Rockers who aren’t afraid of political firestorms

“Honestly, if I’d had any idea that this band would survive longer than two years, I probably would have put more thought into what we named it,” Hood says during a call from his current home base in Portland, Ore. “At the time, I literally was thinking, with a name like that, I’ll bet we can get a gig at the Star Bar. And we did.

“This was the fourth band with Cooley. Our first three were dismal failures. So I was thinking that before I die, I’d like to sell out a room, of any size. The Star Bar thing was something that seemed to be an open avenue for us to maybe have a chance at that.”

Of course, the Truckers went on to become one of the best and most prolific bands of the 2000s, mining the roots of American music in tones from country to punk, and sometimes raising a ruckus like Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.

But most of all, it’s elegiac rock that pokes around in the jagged edges of the American psyche — and most certainly delves into what Hood first announced as “the duality of the Southern thing” in the band’s Lynyrd Skynyrd-inspired 2001 breakthrough album, “Southern Rock Opera.”

The latest, “American Band,” was released in September 2016, and stands as the most overtly political, not to mention the best-selling, DBT album to date.

Taking on hot-button issues in hard-hitting songs about the devolution of the NRA, the controversies surrounding the Confederate flag, and the deaths of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin proved to be prophetic after the presidential election in November 2016. And with all that, a certain segment of fans felt betrayed.

Though maybe they should have seen it coming, especially given the 2015 editorial piece Hood penned for The New York Times, headlined "The South's Heritage Is So Much More Than a Flag."

“The only thing surprising was that people were shocked,” Hood says. “It was like, what part of our first record or every record since did you not notice? We’ve always had a political aspect to our band. I never thought it was hidden. And we’ve caught flak before. ‘Dirty South’ got a super nasty review from Jeff Clark in Stomp & Stammer, which is kind of a point of pride.

“When we toured behind that record in the fall of 2004, which was the Kerry-Bush election, we had people shooting us birds, and heckling us, and yelling stuff at us every night of that fall tour. But we kept playing those songs, and that became what was at the time our most successful record, and I guess it has been our most successful record until ‘American Band.’”

Hood also reports that the reception to “American Band” has fueled several tours and cemented the most long-lived lineup in DBT history, with Hood, Cooley and longtime drummer Brad Morgan joined by multi-instrumentalist Jay Gonzalez and bass player Matt Patton.

“We’re actually kind of good right now,” Hood says. “The touring behind ‘American Band’ has been pretty fantastic. Our lineup is killer. And we all actually like each other. We’ve been seven years now without drama.

“That’s kind of amazing for a band that at one time was famous for our tumultuousness, and never put out two releases in a row with the same personnel. Now we’re about to make our fourth record with the exact same lineup. We just finished a grueling five-week summer tour, and everybody was kind of sad to say bye to each other. So we eventually got it right, I guess.”

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As fans who’ve followed the Truckers since the early 2000s know, much of that drama ensued after Jason Isbell, who was 21 at the time, joined the band in 2001, and soon became a force as a guitar player, singer and songwriter. Isbell married Shonna Tucker, who joined the band on bass, and stayed on for a while after the couple divorced.

But as Hood is quick to point out, none of his drama talk is “meant to be disparaging” of past lineups.

“For starters, Jason and I are buds, and I couldn’t be prouder and happier about everything to do with Jason and his life and career right now,” Hood says. “And I’m fine with everybody else, too. Bands are a complicated thing. It’s like marriage, where you’re married to five different people. And if you’re lucky, no one is getting laid.”

For the remainder of 2018, it looks like the past and the future of the Drive-By Truckers will continue to be intertwined.

For one thing, the first band Hood and Cooley ever put together, Adam’s House Cat, will be opening the Sept. 28-29 shows at Variety Playhouse, along with some other stops on the early fall tour.

For another thing, “Town Burned Down,” the only album Adam’s House Cat ever recorded (but was never released), will be coming out for the first time on Sept. 21 on the Truckers’ label, ATO Records.

“When that band broke up, we played our last show 27 years ago, Sept. 14, 1991,” Hood says. “That was the last time we played together. A week to the day after the 27th anniversary, the record will be coming out. And a week after that, we’re going to play together for the first time in 27 years. I’m so excited that it’s finally coming out, and that it’s really actually good.”

And in bigger news for fans, Hood and Cooley have written a batch of new songs and will be recording them with Athens producer David Barbe.

“We’ll have just come out of the studio when we get to Atlanta,” Hood says. “We’re making the record in Memphis, which is something we’ve talked about doing literally since the Adam’s House Cat days.

“We were going to make ‘American Band’ in Memphis, but for logistical reasons, it ended up moving to Nashville. The new one we’re doing in Sam Phillips studio, which is supposed to be super cool. David Barbe will produce, again. I can’t wait to see what will happen.”

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CONCERT PREVIEW

Drive-By Truckers with Adam’s House Cat

8 p.m. Sept. 28-29. $35 advance / $41 day of show. Variety Playhouse, 1099 Euclid Ave. NE, Atlanta. 404-524-7354, variety-playhouse.com. 

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