2011, 2011, 2011!!!
It’s a brand new year. Congratulations to everyone who managed to stay a toe’s length from the edge of that bridge for another damn year. It wasn’t a great year and I don’t want to go on and on about it, but that ‘focusing on the positive’ wasn’t working for me, either, so I turned on Sirius and listened to the Drive By Truckers ringing in the new in New York City. They were dirty, nasty, dark and put a grin on my face from the git-go, with Patterson sending you all a big, fat “Happy New Year, Motherfuckers!”. They opened with the Gregory Dean Smalley story, reminding us all right away that we can’t die now ‘cause we’ve got another show to do. The Big To-Do was represented, but, mostly, it reminded me of shows of old, with Decoration Day, Gravity’s Gone, Ronnie and Neil, Dead, Drunk and Naked, bunch old stuff, and Ghost to Most! They ended with Shut Your Mouth and Get Your Ass on the Plane and Angels and Fuselage. Oh, yeah, Shonna Tucker broke out her new one. (will be on Go-Go Boots, which they’ll kick out in February)
My year had a few smiles. Ronnie Fauss put on quite a show at our place. He’s a treasure both musically and personally. He has great EPs, too. Check out Naomi’s review of Mulligan and if you haven’t heard him before, you’re missing out.
How Big Is The Big To-Do?
The new Drive By Truckers’ album was released on March 16th and I was pretty excited about this one. It’s a full-blown PRODUCTION kind of album. How big is Big To-Do
I’m a big Drive By Truckers fanatic and I can never wait for the next show or the next album. A live Trucker show is like a shot in the arm, and not in that bad way . . . The new CD is like reading a good book. Lots of story-songs on this one. Patterson tells smutty tales of some bad-ass characters and Cooley sings about hookers and being jobless. You know, everyday life stuff.
Top Ten for 2009?
(or What I Spent My Grocery Money On)
You all know by now my penchant for owning the physical disc. Even when times are hard. I’d love to tell you it’s because my high morals won’t allow me to copy OPD’s (other people’s discs) but, well, I just really like to peel off the wrappers and pop out the pretty inserts and stuff.
And, I do like to cuss the postal system when it’s late, cuss the state of our society because there are no independent music stores – you know, get myself a little worked up. Then, when I finally get my hands on the actual item, I run my fingers over the lyrics booklet, read the dedication and thank yous and all before I listen from track one to the very end.
From the moment I sussed out the info that Steve Earle was releasing "Townes", I knew I’d have to have that one. It’s a forever keeper. And, Guy Clark’s "Sometimes the Song Writes You" was getting multiple rave reviews before I’d ever heard of it, so I internet-ordered that. Kris Kristofferson’s "Closer to the Bone" kept me camped out by the mailbox for a while. Well worth the frostbite, though.
Drive-By Truckers – The Fine Print
A Collection of Oddities and Rarities 2003 – 2008
So the Drive-By Truckers have another release and another triumph. The Fine Print (A Collection Of Oddities And Rarities 2003-2008)
Drive-By Truckers
We here at SlackerCountry.com just updated our blog technology and noticed something interesting. See that tag cloud over on the right? The tag size is in proportion to how often we write about each artist and the Drive-By Trucker tag is suspiciously small.
This caused us to do some serious soul-searching because, really, we slackers (especially me and Gracey) are borderline obsessed with DBT and play them pretty much ALL THE TIME. We’ve all been to see them at least once (twice, three times) in the past year – basically anytime they are in the neighborhood. Much of Gracey’s conversation revolves around things she has read on the DBT fan board. . . . And then there is the whole problem of keeping Gracey from stalking the tour bus.
Brighter Than Creation’s Dark – Drive-By Truckers
If you haven’t heard all the raving about the newest Drive-By Truckers’ release, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, then you haven’t been paying attention! This one’s getting lots of positive press. Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley and Shonna Tucker have written the 19 songs on this 75 minute long album, which has exceeded even my expectations and I expect a lot.
I’ve been pretty much obsessed with this band since I first heard them on a scratchy cassette tape on a road trip in ’04. Got home and quickly educated myself on Southern Rock Opera (I grew up down there; it wasn’t hard to grasp!). I marinated in The Dirty South
Tequila Brad Throws A Big Ole Birthday Party!
Anybody know Tequila Brad down there in Dallas?
You might if you go to certain shows in the Dallas area or you visit certain discussion boards (The Drams, The DriveBy Truckers, for example).
Well, even if you don’t, you just might want to check out Brad’s birthday party this weekend (Saturday, November 17, 9:00) at Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton, Texas.
See, Brad had this great idea. What if he got three of his favorite bands and had them all play at the same venue for him as a birthday present for himself??? He figures there is not a lot of overlap between the fan bases for these three groups and he might be doing some people some favors by introducing them to more good music. So, these Texas bands, not necessarily in this order are: The Drams out of Denton, Band of Heathens out of Austin, and Todd Mankin out of Fort Worth.