way up to No. 37 on the Billboard 200. Interpersonal relations within the band are better than they've been for a while. And the band even took a little time off this spring for drummer Brad Morgan to tend to his new baby.
But you'd never know that from the grim tone of "Brighter Than Creation's Dark," which has the Truckers' usual combination of earthy swamp-rock and desperate characters who can't seem to get out of their own way. No matter how well real life is going, the Truckers always sound downright gothic. Asked when the band might start writing cheery songs, guitarist Patterson Hood laughs.
"I sure would like that," he says over the phone from his home in Athens, Ga. "I do write one every now and then that's kinda happy, and it's not like I'm a gloomy person. But the songs on this last album were written during a pretty dark period. There was a lot of drama, plus the political and national situation, which is certainly something we've all got strong feelings about. So there are plenty of reasons why it's so dark. But to me, it's not without a certain amount of hope and faith. You just have to look for it."
Much of the Truckers' real-life drama in recent years centered on the married couple in the band, guitarist Jason Isbell and bassist Shonna Tucker. They divorced, and Isbell subsequently left for a solo career. Tucker stayed in the Truckers, and the new album has the first songs she's written for the band.
Blessing and curse
In retrospect, you can hear evidence that all was not well in the Truckers' orbit on their last album with Isbell, 2006's aptly titled "A Blessing and a Curse." While it had some solid performances and decent songs, "Curse" was still the first Truckers album that felt like a holding pattern. No one was happy with it, including the band.
"Some people do hate 'Blessing and a Curse,'" Hood says. "I don't, but I can understand why some of our longtime fans turned on it. That whole record was about us trying to find common ground at a time when there was just not much to be had. What's on the record is the closest we could come to agreement to move forward and keep it from flying apart. It was not fun at all. We knew we had serious problems coming to the surface, and we didn't know what to do about it."
Improbably, the Truckers found salvation through Bettye LaVette, the great soul veteran. LaVette's record label commissioned the Truckers to back her up, Booker T. & the M.G.s-style, on last year's "Scene of the Crime." But the collaboration got off to a rough start after LaVette was presented with a compilation of Truckers songs to get a feel for the band.
"Oh, she hated it," Hood says with a laugh. "Every bit. I think her plan was to agree to it and go down there, fire us and bring in session people instead. But it didn't work out that way, which I'm so thankful for because everybody was happy in the end."
"Scene of the Crime" was nominated for the best-contemporary-blues-album Grammy Award and it deserved to win, although it lost to J.J. Cale and Eric Clapton. But the album gave both the Truckers and LaVette a nice shot in the arm, setting things up nicely for "Brighter Than Creation's Dark."
One more song
The Truckers went into the studio last spring and cut 18 songs quickly, almost as rough as demos. The plan was to spend some time listening to those recordings and settle on 10 or 12 songs to go back and record with more care. But while listening to the songs on the touring bus last summer, they decided they already had the record -- almost.
"Crazy as we are, we were all saying, 'It needs one more song,'" Hood says. "We have our weird ways. There were reasons why this one was so long. All 18 songs felt like one big, interlocking piece that captured a mood and a vibe about where we were. And in listening on the bus, we were all in complete agreement: 'This is the record, except we need a real rockin' track three to sum up the loose ends and tie everything together.'"
At the last minute, Hood finally came up with the last piece of the puzzle: "The Righteous Path," which you might call a depiction of quiet desperation and trying to keep contradictions at bay. Except there's nothing quiet about it.
Got a beautiful wife and three towheaded kids.
A couple big secrets I'd kill to keep hid.
I don't know God but I fear his wrath.
I'm trying to stay focused on the righteous path.
They bashed out "The Righteous Path" in a single take and inserted it into the sequence as track number three, and the record was done. Given how rough and raw "Brighter Than Creation's Dark" is, its chart performance is surprising. It has sold a shade over 50,000 copies, a solid figure for this day and age.
"I never thought we'd get as far as we have," Hood says. "I'm ambitious and always wanting to move forward. But at the same time, if we can just maintain basically where we are, that could be OK. I'd like to sell more records, but the business has collapsed to the point where our sales look pretty good. We're still selling pretty much the same as we ever have, but everyone else is so much worse that we're in the top 40!
"It's like what Billy Joel told John Mellencamp when he inducted him into the Hall of Fame," Hood concludes. " 'Congratulations, John, you've outlived the music business.' I never liked Billy Joel, but I'll give him that one."
david.menconi@newsobserver.com or blogs.newsobserver.com/beat or (919) 829-4759.
Info
Who: Drive-By Truckers, Dexateens.
When: Tuesday and Wednesday, 10 p.m.
Where: Cat's Cradle, 300 E. Main St., Carrboro.
Cost: $20 advance, $22 day of show
Details: 967-9053 or catscradle.com.
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