DBT WIR 2/8/07

Big Update!
Updated 2 & 3@ bottom of Patterson's post

This will appear on DBT's website today but some very gracious folks have allowed me to post it here first. Thanks, guys!

DBT - THE DIRT UNDERNEATH
(stories and songs sitting down / tales facing up)

Y'ALL:

Nearly six years ago, DBT played a show at Pine Hill Farms up in North Carolina. The monthly event (now, long defunct) was held at a farmhouse on a beautiful piece of land outside of Chapel Hill NC.

It was written up in No Depression and had a built in following.

We were invited to play there shortly after the release (1st time) of Southern Rock Opera. We played sitting down and acoustic. We drank huge quantities of beer and whiskey and deconstructed the SRO album (and many other albums worth of songs) over a 4+ hour period. Bootlegs of the highlights have been very popular among collectors and the show seems to be a very fond memory among folks who were there (none of whom can actually remember it). Such is how things like that go.

We play very loud and for many good reasons.

The show itself has morphed far from where we originally set out from and in ways that I largely find thrilling.

I love the ridiculous cathartic bombast of it and the way I feel like someone beat the ever loving shit out of me when it's over.

That said, I do sometimes miss how the songs get buried in the process and have always dreaded and feared a day when the whole thing becomes a caricature of itself.

This year is the first time since before SRO that we aren't out promoting a new album. We are all committed to taking some time at home to recharge, write and spend some Family Time.

We also wanted to go out a do something a little different. Maybe revisit some songs in a different light, maybe try out some new stuff on a smaller scale, maybe tell some stories and sing some songs. Pull up some chairs, have a few drinks and tell some stories to each other and some friends.

We know how to do that but just never really get around to it.

THE DIRT UNDERNEATH is a show I've been wanting to do for a long time.

It's roots come from that Pine Hill Farms show I mentioned (the first one, not the 2nd one, which actually was kind of a drunken clusterfuck).

Shonna plays a mean upright bass. Maybe we can get Cooley to play that banjo he plays so well in the studio. We all know some stories and can sing some pretty harmonies when we're not singing over a wall of guitars (Oh glorious guitars).

It's not a permanent thing, just a handful of dates (TBA SOON). A chance to reconnect with some songs and maybe each other a bit.

That way, when we go back out with The Rock Show, it will be fresh and new to us again. Like Rock and Roll is supposed to be.

Contrary to rumors, there are NO CONFIRMED DATES YET but hopefully there will be soon.

See You There.
Patterson Hood
Drive-By Truckers

Fuck, this is going to be awesome. I mean awesome........

2nd Update:

Folks over on REM's board Murmur.net started a thread about this. There's a picture from the 2nd Pine Hill Farm show (the clusterfuck) that Patterson references. Check it out.

3rd Update via Jenn B.

Wes Freed is working on a poster for this tour that will surely be badass, as well - forgot to add that. They will be limited, unfortunately, but they will be killer.

_________

Patterson posted this on DBT's website the other day....

Drive-By Truckers:

Y'all:

Just a mention, you might remember that David Barbe and I recently co-produced the next album by one of my favorite bands; Tuscaloosa Alabama's THE DEXATEENS.

That album, 'Hardwire Healing' has already been really well-received in Europe and finally it is coming out here in The USA next tuesday, Feb. 6 2007.

The album's single, 'Naked Ground' is being featured in several prominent national samplers and they have just completed a video for the great song 'Neil Armstrong'.

I picked up the album at Amoeba Records yesterday after work and boy-fucking-howdy! I don't have the ability to write music/album reviews where I define each song and how it sounds to me. I'm best at going to shows and writing about the experience from a fans perspective.

But I would like to comment on Hardwire Healing. Dang, that first song Naked Ground just grabs you by the balls and makes you snarl. For me the album is some cross between Deliverence and Zepplin. Not the sound track of Deliverence but the feel of the movie. McPherson and Smith's vocals are crazy haunting. The entire album rocks much and if you haven't gone out and bought it yet, you should.

Of course, now I've got to go buy their previous albums. Being a part of the DBT family can break your ass with as many fantastic bands in orbit.

The liner notes of the album were written by Patterson and it tells the tale of two of the band mates bitter break up and subsequently not speaking to each other for two years. They mended fences and immediatly went into the studio to record this album. That tension and resolution and mended hurt are very apparent in this album and increases the listenability a hun'erd fold.

I can't wait to see these boys live.

Check out what the pro's are sayin' about 'em. They were Spin.com's 'Band of the Day' a couple of days ago.

_______


DBT Press Room

I've always thought PPOTM was DBT greatest protest song and I'm glad to see someone else thinks the same way.


Best American Protest Songs:

2. "Puttin' People on the Moon," Drive-By Truckers. The DBTs show what can happen if you allow politicians to distract you from the true problems of society. The song is the story of a man living near Huntsville, Ala., who is struggling to get by and eventually "took to runnin' numbers for this man I used to know. And I sell a few narcotics. And I sell a little blow."

Side note, here....

I'm loving this hiatus 'cause apparently Patterson been watching the TV at home and getting PISSED about the current sorry state of affairs in this country. This is exactly how Jubilee Dive came about and y'all know I love that album.

If you haven't, you need to periodically check in and see what new songs Patterson has written. Go here to see.


Here's a snippet from his latest called 'The Home Front'.

Now they’re saying on the flat screen
They ain’t found a reason yet
We’re all bogged down in a quagmire
And there aint no end to it
No Nine Eleven or Uranium to pin the bullshit on
She’s left standing on the home front
The two of them alone

Alright, breathe JPW, today is a DBT WIR day not a politics day...... 1.... 2.... 3.....4.... ok, better now.

From the DBT Yahoo Board:


TV Guide DBT Mention - Jimmy Olsen's Favorite Band:

"There is a small article in this week's TV Guide about an actor from Canada named Aaron Ashmore who plays Jimmy Olsen on the show 'Smallville'. In the section of his bio titled 'Person (living or dead) He'd Like to Meet' he says, 'The band Drive-By Truckers. They're a Southern rock-and-country band that a friend of mine introduced me to. I've been listening to them a lot lately and they have great lyrics. I'd love to have my own private concert and pick their brains.'"

_______

DBT getting air play on KFOG here in San Francisco:

KFOG: Shows - Sunday Night Jam:

"January 28, 2007

9pm

Papa Mali - Do Your Thing - Do Your Thing
Moe - Tailspin - The Conch
Drive-By Truckers - Carl Perkins' Cadillac - The Dirty South
New Orleans Social Club - Fortunate Son - Sing Me Back Home
Tommy Guerrero - War No More - From the Soil to the Soul
Stockholm Syndrome - Couldn't Get It Right - Holy Happy Hour
Grateful Dead - Eyes of the World - Live at the Cow Palace / NYE 1976
Garage A Trois - A Frame - Emphasizer
Ozomatli - Can't Stop - Don't Mess with the Dragon"

Also, I got behind a car on my way home from work on Tuesday and I noticed 3 bumper stickers. One was a Grateful Dead sticker and another being an environmental "Stay Green" sticker. Nothing out of the ordinary in San Francisco.

The third sticker was a bit hard to see so I crept up on this vehicles ass and all be damned if it wasn't a Drive-by Trucker's Southern Rock Opera bumber sticker. The only other one of those I've seen is on Jenn B's card and I'm not sure if hers is a SRO sticker.

Much love in the Bay Area for DBT.

Jason and Patterson, y'all remember that when booking tours for the solo shows! I know it is a far piece to travel but, really, is any distance too great for love.... and rock?

_______

Award nominations for DBT

The Nominees For the 1st Annual Music Blog Awards:

"If you're a music blogger who did not participate in the nomination process, you are still eligible to vote in the finals. Just email us your name, blog, and your choices in each category. Vote for one and only one nominee per category. Votes are due Monday, February 12th at 11:59 PM."

_______

From the cradle to the grave.....

Nine Bullets:

"Just 5 1/2 weeks old and he already digs the Truckers. "

_______


Jason Isbell

I can't wait to change the name of the blog to Alabama Ass Siren.....

J.I. has picked up some dates with Son Volt:

Jay Farrar - Tour

Also, here's a video from on of the bands that will be touring with Jason:

Hackensaw Boys

_______

Eddie Hinton and n'em

Deryle Perryman forwarded this blurb to me so we could learn more about his doc partner, Moises. As the blurb says, "Moises has been cranking them (documentaries) of late and is hotter'n an Alabama July...."

Deryle and his unindicted co-conspirator, Moises Gonzalez, have produced a documentary on Eddie Hinton that is getting play at various film festivals across the country. While this is Deryle's first documentary since 1981, Moises has been cranking them of late and is hotter'n an Alabama July afternoon--or a San Antonio August afternoon, since that's where he hails from. His 2001 effort "Cuba - Next Exit", a personal narrative documentary on growing up Cuban-American, was awarded the "Primio Mesquite Award " at the 25th San Antonio CineFestival as well as a "New Voices,New Mexico Award" from the Santa Fe Film Festival.
His 2004 documentary "Light Heavy", on the boxing career of Light Heavyweight Champion Bobby Foster was awarded the "Audience Choice Award" at the Alibi Film Festival and took home a cash prize cash prize from the Governor's Cup at the Santa Film Festival.

I'm getting excited about seeing Dangerous Highway.

Deryle wanted me to invite y'all to the after party, too.

AND DON'T FORGET TO INVITE YOUR READERS TO THE EDDIE HINTON TRIBUTE PARTY FOLLOWING @ ANNIE'S SOCIAL CLUB FOR A GUARANTEED , CERTIFIED, SATISFACTORY GOOD TIME..WITH LIVE MUSIC TO BOOT, uh huh.

More Eddie Hinton info from the every knowledgable Jayne Clamp. Thanks Jayne!

Here's a song written by Jerry Joseph about Eddie Hinton. The song is called 'Thanks and Praises'. Click the link to read the lyrics:

Jerry Joseph Song Lyrics

Also, here are some MP3 online of a collaboration between Colemand and Hinton. I'm grooving on "Where you come from" at the moment.

LostAndFound

_______


Other Music News

Looks like The Shoals is making a push to become the 'Hit Making Capitol' of the world again. 'Bought goddamn time!!!

Sultans of sound | TimesDaily.com|Florence, AL:

"Nutt is working with The Fiddleworms on a new studio album.

He's also worked with Mobile-based Ugli Stick, local artist John Paul White, Clarence Carter, Russell Smith, of the Amazing Rhythm Aces, Angela Hacker, Jimmy Buffett and the Drive-By Truckers."

Jimmy Nutt probably could have opened his recording studio anywhere in the U.S..

But after visiting the Shoals in 1999, he decided to open "The Nutt House" in Sheffield, the home of the hit producing Muscle Shoals Sound Studios.

"I really fell in love with the place," Nutt said.

Nutt's studio, which opened about a year ago, is one of a handful of commercial recording studios operating in the Shoals.

_______

Music cruises lure fans and bands

_______

I grew up a big fan of the Police.....


The Police reunite for Grammys :

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Police will reunite to open the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on February 11, The Recording Academy said on Tuesday, fueling speculation that the hit 1980s band is planning a reunion tour."

_______

Jerry Garcia's widow sues over estate:

"SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - The widow of the Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia is suing to gain access to unpublished tapes of her late husband's musical performances."