TOUR NOTES

Patterson Hood's Tour Notes

BLESSINGS and CURSES - USA TOUR:

Leg 1 (part 1) April 28 - May 10, 2006
Leg 1 (part 2) May 17-20, 2006
Dispatch from the Road: July 23 2006
Dispatch from the Road: August 6 2006
Home Again Home Again: January 12, 2007

Y'ALL:
Thanks to everyone who came out to the final leg of The Dirt Underneath and for helping to make 07 in many ways the best year in our bands bumpy history.

If the first leg, back in may, was a rebirth and reinvention for the band (leading to the recording of our new album BRIGHTER THAN CREATION'S DARK) and the second leg was a fun work in progress where we tried to apply what we had done in may and were doing in the studio into a fun live setting, then the last 3 weeks were like a culmination of all that.

We have never been a band that had the opportunity to lock ourselves away in some practice room and woodshed.
Living in 3 different cities spread out across 2 states and 6 hours of driving has always made that an impossibility.
Honestly, other than learning the songs, most of what we do live can't really be rehearsed, as the crowd provides such a huge part of the overall show.

Instead, we have always opted to go out there and work it out live.
This tightrope has become an integral part of the show, as anything can happen (and sometimes does).
I might forget the words to a new song or fall off the stage.
Sometimes there might be a train wreck or two, sometimes transcendence.
Sometimes both in a single moment of time (those are usually my favorite moments and honestly the thing that drives my diesel).

The Dirt Underneath Tour took all of that to a new level, as we actually worked up and road tested our new album each afternoon at soundcheck and each night in front of a live audience.

We want to thank the legendary Spooner Oldham for touring with us and collaborating on the new album.
His contributions to American music cannot be overstated. (Look up his website and be amazed by his diverse discography and bio).
His contributions to our band and new album are likewise impossible to over-emphasize.
On the last week of the tour, we finally worked it out for him to sing "I'm Your Puppet" and I loved looking at the looks on folks faces as they realized that he had written that all-time classic.
He is also the sweetest person on earth to share a long drive into the desert night with as we added up the miles along this tour.

Lots of folks have been asking us about our plans for New Years Eve.
We have a long tradition of playing with our dear friends Centro-matic for NYE.
That is all still being worked out, but there is a hitch:
The new album hits the streets on january 22 (21 if you're in Europe).
With a new album hitting so close to the holidays, there is a big concern about playing a town right before.
All of that is still being worked out by the powers that be (fingers crossed) but it is out of our hands. Soon as we know something we'll pass it along to you.
One thing for sure, whether we play NYE or not, we will be on the road extensively for ALL of 2008 so perhaps a little family time at the holidays won't be the worst thing in the world. (Stay Tuned for updates as it progresses).

Over the next couple of months, we'll be busy getting everything ready for the new arrival. Expect some changes on the website as well as announcements of 08 Tourdates, perhaps some sneak peaks (listens) at the album, etc.

Thanks Again for all your love and support and have a great Halloween, Thanksgiving and holidays.

Long Live Rock and Roll,
Patterson Hood and The DBT Family

Y'ALL:
Here goes again.
About to pack for the third (and final) leg of THE DIRT UNDERNEATH.
Boy has this been fun.
Originally supposed to be 2-3 weeks in may.
A chance to kinda reinvent ourselves to ourselves.
Maybe rediscover some old overlooked songs and a way to work the kinks out of some new ones and road test some ideas before embarking on our next album.
Instead, we basically worked up the meat of our next album in front of a live audience and had so much fun we added another and now another leg.
(Insert favorite three-legged joke here).

As most know, we made new album this summer.
BRIGHTER THAN CREATION'S DARK
Title comes from a really good Cooley song called Checkout Time In Vegas.
We had the easiest time making this album, as it just came out as if it was totally meant to be this way.
No debates or even decisions to make, it all just made sense. Everyone shared same vision and it came together like throwing pieces into air and having them land in perfect place.

Then we couldn't find a name for it.
Everyone was so happy with the baby that no name seemed good enough.
We wanted 100% agreement (this time) as nothing else had been compromised so why start with title.
I personally believe that it's actually best to start with a title and build from there.
I did this with the name of the band and about half or more of the albums have had title before the songs themselves.
Decoration Day had always been Heathens, but 2 other bands named their albums that that previous summer.
Name one now?
I digress again.

BRIGHTER THAN CREATION'S DARK.
it will grow on you. it did me.
In the end, we settled for everyone being OK with it.
It was a majority's first choice, and 1 second choice. The other...
Hopefully it will grow on all.
Of note, Wes Freed loved the title and began drawing ideas based on it before we had even decided.
His artwork looks to be best yet and that did affect the final decision.

David Barbe produced once again.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that there are 19 songs on it.

It's coming out the very beginning of 2008.
We plan to tour our asses off.
But this next few weeks will be the end of THE DIRT UNDERNEATH.
It's been great, but it's served its purposes and we're going to be ready to move on.
The new album certainly has been influenced by some of that approach and some of those aspects will continue, but It IS an electric album. It ROCKS (as they say).

See you at the show.
Patterson

Of Note:
SPOONER OLDHAM will again be playing the Wurlitzer on most the TDU shows this month.
We hope to continue playing with him whenever and wherever possible.

HEY Y'ALL:
Just wanted to touch base.
First off, i would like to thank everyone who came out last week and supported our band.
It was a great tour for us with a minimum of bumps and some amazing highlights.
Thanks to everyone who extended hospitality and made us feel so welcome in their towns.

Coming up we are playing Chattanooga this weekend and in a couple of weeks are playing 3 nights opening for the Allman Brothers.
I have some solo dates in late august and a trip out to the west coast and to Texas in September.

Next week we will be in the studio completing our next studio album.
We're already about 2/3 done and it has gone exceptionally great, as we've cut a ton of new songs and the bar is really high on this one.
Many folks have already heard some of the new songs (although we've kept a few under wraps too) and we've been really happy with the response we've been getting out there. I think Cooley has really outdone himself this time.

In September (25) Anti Records is releasing a new album by Bettye LaVette. She is a soul legend who scored her first hit in 1962.
In 1972 she recorded an album at my Dad's old studio that featured The Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section.
The album was supposed to come out on Atlantic Records and everyone seemed to think that it was going to be her long-awaited breakthrough.
Instead the album was shelved for over 30 years, stalling her career and causing her much personal and professional anguish.
When the album was finally released a few years ago, it was received as a lost soul classic and led to her current great fortunes and record deal with Anti (who also have released great albums by Tom Waits, Merle Haggard, Nick Cave, Mavis Staples and Porter Wagoner).

Bettye LaVette's new album is called "The Scene of the Crime" and it was co-produced by David Barbe, myself and Bettye.
For this record we took her back to Muscle Shoals (hence the title) where she was backed up by members of Drive-By Truckers along with my dad (David Hood) and legendary keyboardist Spooner Oldham.
Work on this album led directly to Spooner's current involvement with DBT.
We recorded it at the legendary FAME Studios there (where we had recorded much of The Dirty South).
I am extremely proud of this album and can't wait for it to come out.

While we're on the subject of album releases, I'd like to remind everyone who hasn't already grabbed it, Jason Isbell's long awaited solo album is out now and getting rave reviews from all over. I am listed as a co-producer and most of the band plays on it in various forms.

The album is called "Sirens of the Ditch" and is out now on New West Records.
He's playing about a thousand dates so go check out his great band and show.

In October we will play the third and final leg of our "The Dirt Underneath Tour" which puts us in a mostly acoustic and somewhat stripped down mode for an evening of stories and songs.
Tour dates are up now and the tour will take us to some of our favorite towns and maybe a couple of new ones also.
After this tour it will probably be a really long time before we do this again, so I highly recommend you checking it out if you haven't already.
It's been a really special thing for us and has had an incalculable influence on our next album which will be coming out on New West Records in the very first part of 2008.

Guess that does it for now. Thanks again for everyone's continued support and love.

See you at The Swamp Show.
Patterson Hood
Drive-By Truckers

Y'ALL:

Home from road and about to go into studio.
Been working in studio this past weekend, co-producing (w/ Andy Baker) next Don Chambers album.
His new songs are fantastic, definitely his best yet, and the band is SMOKING.
Working with Andy is always a treat too.

We will begin next DBT album on June 11 (1 day after our 11th birthday as band).
Lots of new songs to cut, including a couple written in last week.

Tour dates, just added, will keep us busy through July, including a handful of TDU dates.
On a couple of them, we plan to begin show with acoustic set, then morph into The Rock Show.
That should be lots of fun.

Just received new Centro-Matic EP (Operation Motorcide) which is fantastic.
They just continue to amaze me everytime they get together.
I think it was released on a Spanish label but I know its out on iTunes and I highly encourage all to check it out.

Been reading "It Came From Memphis" which was written a few years back by Robert Gordon and explores some of the lesser known histories of Memphis music. Incredible read and highly recommended.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE A. JOHNSON. He's my Great Uncle and inspiration of my song "Sands of Iwo Jima." he turned 87 the other day.

That about sums it up. I'll be in studio this weekend continuing work with Don.

See you soon at The Rock Show, The Swamp Show and the Combination Shows.

Best ALWAYS,
Patterson Hood
Drive-By Truckers

Y'ALL (on the eve of The DIRT UNDERNEATH) 4/24/07

Y'ALL:

Just a note to say HEY and thank everyone for their continued support.

Last weekend, we all congregated in Nashville, I put it like that because we all came into town separately. I had been in Memphis and North Mississippi all week on working vacation and the others came in from various Alabama and Georgia addresses.

All our nobel good intentions of actually getting to practice (seeing as how it was 1st show after some changings) fell to haste, or as Shonna put it shortly before Rock-O-Clock, "it just ain't that kind of thing".

Ahh, but alas, it all worked out like a slightly buzzed drive on some bumpy roads, codeine suspension and scenic views. Perhaps I romanticize, but that's my job. Anyway, Mobile was when I could feel all of the ingredients start to melt down into the stew.

In any new band (even one that has been around for a couple of decades, if they're worth a piss) there's this moment of reinvention that occurs from time to time. The lack thereof leads to Branson and the oldies circuit. I guess I was hoping to make it through last weekend without any calamities and with pride intact. I've always been an optimistic pragmatist (alas a cynical as hell one) but you do the best you can, don't you? At any rate, one always dreams of transcendence but in life there's always something to settle for.

All this rambling aside, somewhere about 1/3 ways into Mobile's show that thing happened. That moment when it all gels and suddenly your not a bunch of folks playing together, but you're a BAND. Those are the times when I feel like I have the coolest job on the planet and all the day to day tribulations melt away into the night.

Later, we pulled out "The Opening Act" a new song that we haven't played out before. Folks who come to my solo shows might have heard an earlier version, as I played it a couple of times back when I wrote the first draft, but I've since reworked the last third and got it up to muster-passing level.

Today I'm back home, Ava's napping and Rebecca's out working in the yard. I'm about to go grocery shopping. Tomorrow we actually will begin practicing. 2 days of extensive turbo-charging and lubing up as we embark on THE DIRT UNDERNEATH. Spooner Oldham is coming to town, Neff is primed and loaded, the pit crew is greased up and ready. Cooley wrote another new song today. I finished one the night before last. I plan to start playing new songs as quick as we can get them worked into the show (as that was my evil intent on this tour all along) where we can get these songs road tested and tweaked out before going into studio this summer to record our 8th album.

8 fucking albums. Jeez, I'm not sure I thought I'd ever live that long, but I'm glad I have and it would suit me just fine to do the next 8 in less time than the last. The sun is shining, the pollen count is going down, the ice caps are melting and Big Star's 3rd is out on vinyl. It's fucking great to be alive.

Indeed.

See you at The Swamp Show,
Patterson Hood
Drive-By Truckers

PS: HAPPY BIRTHDAY EZB (you good looking man, you). We Love you!

Home Again Home Again

THANKS to everyone who supported our band in 2006.
THANKS to the folks who came out to our sold out 2 night stand in Atlanta.
We all sincerely hope all of Y'all have a healthy and happy 2007 and look forward to seeing you all soon.

Although it is well known that we are taking some time off this year, there will be some shows here or there, some special surprises, and some updates about other projects that we are involved in, so check in and keep in touch.
We're actually going to be busy as hell this year, just directing it into some different channels and directions.

What is The Dirt Underneath? The Secret to a Happy Ending? A collaboration with a soul legend? A ditch siren? Who killed Oscar? Who the hell is Oscar?

Find out all of this and more in the upcoming weeks here and while you're wasting time on line, don't forget to check in at my site pattersonhood.com where I've been posting a bunch of new songs and will soon be letting out more info and details about my upcoming solo album and shows.

CHEERS,
Patterson Hood
1/12/07

DISPATCH FROM THE ROAD: August 6, 2006 – Somerset, WI

Sunday morning, but I slept a little too late for Meet The Press. Coffee, my morning bloodletting, more bad catering, listened to Tom Petty’s new album for thirtieth time (his rhyming of “Pretend I’m Samuel Clemmons / wear seer sucker and white linens” makes him automatic frontrunner for writer of year in my book), holding up index finger as mantra for one more week, unless provoked to make it a different finger, which at week eight or whatever could happen with slightest provocation.

Yesterday was my Mama’s birthday (sang 18 Wheels of Love for her the day before). Today would be my Grandfather Smokey’s birthday if he were still around (he’d have to be in upper 90’s). I don’t have a song for him yet, but should.

Here we are, last week of summer tour opening for The Black Crowes. Great guys all, and a show more rocking with each passing week. Same time; we will spend fall on tour but back to headlining our own shows, mostly in theatres, with support from old friends (and great bands) Bobby Bare Jr. and The Drams.

On the road, I’m generally grumpy and homesick except for the time spent on stage (the rest is “hurry up and wait”) and as opener that is only about 40 minutes a night (barely three hours a week actually Rocking) whereas on our tour we will spend at least two and a half hours a night playing Rock Show which is why we’re out here in the first place.

At any rate, we’ve done it. Had our first big tour opening for a band at shed level. Cool experience and very educational on many levels. Many of my favorite bands lost it at that point and either broke up or at least began the path of destruction. The Replacements never really recovered from the ill fated Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tour (I saw them get fired on stage in Nashville that year, one of my “Let There Be Rock” moments for sure). We won’t be breaking up over it, but we will be hitting fall tour leaner and meaner than we have ever been. Ironically, The Black Crowes was one of the few bands I liked that did make it through that level (after getting fired from ZZ Top tour for making fun of the headliner’s endorsement deal, see I remember that shit) and are still going strong a decade and a half later. Here’s to hanging in there!

I’ve spent most of the tour being hermit in back lounge, writing most everyday. Not necessarily good writing, as a good bit of it has been pretty bad, but writing it and getting it out just the same. A couple of winners in there perhaps, a song called “Pride of the Yankees” that I feel strongly enough about to record for my new solo album. A possible new DBT song called “In Real Time” that attempts to sort out my feelings about the Katrina disaster and its aftermath, and “Close But No Cigar” in which the protagonist tries to figure out plan B.

Coming up, we have fall tour, I plan to write some blog type of thing for Gibson’s website on fall tour, I plan to update my solo site a good bit in the near future, as I am about to finish Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) for a 2007 release. The Dexateens will be releasing their new album (Hardwire Healing) that David Barbe and I co-produced. It’s coming in early October, I think. Hopefully Jason will be having information soon about the release of his stellar solo album Sirens of the Ditch.

Thanks again to The Black Crowes and their fine crew (gentlemen all) for their help and hospitality this summer. Thanks to our ever-suffering crew. To the fucker in Indianapolis who stole from one of our entourage, we know who you are, so watch your ass. Thanks most of all to the folks who came early to the Rock Show this summer.

Best Always,
Patterson Hood

GREAT LISTENING:

Glossary – For What I Don’t Become / Rockin’ Bones Box Set (Rhino collection of 50’s Punk and Rockabilly) / Tom Petty – Highway Companion / Eddie Hinton – Beautiful Dream (Songwriting Sessions Vol. 3) / Gnarles Barkley – St. Elsewhere / Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood / Centro-Matic – Fort Recovery / The Drams – Jubilee Drive / Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Get Happy!

GREAT WATCHING:

Chunklet DVDs, John Huston’s Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Sam Peckenpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, We Jam Econo DVD (Minutemen Documentary), Sidney Lumet’s Network, No Direction Home (Bob Dylan Documentary)

BOOK LEARNIN’:

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, Everyman by Phillip Roth, Conversations with Tom Petty Interviews by Paul Zollo and Tom Petty, Master of the Senate (The Years of Lyndon Johnson volume 3) by Robert Caro, The Basque History of the World by Mark Kurlansky, Rednecks and Bluenecks by Chris Willman, Tom T. Hall Autobiography (an old, certainly out of print treasure given to me by an audience member in Birmingham that is being passed throughout the bus).

LYRIC:

“Microphone smiles and perfect hair
Can’t rectify or square
Some half-assed, bail out, cop out and tears from airplane windows
As life as we once knew it becomes some prime time special
In real time”
- In Real Time (P. Hood)

DISPATCH FROM THE ROAD: July 23 2006 - Boston

Y'ALL:
Greetings from Boston (or actually the back parking lot of some amphitheater somewhere outside of Boston).
Tour is going fine and dandy.
Homesick for my family (we all are) as we're weeks past our 3 week law with a few more left to go.
The tour is going well for us, in that we've covered a lot of ground, some familiar and some new, everyone has been super nice to us.
The Black Crowes band and crew couldn't be a more swell bunch of folks and we've been shown hospitality at every turn.
We play 40 minute (rigidly timed) set, early as hell as a very sober audience walks into the arena.
Not exactly rockstarshit, but it beats sacking groceries and waiting tables (two jobs I'm only barely qualified to do, but have done for years at times).
It's made us a tighter band than ever and our upcoming fall tour will be the payoff for all this pent up ROCK.
(Richmond and DC last weekend gave us a glimpse of what lye ahead).

FALL TOUR is about to be announced (if it hasn't already).
I know it will involve shows (a long time in coming) with our good friend BOBBY BARE JR.
We've played together occasionally in the past and I've long been a big fan and look forward to some hang time.
(Congratulations on the beautiful new addition to your family Bobby).
I also hear it will involve some long awaited dates with our very close friends THE DRAMS.
Three of those guys were in Slobberbone, whose history has been so tangled with ours since our beginnings.
The new band is even better and their new album is out any day now. A fine fucking album and a must have for discerning fans of well written well played Rock and Roll.

Otherwise I've been keeping myself busy writing for several different projects.

Wading through the Rockin' Bones Box Set of 50's punk which is already my favorite new box set since the fabulous Faces set 2 years ago.
Watching the Dylan No Direction Home documentary, reading the Conversations With Tom Petty book (looking forward to his new album tuesday),
watching the news and frothing at the mouth at the tragic absurdity that passes for world policy,
Watching PJ Harvey DVD, Network, We Jam Econo (Minutemen Doc. DVD), and Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol 2.
Also read Phillip Roth's Everyman, which is the finest fiction I've read this year. A beautiful and haunting book.

Still digging The Gnarles Barkley, on a big Bowie Alladin Sane kick, Neko Case's new album (my favorite so far this year along with Centro-Matic's latest). and loving the new album by a Nashville band called Glossary.
Watch out for them.

Neil Young selected Jason's song Dress Blues to be placed on his website.
I think its the finest song Jason has written yet and probably my favorite song this year.

World of Hurt is #1 on RollingStone.com
I'm not quite sure what that means, but I'm happy for that song to get noticed, as I probably feel stronger about that one than anything I've written since The Living Bubba. I think its a hit whether it sells or not, but what do I know?

We're close to announcing a massive Nuci's Space Benefit for late in the year.
They are our #1 cause and pet local charity. If you're not familiar with them or what they do check it out and see for yourself.
What they are trying to do in Athens GA should serve as a prototype for something that should spring up in every town with a music or arts scene.

THANKS again to everyone out there who has come early to catch our sets. Thanks to our friends back home for providing so much moral support and help for our families.

We look forward to seeing you soon.
BEST ALWAYS,
Patterson Hood
Drive-By truckers

Leg 1 (part 1) Friday April 28 - Wednesday May 10, 2006

Kicked off this past leg in Dallas TX with our dear old friends
The Drams.
For anyone who doesn't know of The Drams, three of their members played in Slobberbone.
This band is actually bigger and better with a killer new album coming out this summer and one of the best live Rock Shows in the country right now.
We look forward to playing a lot more shows with them in the near future.

The Rock continued down into Austin, where we played Stubbs to a crowd that made us feel so at home (as Austin always does).
We have lots of great friends in Austin, but didn't get to hang out long, as we had a long drive to Albuquerque where we began touring with our new friends Son Volt.

I have been a fan of Son Volt's leader Jay Farrar since opening for Uncle Tupelo at The Antenna Club in Memphis in 1989.
They had just released their first album, No Depression and Cooley and I were still playing in Adam's House Cat.
Later I saw Son Volt a couple of times in their earlier incarnation and opened solo for the current lineup this past december.
Son Volt has been touring for over a year now behind their most recent album Okemah and the Melody of Riot.
Their already working on a followup and judging from the new songs I heard, it may end up being their best album yet.

The next day, we had a day off and spent it outside of Phoenix AZ where I ate some cheap mexican food and several of us went to see United 93.
Without getting too deep into this subject at this time, I would like to note that there is a long old tradition of cultures making art out of tragedies as a form of healing. When I first heard about this film, I groaned at the thought of some exploitive trash but the film handled it with utmost respect and dignity and holds up as a monument to our collective loss.
The walk back to our camp was filled with some angry gnashing of the teeth over the current state of things.

San Diego followed where I had two meals of fish tacos and rode an old wooden roller coaster built in 1925.
The only thing better than the old roller coaster (which for my money is far better than those high tech steel jobs they make nowadays) was the screams of my good friend who was riding next to me. Wrote half a song that day.

Two days in LA followed where we played House of Blues.
I was happy because my wife flew out and joined me for a couple of days.
We were starting to adjust to the shorter sets that a double bill required, although it did sometimes seem that we were just really kicking it into overdrive when it was required that we call it a night.

Two nights at The Fillmore in San Francisco followed.
I finally got to catch the opening set by Curt Kirkwood, which was fantastic.
I had always loved The Meat Puppets, having almost seen them once in Huntsville AL at the long defunct Don't Care Danceteria nearly 20 years ago.
Our friday night set was a little sluggish to my taste, Brad broke his kick pedal in two on song one (Feb 14) and we had to whip out Bulldozers and Dirt (usually a late night staple when played nowadays)
to cover a bit of time while he replaced it.
Saturday's show was much more to my liking, as the energy level finally seemed close to where I like it to be.

Next stop: Portland OR, which has long been a favorite town, but I was still fighting off some kind of illness that I had spent the entire tour on the verge of getting and so I slept all day, taking three separate naps before showtime and not leaving the venue until over.
I was, however happy with the show that night and I woke up in Seattle finally feeling well and certainly more well-rested than usual.

This paid off in Seattle, where it was sold out and spirits were high all over.
The tour ended on an especially high note, as everyone played exceptional sets to the best audience imaginable.
The next day, we flew home for a few days with families before kicking it next week.
Our flight out of Seattle was delayed, and we barely made our connector in Las Vegas.
With seconds to spare between us and a six hour layover, we sprinted from one end of the terminal to the other and were the very last to board.
From there it was smooth flying, I read The Tipping Point and some nice passenger behind me bought me a cold beer.

Next week, we resume in Minneapolis MN, another great town with some great friends that I look forward to seeing.

TO BE CONTINUED

Patterson Hood

Leg 1 - Part 2 May 17-20, 2006

Having spent nearly a week at home with my Family, I flew out of Atlanta into Minneapolis to rejoin the entourage.
The flight was nice and uneventful, even Atlanta's airport wasn't too bad (for a change).
We played 1st Avenue, a former Greyhound Bus Station that has been a long-standing music venue for the twin cities for decades now.
It was the club Prince played with The Time and The Revolution in the 1984 movie Purple Rain. (The film is great in that laughably bad way that is somehow endearing, but the live performances are transcendent and shearing over 20 years later).
Last time we played there, it was on the verge of closing down and in a bad state of disrepair, but this time it has been cleaned up somewhat and everything was in fine working order.

American Minor opened the show to great responses and very high energy.
They would repeat the job with the same great results for the upcoming 2 nights. Great bunch of guys and a band to watch out for.

It was great to be stretching out again, playing close to 2 1/2 hours to 1000 or so folks who made us feel very "at home."

In Milwaukee we played The Pabst Theatre, which was built in 1895 and is easily one of the most beautiful places we have ever played.
The show was one of my favorites so far this year.
We were visited backstage by the extended family of Mark Allen Maida, a long-term DBT fan who was tragically killed last year in Iraq.
He had been set to return home a few months earlier, but was included in the military's stop-gap program which extended his stay.
His brother was over there also, but fortunately returned home and was at the show.
There were tears and tales of happier times.
Jason encored solo with his beautiful new song "Dress Blues" which he wrote last month about a former schoolmate of his that faced a similar fate over there. We followed, best we could with "World of Hurt" and a couple of rockers to send everyone home properly.
I had never gotten to meet Mark, but from meeting his beautiful family I felt like I had somehow known him.

We hope to record "Dress Blues" in the very near future, as I think it might be the best song Jason has ever written and I feel honored to play on it.
(We're still working up a full-band arrangement at soundchecks with hopes of having it in the set ASAP).

Chicago has long been a favorite town for us.
Our first sold out show of the Southern Rock Opera Tour (back in 2001) was at The Hideout, and we have always looked forward to each return there.
This one might have to go down as an all-time high for us there. The Vic Theatre is a cool funky old theatre, kind of a polar opposite to The Pabst, and a total blast all the same.
The show sold out well in advance and the level of audience feedback was such that playing a less than stellar show was an impossibility.

On saturday, we played The Brown Theatre in Louisville KY.
The show was part of a radio convention that was also open to the public.
The bill also included The Younder Mountain String Band (whose set I missed but heard was really good), Ralph Stanley who might have the most beautiful voice on the planet, and Alejandro Escovedo who is one of my all-time favorite artists.

I have to confess, I am notoriously lousy about missing the support bands we play with.
As I get older, the show takes about all I have, and I usually spend the pre-show hours in near hibernation saving every ounce of energy for The Rock Show. I'm also extremely anti-social before we play, as I'm in some deep thought about what I want to do on stage and not very good at interacting with anyone. That said, I went out and sat in the audience for Alejandro's set and was absolutely blown away on every level.
I have long been a big fan, and had just seen him twice right before he became so sick a few years back.
As most know, Ajejandro has Hep. C. and suffered many complications that nearly killed him.
Like most musicians, he had no insurance and nearly died before getting proper care.

Alejandro's set consisted mainly of songs from his excellent new album The Boxing Mirror. The set was short (due to the type of gig it was), but incredibly moving on every level. He is looking great and singing with authority and vitality. It is truly a blessing to be able to see him perform again and his set is one of the highlights of my year.

We played a rigidly timed 45 set, but tried to pack as much into that time limit as possible.
The crowd was fantastic (usually shows with a high percentage of industry folks means "lame-ass crowd" but this one was exceptional on all levels).
After the set, spirits were soaring as we began packing our shit for the return home.

Next stop: SPAIN, then we will begin the summer tour with Robert Randolph and The (almighty) Black Crowes.

To Be Continued...

Patterson Hood

ALL PHOTOS on this page courtesy of Adam Smith.