New Drive-By Truckers Song - Full Album, The Unraveling, Out January 31, 2020

In exciting news the Drive-By Truckers have a new album coming out early next year. The Unraveling arrives on January 31st 2020. Let's let them tell you via https://www.instagram.com/dbtrockshow

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Y’all, . We are beyond excited to finally get to announce OUR NEW ALBUM!!! . Drive-By Truckers - The Unraveling will be coming out on January 31st, 2020. . Then we’ll be taking it on the road! . This is the longest time between DBT albums ever, but we think this one is worth the wait. . It follows through with some of the themes from last time, but is a more intensely personal view of it all. . These have been some dark times, but hopefully this will soundtrack us as we run towards the light. . Can’t wait to play it for you all. . See you at The Rock and Roll Show! . Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers) Link in profile 🤘

A post shared by Drive-By Truckers (@dbtrockshow) on Nov 20, 2019 at 7:13am PST

Pumped for this one to get here, the first single "Armageddon's Back in Town" was released as well check it out:

Until they release more, here are a few old ones to get you excited for this release:

Album Review: Drive-By Truckers - The Unraveling

Drive-By Truckers

The Unraveling 

****and1/2 out of *****

On the Drive-By Truckers previous studio release, 2016's American Band, the group tapped into the cultural zeitgeist in a dark year, crafting an album directly of it's time, but informed by years of pain, gun violence, red/blue hate and mental illness. It was an important album, but by design or not, it wasn't an album that inspired lots of repeat listens as the topics were weighty and the music just served the purpose of moving the vital stories along.

That topic of the bands musicality seems to be something they worked on as The Unraveling, keeps the focus directly on modern day USA, but the band has expanded their sonic palate to include fresh sounds engaging the listener with their modern day problems in yet another election year that deals with the exact same topics; pain, gun violence, red/blue hate and mental illness.

The album starts with a piano ballad accented by violins and light beats for "Rosemary with a Bible and a Gun" a classic Patterson Hood penned effort (by way of Bruce Springsteen) about escaping from one bad situation to another, only it excludes the bands patented three guitar attack. Fellow songwriter Mike Cooley's "Slow Ride Argument" puts his fury into a motoring road song which picks up the tempo.

Unlike recent albums which have seen more of a fifty/fifty split between main songwriters Hood and Cooley, this record is dominated by Hood's tales. "Heroin Again" and "Babies in Cages" switch up the bands musical sound while keeping current events front and center. "Heroin Again" pushes up the bass bumping and organ swells while "Babies in Cages" goes full on "Eminence Front" style with more of a dispassionate sense of futility in the vocals concerning the horrors at the border. 

Two more classic Hood numbers focus on current struggles. "Thoughts and Prayers" is a powerful straight ahead folk song which not only takes on the asshole politicians and their fear of the NRA, it also makes time for a bridge to tackle flat-earther's, while vilifying the uselessness of the title tandem before a perfect summation of the modern day malaise "21st Century USA", wishing for Amazon to deliver salivation after it's ordered on a mobile phone.

Cooley's "Grievance Merchants" spins a less successful look at Incels and internet trolls, combined with the dour nine minutes of "Awaiting a Resurrection" the album ends on an incredibly bleak note, but such are the times we live in.

All of this and we haven't even mentioned the brightest offering from the band this go around. The first single titled "Armageddon's Back In Town" which infuses the Truckers ominous bad decisions, and no win situations with an upbeat Tom Petty like rocker in stunning fashion. The Truckers haven't had a single like this in quite some years and make the most of it. 

While the band mentioned the long and drawn out writing process of the album they recorded with energy throughout. Even at four years removed, The Unraveling is a clear companion piece to American Band, as Hood mentioned:

"More heart and less cerebral perhaps…If the last one was a warning shot hinting at a coming storm, this one was written in the wreckage and aftermath." 

That cultural fallout (or The Unraveling) will reverberate for years and thankfully the Drive-By Truckers will continue to be on of the best rock bands going, capturing, fears, dreams and dying hopes of a flawed nation and spinning them into sonic gold.
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Support the band, buy the album and peep some video below:

Album Review - Drive By Truckers - The Big To-Do

This review is part of the "Over Flow" Review Series. For various reasons these past reviews were not published anywhere else. I am tagging them as "Overflow Reviews" and may add some extra information after if needed but I will keep the ratings and reviews just as I originally wrote them. Enjoy:

Drive By Truckers

The Big To-Do

***and1/2 out of ***** 

Clever lyrics about southern culture on the skids in front of an overloaded 3 guitar attack containing monster riffs and pounding drums that make fists fly, form the foundation of the Drive By Truckers 10th studio album.  For those who thought that backing Booker T might leak some more R&B into the bands output, put those fears (or hopes) aside as The Big To-Do is more of the same from the group.  The albums first three songs are the strongest and each one gets a smile from clever word play and just cast iron southern rock. 

"Daddy Learned To Fly" explodes with six strings everywhere and will bust ear drums making it hard to hear Patterson Hoods lyrics conveying a sad tale of a boy who misses his dad.  The bender song "The Fourth Night of My Drinking" starts with "On the first night of my drinking/I was looking for my keys/I was half blind and stinking and bloody at the knees" and goes down hill from there, capturing a descent into the bottle perfectly.  Things really shine on the could be single "Birthday Boy" in which Mike Cooley presents a engaging foray of a hooker and a john that makes you laugh and cringe, but contains some all-time lyrics with the stanza:

The pretty girls from the smallest towns,
get remembered like storms and droughts
that old men talk about for years to come,
I guess that's why they give us names
So a few old men can say they saw us rain when we were young.

The album continues in this vein but never quite gets back to reach those first few heights.  A tune about Mary Winkler ("The Wig He Made Her Wear") brings real life events into the Truckers path while "You Got Another" takes up the light tone of piano ballad breaking up the male sound with Shonna Tucker's vocals. 

One thing the group never does is skimp on the proceedings and the album clocks in at 53 minutes but feels longer as things tend to drag towards the end.  "This Fucking Job" feels repetitive and "The Flying Wallenda's" will probably soar live but plods a bit here.  "After The Scene Dies" seems like a Craig Finn tune; in fact by this point The Hold Steady are the cold northern twin to the Drive By Truckers dirty south take on America, and any fans of past Trucker albums will undoubtedly love what the The Big To-Do has got to offer this time out.      

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The Truckers have always existed on the out skirts of my musical perimeter.  I have just missed their opening sets at shows I attended, enjoyed some of their past songs and albums but never felt the need to really dig too deep into their catalog.  The Big To-Do doesn't cause me to instantly dive into their waters, but it proves that are legit and not just a critics darling.  I think all of these jams will probably grow live, so I will make New Years Resolution for 2011 to see the DBT's. 

Here are some tracks, all live:
This is my favorite tune on the album, "Birthday Boy"

Another Cooley Number...gotta say I liked them better this time out, "Get Downtown"

And one for the Hood, "The Fourth Night of Drinking"

Album Review: Drive-By Truckers - Plan 9 Records July 13, 2006

Drive-By Truckers 

Plan 9 Records July 13, 2006

**** out of *****

When the bands co-front man Patterson Hood makes the statement "The Live at Plan 9 recording is the best recording I have ever heard of the 2001-2006 version of the Drive-By Truckers" you take notice. A band who has gone through various iterations, DBT have made their bones by non-stop touring and leaving it all on the stage. More recent incarnations of the band have produced some amazing live albums, and while Plan 9 Records July 13, 2006 is not up to It's Great To Be Alive's heights, some fans may cherish it more as it includes the amazing talents of Jason Isbell. 

There is no doubting the bands studio records from this time are their strongest with three songwriters and this live show, a benefit for The Harvey Foundation in Plan 9 Records for only a few hundred fans, captures the rock outfit clicking on all cylinders. The twenty five song set keeps pumping out classic DBT fare as each song gets varying levels of raw rock, country heartache and twangy folk. 

Opening with the pedal steel lead of John Neff on "Tales Facing Up" the harmonies Isbell and Shonna Tucker brought in are evident from the get go, overflowing into "One of These Days". The band eases into the rock with some honky-tonk on "Aftermath USA" and a slowed down "Gravity's Gone" while the swaying "Why Henry Drinks" must have gotten the glasses raised all around the record store on this night. 

Two early highlights are Hood's advice giving, life loving ode "World of Hurt" and Isbell's fatherly tips of "Outfit", both ringing honest and true. Later on "Shut Up And Get On The Plane" and "Let There Be Rock" are raucous vibrating with energy propelled by drummer Brad Morgan. Mike Cooley's "Zip City" rips around the three guitar attack while Isbell's duo of "Goddamn Lonely Love" and "Decoration Day" are stunners. The finale "Lookout Mountain" revved up the room ending on a super high peak of metallic wailing and wah wah pedals as the guitars fire out into the ethos.  

There are some missteps like any full on live show, "Marry Me" gets a bit wonky after a fun breakdown and "The Day John Henry Died" and "Wednesday" chug along yet never elevate, but overall this collection of mid era Truckers is dynamite. The groups heartfelt cover of The Rolling Stones "Moonlight Mile" is worthy on it's own, never before being officially released by the Truckers.  

The band was paid a case of PBR and two bottles of whiskey to play this show and the results speak for themselves as Hood states, "It was by far our favorite show of the year and all these years later, I think it is one of the best performances from that era of the band". Hard to argue against that. 

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Support the band, buy the album and peep some video:

Live Streams: Pickathon - A Concert A Day for 60 Days

With live music on lock down (like everything else currently in New York City) live streams and old concerts have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. While this current state of pandemic separation is in order we will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure. Also you can always check out or weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past. Please support the artists any which way you can.

Today we highlight: Pickathon A Concert A Day for 60 Days

The Pickathon archives have announced they will dip into their festivals archives and produce a show a day for the next 60 days. Today kicks it off at 1PM Pacific with an RtBE favorite, The Drive By Truckers.

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Watch our @pickathon #AConcertADay premiere live at 1PM PT on 4/8 with @RecordingAcademy @MusiCares hosted by @dbtph at @facebook or the @amazonmusic channel on @Twitch or on @Pickathon @Youtube channel 🤘

A post shared by Drive-By Truckers (@dbtrockshow) on Apr 7, 2020 at 3:34pm PDT

We caught DBT a few weeks back before the Covid lock down and they were awesome. Main Trucker Patterson Hood will be live as well to discuss this set. More info regarding this from the announcement:

Each day for the next 60 days, starting April 8, Pickathon Presents A Concert A Day will premiere a full recorded concert from past festivals. Featuring renowned artists across many genres giving career-best performances, these concerts from Pickathons past will stream with unprecedented direct support from the Recording Academy, Amazon Music, and YouTube. At the A Concert A Day Facebook Event, the Recording Academy will host each concert premiere daily, joined either by the performing artist or a renowned journalist. The host will answer fan questions live and comment on the performance. Amazon Music will stream the concert through its channel on Twitch, and the concerts will also premiere on Pickathon's YouTube channel and be featured as part of YouTube's Stay Home #WithMe initiative. After reaching out for help, Pickathon was overwhelmed by the response, welcoming the support of partners like the Recording Academy, Amazon Music, BandsinTown, Bandcamp, and YouTube who collaborated in one common effort to support A Concert A Day. All donations received during the livestream will go directly to MusiCares COVID-10 Relief Fund to help musicians in need.

Pickathon presents A Concert A Day

Week 1 Schedule: 

Wed, April 8 - Drive-By Truckers (Mt. Hood Stage, 2017)
Thurs, April 9 - Ex Hex (Treeline Stage, 2015)
Fri, April 10 - Tyler Childers (Woods, 2019)
Sat, April 11 - Charles Bradley (Mt. Hood Stage, 2017)
Sun, April 12 - Tank & The Bangas (Woods Stage, 2017)
Mon, April 13 - Damien Jurado (Lucky Barn, 2019)
Tues, April 14 - People Under the Stairs (Woods Stage, 2014)
Wed, April 15 - DakhaBrakha (Mt. Hood, 2018)

Never before presented in full, these live concerts come from Pickathon's extensive vault of content. Filmed in multi-camera HD by an army of audiovisual specialists each year, they're part of Pickathon's movement from an annual festival to a year-round content creation company driven by some of the most creative minds in Portland, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. Stages at Pickathon are planned like independent films, with architects and visual artists creating one-of-a-kind experiences that drive the artists to career best performances which are rendered in multi-camera HD and subsequently released year round. 

Championing artists, fostering community, and innovating new ways of experiencing and discovering music have been the cornerstone of Pickathon's identity for over 20 years. Now is the time to band together in support of touring musicians, to spread hope, and to enjoy A Concert A Day.

Later this week more RtBE favorites like Ex Hex and Charles Bradley take the stage. This is a great project, so check it out and support all the artists.  Here is some live DBT to get ready for today's set:

Album Review: Drive-By Truckers- It's Great To Be Alive!

Drive-By Truckers

It's Great To Be Alive

****and 1/2 out of *****

Here's the deal with live albums, they are not going to convert any new fans, they are for the disciples. Here's the other thing with live albums, they are 99% of the time gap fillers/last gasps/money grabs and usually lesser than any studio effort from the group. Then there is It's Great To Be Alive! from the Drive-By Truckers. While the band has studio efforts that may be technically better (and no Jason Isbell tunes are represented on IGTBA), this live disk nails exactly what the Truckers are all about.

It is massive. 35 songs that run the gamut of their now 20 year career; you can never say DBT didn't give it their all. In fact one of our only critiques of the band in the past is that they have given so much, the high points get washed out by the many solid workman like songs. 

Production is pristine, guitars strum, ring out, slam with power while keys accentuate and low end rumbles when needed. The album was recorded during the bands 2014 three night stand in San Francisco's Fillmore West and finds the players clicking expertly. All of their back catalog is represented, with the newer songs holding up with fan favorites, and in some cases surpassing them.

Fans will know the tunes, but all of them are worth hearing. Old warhorses like "Women Without Whiskey", "The Living Bubba" "Ronnie and Neil" come alive with the five piece band. It is interesting to hear how the tracks get re-interpenetrated with this smaller more precise team of players and things really flow gloriously, then the horns come out and jump up the levels even more.

Newer songs like "Made Up English Oceans", "Shit Shot Counts" and "Pauline Hawkins" crackle with vitality. Dueling guitars, bass, drums, keys and the occasional brass augmentations are all the story tellers Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley need to deliver their gritty story songs in this live setting.

Going more in depth some of the power guitar is lost scaling back from a three to two guitar attack, notably on "Putting People On The Moon", the nuances and shifts are engaging and make up for it even with some slightly buried vocals. The closing track, the bands "Grand Canyon" which was a standout on English Oceans, becomes even more magical here. It is a cyclone of guitars, key fills and emotion that ranks up with "Like A Hurricane" or "Tenth Ave Freeze Out" during the majestic live airing, this is a must hear.    

In the end we would still recommend buying their studio disks (start with Decoration Day, or Dirty South, or Brighter Than Dark's Creation, hell, any/all) but this excellent live document will rank up there as one of the groups best collections and a true all-time great live recording. It is true, It's Great To Be Alive!
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RtBE wanted to start off 2016 on a very, very positive note for our first review. Support the band, buy the album and peep some video below:

Year In Review 2020 - Favorite Albums Part 3: The Top 5

Another year is finishing up and @RockBodElec wouldn't be a proper music site if we didn't end the year with a "Best Of" list, so RtBE presents 2020's Favorite Albums Part 3: Top Five.

In the instance that RtBE has reviewed the album, either on this site or elsewhere, we will link to that review and just give a quick summation; click on the name/title and you can read our full opinion. RtBE worked with the Glide Team to give input on their Top 20 so you can expect some overlap if you already have seen that list.

Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen all the way through. We know these are a dying breed, but it still is the way we consume music, no shuffle or singles for us.

The number ten just works for this, so here is the second part of our top ten, numbers five through one. You can see the back end of our top ten and the albums that just missed as well. Like all of our lists or 'best of's' these are meant to start conversations more than end them...

Best Live Albums of the 2010's

Live music is religion. Capturing that in-the-moment feeling can be a tricky proposition though for every Live at The Regal or Live at The Isle of Wight, there are thousands of Love You Live's. For the majority of live albums are cash grabs meant to have people pay for shows that are not as good as their memories are. That said in the era of streaming, more live events are being captured and released so "official" album labels are starting to fade...

In looking back at this decade, it wasn't the best for albums as a whole which (we mentioned already in our Top 50 of 2010-2019), but things were much more barren when it came to live albums from the past decade. These aren't archival releases (which there were many great ones this decade), these are from current acts that recorded a live album and released it in the last ten years.

Most of these records on this list are fine, but far from life changing, however the topper is one of our favorite releases of the decade so RtBE wanted to do a post on it and needed some honorable mentions. Feel free to let us know about any we missed in the comments below.

As with all of our lists on RtBE these are meant to be conversation starters, not the be all end all final word.

Year In Review 2020 - Favorite Albums of 2020

Here are our all of our favorite albums of 2020. This is the year end review, all in one place.

It starts with our honorable mentions then moves into our top ten albums of the year. There is a short blurb about the album and a song from it, click on the title to read our full review of the selected records. The focus here is on full albums, not singles, but long playing releases you can slap on and listen to all the way through.

It has been a weird year to say the least... 

Thanks for reading.

Happy 10th Birthday to Drive-By Truckers, Brighter Than Creation's Dark

Earlier today we wished Dr. John and Gris-Gris a Happy 50th and now we stay in the south and wish the Drive-By Truckers a Happy 10th on their acclaimed release, Brighter Than Creation's Dark.

The album was the first for DBT without Jason Isbell since their breakthrough Southern Rock Opera. It is a huge record that benefited from the band playing some acoustic based shows on the Dirt Underneath Tour which found the players augmented by Spooner Oldham on keys. The legendary Spooner stuck around for this recording and the whole record is a musical tour-de-force. 

It is a loooooong disk, nineteen tracks and all of them have a lot to say either lyrically or musically. Banjo, acoustic guitars, harmonicas and pedal steels gets more love and the tone overall is softer than the majority of their releases putting a focus on the strength of the lyrics.

Patterson Hood pens nine of them and opens with the heartbreaking story song of "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife" about Bryan Harvey and his families senseless murders and closes things with the the cinematic John Neff pedal steel laced "Monument Valley".

Like all of the Truckers efforts (at least to these ears) Mike Cooley pulls the best lines, while Shonna Tucker holds her own with three tracks. Cooley's "A Ghost to Most" is his visceral reaction to the lack of relief efforts after Hurricane Katrina and he also supplied the gorgeous title as it is a line in "Checkout Time in Vegas".

From the fuzz guitars on "3 Dimes Down" to the solemn drums on "The Home Front" to the swirling psychedelia of "That Man I Shot" to the defiant balls rock of "The Righteous Path" the group sound so locked in and confident; it is grand. 

While personal tastes finds RtBE gravitating more towards It's Great To Be Alive and for studio work Decoration Day, there is no denying what an artistic achievement Brighter Than Creation's Dark is. In fact one of our favorite writers on music Robert Christgau pegs it as the bands high-point. Check out his full review:

OK, 19 songs, gotta be filler here somewhere, and there is, only it isn't melodic--with all music credited to the band, Shonna Tucker's muzzier lyrics and Mike Cooley's more elusive ones sound as well-turned as those of Patterson Hood, who's never written better. In Hood's songs, an opening act, an alcoholic, a crankhead, a heroic suicide, a heroic survivor and two different soldiers in Iraq fall between an opener where heaven is Saturday morning with your wife and kids and a closer that contemplates "the ironic nature of history." Cooley remains the lowlife specialist, most warmly with lost party girl Lisa and hometown gay guy Bob. Some complain "Bob" is the corniest country song they ever wrote. That's the point--one of several. A

Pretty spot on and elusive...just like this fantastic release from the Truckers. Enjoy a few tracks from it below, buy the record and most importantly catch them live ASAP. 

Album Review - The Drive By Truckers - Go-Go Boots

This review is part of the "Over Flow" Review Series. For various reasons these past reviews were not published anywhere else. I am tagging them as "Overflow Reviews" and may add some extra information after if needed but I will keep the ratings and reviews just as I originally wrote them. Enjoy:

 The Drive By Truckers

Go-Go Boots

***and1/2 out of *****

Do these guys ever stop putting out solid albums?  2010 saw the Truckers release The Big To-Do which continued their trend of on the fringe storytelling, meaty guitars and seedy character portraits, turns out Go-Go Boots was recorded at the same time only to be released in 2011.  The pattern continues; murder, lowlife’s, humor and songs that just keep flowing into the night only this go around contains a gentler musical touch as the band tried to connect with their Muscle/Shoal roots more deliberately.

At this point in their career the Truckers have eased into this pattern with professional and satisfying results.  The hard rocking is toned down from The Big To-Do, with more slow jams, but they could easily be considered a double album, and a great one at that.  The title track is a slow burning tale of mixed up love that seems real enough that you can reach out and touch those boots through the speakers before "Assholes" discusses a touring band mentality and how being an asshole is sometimes part of the gig and life, yet the music keeps it sounding appealing instead of petty. 

“Used To Be A Cop” puts you in a burnt out flat-foot’s shoes teetering on the edge of exasperation as Patterson Hood continues to expertly portray those desperate on-the-edge loners perfectly.   What sounds a bit jarring at first is his album opener “I Do Believe” which is a simple loving rocker that Tom Petty would kill for.

While Hood’s tracks dominate the record the real eyeopeners come from Mike Cooley who continues to steal the thunder with his fantastic song writing.  This time around “Cartoon Gold” is the shining star with its inventive lyrics, slide strumming and country ease making songwriting sound simple and joyful.  “Pulaski” and “The Weakest Man” are two others that Cooley contributes with southern style reminiscent of Townes Van Zandt in their honesty and storytelling, a perfect foil to Hood’s rawer edge.

The workman like group does it again and will probably keep doing so until they’ve had enough.  The only downside is that there are so many solid songs floating around the same tempo that it can become a bit overwhelming and drawn out.  One needs to be ready to enter the world of the DBT’s; just prepare yourself, dig in, and enjoy a dusty Oldsmobile ride through the current American south, with some pretty fucking great tour guides.             
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When I reviewed The Big To-Do last year I made a comparison to The Hold Steady, calling the bands kindred spirits, one Northern one Southern, and that is a pretty spot on and continues with their newest release.  I think both bands would have been huge in the pre-internet "rock Radio" days, I mean what else can one want with great song writers huge guitars and craftsman touch?

This time around for the DBT's the guitars might not be as loud, yet the songs continue to conquer the ear.  I was out of town the last time the band played NYC but I am hoping they swing back one more time before the year ends, I need to catch these guys and gal ASAP.   Here are some tunes for you to check out:

"Cartoon Gold" Solo Acoustic from Mike Cooley:
"Assholes" Live 1/13/2011

 "Go-Go Boots" Live

Drive-By Truckers to Release 2006 Live Album Tomorrow

The excellent Drive-By Truckers will be releasing Plan 9 Records July 13th, 2006 tomorrow via digital outlets to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the show. 

The incarnation of the band during this time just may be their peak as the group included Mike Cooley, Patterson Hood, Jason Isbell, Brad Morgan, John Neff, and Shonna Tucker. 

This was a Plan 9 25th Anniversary celebration as well as a benefit for The Harvey Foundation. Hood would later write the song “Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife” in tribute to Bryan and his family, recalling the event Hood wrote:

“Our pay was a case of PBR and two bottles of whiskey. There wasn’t a drop left by the end of the encore. They pushed back all of the record shelving to make room for a little over 200 people and cut us loose to play a two hour plus set. Loose and raggedy at times, yet somehow also tighter than shit. It was by far our favorite show of the year and all these years later, I think it is one of the best performances from that era of the band. A few months later, that incarnation of the band was no more and our lives have continued to move in all kinds of mysterious ways. We’re all close friends again and even though it kinda feels like a lifetime ago, it was great to hear these tracks and to re-live the best parts of who we used to be. When you think you have it turned up a little too loud, reach over and turn it up a little bit more.”

The video of this one has been floating around the internet quite a bit but it is great to get some properly mastered live music from the band. Here is "Outfit" from the event. RtBE can't wait to listen and review the full record ASAP.

Year In Review 2016- Best Album Art

We kick off our Year in Review section of 2016 with a favorite feature in the Best of... area, Album Art. Like in years past we will be choosing our Best Albums of the Year, a few we were underwhelmed with and our favorite show. Today we are starting out by judging books (records) by their covers (vinyl sleeves, jackets, digital pics, etc). We are going to support the creative minds behind the Best Album Art Work of 2016.

The biggest gripe RtBE has with digital music is not the quality (that has been massively improved) nor the disposal nature of it (still a problem, but whatever), it is the lack of amazing album covers and art work.

Sure there may be great artists out there but seeing it on a screen, in iTunes or elsewhere is nothing compared to holding an LP cover or even a CD booklet with pages of lyrics, pictures etc. Thankfully the rise of vinyl is helping this dilemma but it is still not enough. The hours we spent staring, actually holding, examining tons of covers while listening to music can not be adequately recorded, it added new dimensions to the sounds. You were connected to album in a more physical way, things were deeper, more evocative...Anyways...

Let's get right to it. We will talk about a few like, and link to the review of the release (if there is one) then celebrate a winner who wins absolutely nothing but internet praise.

2016 was NOT the best year for album art, don't believe me? Go click through what Fuse picked for the best covers for the first half of the year...yeah, they ALL suck. 

Live Streams: Patterson Hood

With live music on lock down (like everything else currently in New York City) live streams and old concerts have become essential for live music junkies like RtBE. While this current state of pandemic separation is in order we will highlight various shows/streams/virtual events for your viewing and listening pleasure and you can always check out or weekly Full Show Friday series for concerts from the past. Please support the artists any which way you can.

Today we highlight: Patterson Hood

One of the best tune writers going today is doing a full request stream tonight as Patterson Hood goes live from his Heathen Attic.

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Patterson Hood Live from the Heathen Attic Episode 2: The Request Line Wednesday, May 13th 9pm ET Email requests to PHrequestshow@gmail.com and @dbtph will build the set around your requests. NOTE: The earlier we get requests the better chance if it getting played! Please have all requests in by TUESDAY May 12th at 9pm ET. Link in profile 🤘

A post shared by Drive-By Truckers (@dbtrockshow) on May 12, 2020 at 2:53pm PDT

Support one of RtBE's favorites and in order to get int the mood for tonight's stream check out some full band Drive By Truckers as they play one of Hood's newer tunes which we love "Armageddon's Back In Town" off of The Unraveling:

Jerry Joseph, Backed By Drive-By Truckers, Album The Beautiful Madness Arriving In August

Singer Songwriter Jerry Joseph has a new album coming this August titled The Beautiful Madness.

The album was produced by Patterson Hood and his main band The Drive-By Truckers were enlisted as the backing band for Joseph.  Hood also helped write a few songs, and one of them is the first release from the record, "Days Of Heaven", and you can hear it below.

The album is coming out this August and Joseph is doing a Happy Book session on all of his social media channels every Thursday.

Live Review: Drive-By Truckers 2/21/20 Webster Hall, NYC

Hey all, got a new review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!!!

It is of the recent Drive-By Truckers show at Webster Hall on Friday February 21st. 

RtBE digs on the Truckers catching them the last few years they have played NYC as they never put on a bad show. In fact their most recent live album was our favorite from the last decade. 

Support the artists, read the review, catch the tour check out our review of their newest album and peep some video below from earlier this year:

Album Review: Drive By Truckers- English Oceans

Drive By Truckers

English Oceans

***and/12 out of *****

The consummate southern rocking songwriters are at it again on English Oceans. The bands 10th proper studio album finds the group still in fine form. The band has morphed over the years with various song writers entering and exciting like Jason Isbell and Shonna Tucker but now just Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley stand tall as original members and songwriters.

The most exciting new development is Cooley going toe to toe with Hood regarding the amount of tunes contributed on English Oceans. In the past Cooley always had 1-2ish songs per album with sly lyrics and fun picking, here he is full on equal if not forerunner writing 6 of 13 and hitting a special groove.  Cooley's "Shit Shots Count" opens things on the highest of notes with a fantastic horn outro but not before the classic couplet: "Pride's what you charge a proud man for having/Shame is what you sell to a whore".

The other obvious highlight is Hood's disk closer "Grand Canyon". Gloriously spacious, echo filled and touchingly dedicated (like the whole album) to the bands lost friend Craig Lieske. Apparently it was a last second decision to record and include the song but the album is much better off because of this captured moment.

In between these gems the DBT's do what they do best, craft cinematic tales around southern rock riffs and strums. Damaged politics, poisonous relationships, broken dreams and old age seem familiar territory for the group yet they still manage to mine fertile songs. The one downside (and it can be said for a lot of the bands output) is it feels almost too much for one disk, the band comes at you with interesting lyric after interesting lyric via the same guitar attack and at the end you feel wiped out.    

There are moments though like the piano/sustain combo in "Paulina Hawkins" where the beauty just rises amongst all the heartaches, headaches and broken dreams the band sings about. It is doubtful they ever stop and when they continue to put out this quality of tunes why would they even consider it?
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Great to see Cooley on even footing with Hood, his track "Cartoon Gold" was our favorite on Go-Go Boots. This band is really great, a southern version of The Hold Steady in our eyes, since we are NY'ers the Steady hit home more, but the Truckers are fantastic.

New Album From Drive By Truckers Coming in June, Welcome 2 Club XIII

One of RtBE's favorite bands are releasing a new album in June as the Drive-By Truckers deliver Welcome 2 Club XIII.

The album is a homage to the venue where main truckers Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley started their career in the band Adam's House Cat. RtBE loved both of their last two albums they recently released, ranking both high in our 2020 year end review. 

The new one features background vocals from Margo Price, Schaefer Llana, and R.E.M.’s Mike Mills and as big fans RtBE are really looking forward to this album. Here is a video preview:

Live Review: Drive-By Truckers 11/5/21 Brooklyn Bowl, NYC

 Hey all, got a new review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!!

Photo: Ken Spielman

It is of the Drive-By Truckers live show from last Friday night at Brooklyn Bowl with Buffalo Nichols opening.. 

The Truckers are just some damn consistent these days. Great tunes, great playing, just a fun fucking time.

Support the band, read the review and peep some great video from the show below:

Live Review: Drive-By Truckers & Craig Finn 6/21/19 @ Brooklyn Bowl

Hey all, got a new review up @glidemag which you can read Right C'here!!!

It is of the Drive-By Truckers set with Craig Finn opening from last Friday night at Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg. Took a bunch of cool pics as well:

Most things were covered in the review, but this band rocks. Actually both bands are two of this websites favorites and I personally liked this nights set even more than Finn's recent Joe's Pub show. Last years Truckers set was a bit more exhilarating than this one, but it was a tough call as Friday night was pretty god damn great.

There are still tickets available for their run of three more shows this week and if you are fan of great stories, loud guitars and engaging rock and roll you should buy one and check them out.

Support the artists, see them live, read the review and peep some live video below (will update with video from this show when some is posted):