With the Drive-By Truckers, Patterson Hood puts a modern twist on loud, hard Southern rock. (Although, as he said, “If you think the Truckers are loud, you should’ve heard Adam’s House Cat,” the punk rock band he had with fellow Trucker Mike Cooley.) As hard as they rock, they write great songs that tackle love, life, politics and more with an unpretentious literary quality and a sharp wit. The raucous, rowdy nature of those performances can sometimes hide just how good the songs really are.  With just an acoustic guitar, Hood showed off another side of his artistry in his recent performance at The Birchmere (and again later at Rams Head on Stage), allowing his brilliant lyrics to shine through and telling some amazing stories.