The Big To-Do and 40 Watt Pictures

The Big To-Do is Here!

Today is the official release of Drive-By Truckers' The Big To-Do.

If you haven't already, go grab a copy of this awesome rock record.

All I can say is.... Whew.

Also, check out the new DBT Main Website. Nice work Jenn et. al!

In celebration of this fine day, I've posted pics and vids from the 40 Watt shows that I was too lazy to fuck with several weeks ago.

No blogurockumentary as those may be a thing of this blog's past.

Thanks to all in Athens who made it a kickass time (Jenn.. always Jenn! Shayne and TMcB... much love, y'all. Mattador and Kelly. Damon.... for working all night then jaw jacking with me about the night's doings @ 4 a.m. Sunday morning. Justin.... for being a genius and creating the 'Friends and Family' cooler back stage. All at the 40 Watt. Athens in general. Nuci's for a kick ass benefit. Hoods and Cooleys and Tuckers and Neffs and Gonzalezezezez. Weaver D's for that Automatic Sweet Tea that damn near saved my life (I stumbled into Weaver's Saturday afternoon bleary as could be... ordered my food, then asked for some sweet tea. Weaver pointed to the cup already in front of me and said "Automatic, baby. Automatic for the people". I thought, my that's odd. Then I turned around to see the wall plastered with REM memorabilia. Then I received my music lesson for the day).

To all the folks I'm sure I forgot in my little thank you jag.

But, the biggest thanks goes out to Ava Hood, the only person willing to play dinosaur tag with me. I'd been asking people all day before Ava stepped up. You Rock, Ava!

OK, here are the pics and one thought that has endured from Athens:

Redneck sexy: Somebody else's baby dangling from one arm while holding a PBR in the other hand.

Riding in the back of Damon's van listening to the new Bettye LaVette (yes, it is very bad ass)

Yeah, She will.



40 Watt - Blessing of the Venue









Camp Amped All Stars



































Guess why this picture made the cut:



Yes.



Hoods









I call this one 'Mattador'



















3:00 a.m. Sunday Morning backstage.... gettin' arty



40 Watt presents an award to DBT







Here's Bloodkin, though the sound is squeaky



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Here's to 2010 being the Biggest Damn To-Do we've all experienced.

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DBT Week in Review - 1/29/10

DBT!

Booker T. Jones Potato Hole is up for two Grammies!

Remember, you can tune in online for the awards not shown on TV.

Go Booker and DBT!

I almost feel this one in my bones. The stars are really aligned at the moment. (Roll Tide, anyone?)

Nominees | GRAMMY.com

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Check out the new bio if you haven't already.

Drive-By Truckers- Bio

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Peter Grumbine reviews This Fucking Job

NEW DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS SONG, TOUR DATES, ALBUM ART, DOCUMENTARY | The People's Music:

"When most bands make an announcement, they simply do that: they make AN announcement, but not the Drive-by Truckers. No, when you get some DBT news, you get all kinds of cool shit in your inbox.

Today the Truckers released “This Fucking Job” the first song off their upcoming album “The Big To-Do,” they unveiled the cover art by the always brilliant Wes Freed, they announced tour dates, and released more screening dates for the documentary on the band “The Secret to a Happy Ending.” That’s more than most indie shitheads do in a career, and it was just another Tuesday for the Truckers."

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Check out Nuci's Thank you for the fans and links reviewing the benefit.

Nu�i's Space - DBT Review

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Camp Amped Band:

Here they are covering Centro-Matic's Breathe Deep Not Loud:

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I'll have a full picture post from the 3 night run hopefully up Monday.

Here are a couple more.

Look at these NBers:

I do know one of them battled an won this bad boy at the auction:

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Check out the Dead Drunk and Naked cover by The BluesBerries from....

Steyr, Oberösterreich Austria

The BluesBerries on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads:

"and the occasional modern song (Dead Drunk & Naked by The Drive-By Truckers and Prison Grove by Warren Zevon)."

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Don't worry, great music is on the way - ESPN:

"A week later, on March 16, new work from the Drive-By Truckers. Meaning that on March 17, you'll be able to find me hunkered in my bedroom with a bottle of whiskey to drink, a mixed-breed dog to pet, and the Truckers on my stereo. I'll be as happy as a man can be.

(Note: I do not own a dog, mixed-breed or otherwise. But I might buy one on March 15, to get ready.)"

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Best Sing-A-Long ever:

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Keep on Smiling, y'all:

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Muscle Shoals Sound

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Stumbled upon these on YouTube:

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Music I Like

If you haven't gotten Hubbards latest one you are missing out.

Sessions: Ray Wylie Hubbard | American Songwriter

Ray Wylie Hubbard, the bard behind Jerry Jeff Walker’s classic ‘73 cut “Up Against The Wall, Redneck Mother,” was visiting Nashville, up from his home outside of Austin, Texas, when he stopped in to discuss his new album A. Enlightenment B. Endarkenment (Hint: There is No C). The album features the title cut (inspired by his favorite Poe poem) as well as the co-write with Hayes Carll, “Drunken Poet’s Dream,” also the first cut on Hayes’ 2007 album Trouble In Mind. Hubbard discussed life in Texas as an elder statesman of songwriting, what it’s like taking guys like Hayes under his wing and new tools like e-mail (!) and Masterwriter that keep his songwriting fresh. Take a listen to three live tracks that Hubbard recorded in our office and, below the interview, check out the video of Hubbard playing the album’s title track.

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Dead Drunk and Naked

The Stupidest Pop Lyrics Of All Time

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Like 54k isn't just as 'monstrous'.

Judge slashes ‘monstrous’ fine in music piracy case | Raw Story:

"WASHINGTON — Condemning a two-million-dollar fine meted out to a Minnesota woman for illegally downloading music over the Internet as 'monstrous and shocking,' a judge has slashed the penalty to 54,000 dollars.

US District Court Michael Davis said the fine imposed by a jury on Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a single mother of four from the town of Brainerd, veered into the 'realm of gross injustice.'"

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Just another day in the Tennessee Valley

Couple in court; body still missing | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"Her car was discovered burned beyond recognition Friday on an isolated logging road in McNairy County. Authorities said a GPS unit in the car indicated it left the Beersdorf residence Thursday and was driven to McNairy County."

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Salinger was still alive?!? We'll RIP, then, J.D.

J.D. Salinger Dead: 'Catcher in the Rye' Author Dies At 91:

"NEW YORK — J.D. Salinger, the legendary author, youth hero and fugitive from fame whose 'The Catcher in the Rye' shocked and inspired a world he increasingly shunned, has died. He was 91."

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DBT Week in Review - 11/13/09

Patterson/DBT!

40 Watt Shows have been announced!

Drive-By Truckers- Tour Dates

On sale tomorrow, 11/14 @ Noon.

Tickets for 1/14

Tickets for 1/15

Tickets for 1/16

3 Day Pass!

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Listen to Patterson Hood’s ‘Depression Era’ from ‘That Evening Sun’:

"A number of weeks ago I wrote about the original song “Depression Era” from Scott Teems’s “That Evening Sun.” It’s a breathy southern soul tune that, for my money, bests all other original song contenders this year. But considering the fact that the film will struggle to be seen, and the music branch isn’t likely to appreciate the song’s placement in the film (closing credits), I doubt an original song nomination is on the horizon."

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Patterson, Finn and Nichols. Onion A.V. folks are on top of it!

Who's the next Bruce Springsteen? | Features | | A.V. Milwaukee:

"Let’s dispense with an obvious disclaimer: There will never be another Springsteen, just as there will never be another Bob Dylan, Beatles, Zeppelin, insert your favorite classic rock band here. Furthermore, younger artists don’t need to be validated by being compared to a baby boomer favorite. Today’s musical heroes are just as valid as the legends of yesteryear. Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way: I think the person most deserving of Springsteen’s mantle is Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers."

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Internet Archive: Free Download: Patterson Hood Live at Caledonia Lounge on 2009-11-04

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Patterson Hood takes up series at Caledonia - Variety:

"'A good bit of our 2000 live album, 'Alabama Ass Whuppin,' was recorded there [at the Caledonia], so we put this together as a way to say thank you to the Caledonia for 10 years of great rock here in Athens,' Hood said."

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Musicians sound call for the Louisiana coast:

"The letter (view here ) was signed by a wide range of musicians and music industry voices; from New Orleans own Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Galactic, and Funky Meters to internationally known acts like REM, Trent Reznor, Ok Go, Los Lobos and Bonnie Raitt. Voodoo performers the Drive-By Truckers, Gogol Bordello, JJ Grey & Mofro, the Knux, Parliment-Funkadelic, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Generationals, Warsaw, and many others added their support as well."

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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Here are a couple of pictures of JI400 during sound check at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco last Sunday. I should have a full post up next week with pictures and a few tales.

Posted this video of The Blue earlier this week, but this is a do over for better sound. Still working on better compression for the imaging, but sound has been much improved. May still be loading, so vid quality will improve.

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Photo essay: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit @ the Larimer Lounge | Reverb

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Preservation Hall and Sony RED Distribution Announce: 'Preservation, an Album Benefiting Preservation Hall and Its Music Outreach Program':

"The complete roster of artists includes: Louis Armstrong, Andrew Bird, Terence Blanchard, Pete Seeger, Dr. John, Blind Boys of Alabama, Brandi Carlile, Cory Chisel, Ani DiFranco, Steve Earle, Merle Haggard, Richie Havens, Jason Isbell, Jim James, Angelique Kidjo, Amy LaVere, Anita Briem, Del McCoury, Bobby McFerrin, Buddy Miller, Paolo Nutini, and Tom Waits."

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Muscle Shoals Sound

Mac McAnally named musician of the year | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"“It was just a lucky piece of timing,” he said. “I’m just a part-time musician.”"

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Stars play auctioned guitars | TimesDaily.com | The Times Daily | Florence, AL:

"UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA - It takes seasoned guitarists such as Earl 'Peanut' Montgomery and Jimmie Johnson to notice the subtle differences in the two custom-made Benedetto guitars being auctioned by the University of North Alabama.

Johnson and Montgomery are among almost a dozen Shoals musicians who have come to Rogers Hall on the UNA campus to give the guitars a test run.

The guitars are the same model - electric hollow body Benedetto Bambinos handmade in Savannah, Ga."

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Dexateens

DEXATEENS t-shirt - all sizes - Peavy - - eBay (item 220506845914 end time Nov-13-09 17:18:21 PST)

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Music

Here's a quirky little group from the Bay Area.

Late Night Music Club: 'Beat It,' by Pomplamoose | Late Nite Music Club:

"Pomplamoose (it means 'grapefruit' in French) is a Bay Area indie jazz-pop band and is compromised made up of Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn, who do what they call VideoSongs.

For those who don't know, a VideoSong is a new medium with (as Jack puts it) two rules:

1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice).

2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds)."

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Whatever.

Joe Perry: Steven Tyler has quit Aerosmith - Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 | 4:03 p.m. - Las Vegas Sun

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Bee Gees interview - Telegraph:

"The two surviving members of this legendary trio (brother Maurice died suddenly, in January 2003, aged 53, of complications from a twisted intestine) have come together to celebrate a golden anniversary, 50 years in the music business, with a new compilation The Ultimate Bee Gees. It has been a quite extraordinary career, with two distinct periods of world-beating stardom, as Beatles-influenced soft rockers in the late Sixties (their classic hits included To Love Somebody, Words and How Can You Mend a Broken Heart and blue-eyed disco singers in the late Seventies (Stayin’ Alive, Jive Talkin’, Tragedy) with a twilight period as hitmakers for other artists, including Barbra Streisand (Woman in Love), Diana Ross (Chain Reaction), Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton (Islands in the Stream) and Dionne Warwick (Heartbreaker). Their catalogue of solid gold standards is rivalled only by Lennon and McCartney."

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The New York Music Project: Help Map The City In Song:

"Since its founding, New York has been an evergreen inspiration for musicians, from Gershwin to Dylan to the Beastie Boys. 'Empire State of Mind,' Jay-Z's love letter to the city, is just the latest, and perhaps greatest, in a long line of New York-inspired songs. But one day -- maybe soon, maybe not -- someone else will come along and pen a diddy about the city that never sleeps that will fully-encapsulate life in the five boroughs and Jay-Z's will be a worn-out standard, played while fans shuffle out of the new new Yankee Stadium.

So in honor of the long and vast history of New York in song, we're extremely pleased to introduce the Huffington Post New York Music Project. Essentially we are trying to discover, uncover, and map every single song lyric that name-checks a location, business, corner, monument, etc., in the city of New York. This can be as vague as George Cohan giving his regards 'to Broadway' to as specific as Lou Reed 'waiting for the man' on 125th and Lexington. We've put together 40 entries to start off with, but that just scratches the surface."

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Fun Stuff

Type yer birfday in:

Wolfram|Alpha

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Ambiguous Film Endings Resolved (VIDEO)

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Need to open a bottle of wine this weekend but don't have a cork screw?

Well, here you go:

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Patterson Hood and the Screwtopians - San Francisco - 7/8/09

The long version of this tale got 86'd as too much time has passed and much of my notes didn't make sense anymore.

So, short version:

Perfect day in San Francisco:

Lunch with hairy hero guy (who shall henceforth be referred to as 'HH'). And, I can write 'hero' with the knowledge that it will be read, but I'd never, ever state this in person due to an unwritten Northern Alabama code which prevents effusive praise regardless of the success. One must always leave room for ball busting.

I digress. Lunch with HH along with Ken Zankel, owner of The Grove on Fillmore Street, and all around super nice guy. Ken pointed out a DBT sticker that resides on the front of his restaurant. I've passed this place hundreds of times and never noticed it. Ken also is a big supporter of Nuci's Space (as we all should be). Ken kicks ass.

Next, cab ride to the TransAmerica building (or whatever hell company owns the place now) and a stroll through Jackson Square for some San Francisco history, with a stop to read the Hotaling placard.

"If, as they say, God spanked the town for being over-frisky,
Why did he burn the churches down and spare Hotaling's Whiskey?"

Then a nice, lazy wander through City Lights. City Lights in an amazing bookstore. Lots of history.

Another cab ride brings us closer to the venue and a Stella at the Fly Bar where The Hold Steady plays on the bar stereo.

After a short stroll to The Independent all kind of sound was thoroughly checked by Matador and Damon.

This was the first time I really got to tune into a sound check and really watch Matador at work. He's a damn professional and I was awed by his ability to simply get shit done.

Damon is pretty badass too I noticed him fiddling with a guitar strap. I walked over and he was McGyvering a beer cap into a snap to hold the strap on the guitar. Genius.

Sound check led to dinner with HH, Barbe, Neff and EZB. Dinner conversation dominated by Ted Turner/TBS/Braves/CNN... and even Bill Tush was conjured from the ether. I hadn't thought about Bill Tush in decades. Also, I should have gotten a cup of the white bean soup.

The show was incredible. The band was really tight. All was nailed to the wall. Crowd was very good for a Wednesday.

Another perfect San Francisco day. Always great to get to hang with talented friends.

Let's look at some pictures, shall we....

Are you ready to rock!

But first a word from our sponor, Beefcake!

Ever wonder how DBT/The Screwtopians stay in tip top shape during the rigors of touring?

Not only is EZB the rythym keeper he's also the trainer for all band members and crew.

EZB has developed a grueling 5 minute program which combines weight lifting with oxygen restriction. He's perfected this technique over the past many years on the road.

Be on the look out for a video and instructional book coming soon.

Beefcake!

Sound checking

Damon Towers

The opening act, The Stone Foxes, learning some tricks or two.

I only caught the last song of their set, but they were tearing it up. I'd definitely go see these guys again. They sport serious skills.

Met Will J. for the first time. What an incredible talent.

He killed Just to Know What You've Been Dreaming.

I'm an even bigger fan now.

Patterson had the best drunk girl heckle response ever.

Anna McCarthy from SF Weekly sums up the even nicely:

San Francisco - All Shook Down - Last Night: Patterson Hood and the Screwtopians at The Independent:

"Thank you Patterson Hood for finally telling the token drunk and loud girl in the crowd to, 'kiss someone, darlin.' Sweetest shushing ever."

Thanks for a great day, guys. Always a pleasure. See some of y'all in October for the Hardly Strictly Festival.

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