Drive-By Truckers’ two principals, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, began the band in 1986 when they were both living in Athens, Georgia. They shared roles as co-singers-guitaristssongwriters. Hood was steeped in a very southern kind of music; his father David Hood was bassist with the crack Muscle Shoals rhythm section The Swampers, who played on sessions for Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge and more.
From their earliest days, the Truckers’ line-up was fluid. The core elements of their sound, though, have remained rocksolid. Theirs is a gumbo of southern rock, country, classic rock, 60s soul and R&B. Hood and Cooley’s lyrics are populated by hard-bitten characters living harder lives in the milieu of the Deep South.
The Truckers’ first two albums, (1998) and (1999), were rough-and-ready, and selfreleased. Hood and Cooley toured tirelessly behind them with assorted bandmates. At the same time, Hood was also developing a grander concept; a Southern Gothic drama melding elements of hisevolved into a sweeping double album recorded in 2001. They raised $23,000 in loans from fans, friends and family to have 5,000 copies pressed and selfreleased. The following year, it was picked up and re-released worldwide by Nashvillebased indie label Lost Highway.
