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Drive-By Truckers perform at Stubb’s BBQ on April 8, 2017. (Photo by Marshall Foster)
You might expect that Drive-By Truckers frontment Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, who are known for taking outspoken, forceful positions, would have a lot to say on stage. But on their first of two nights playing the 9:30 Club Friday, they mostly let their songs — 30 of them, a two-and-a-half-hour set — do the talking.
Drive-By Truckers (Photo by Andy Tenille)
Drive-By Truckers released The Unraveling via ATO Records on Jan. 31. This month, Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, and company are set to perform at 9:30 Club for two nights — Friday, Feb. 28, and Saturday, Feb. 29!
The The Dimmer Twins play at Rams Head on Stage. (Photo by Matt Ruppert)
A little more than two months after Drive-By Truckers blew down the walls of the Anthem with Lucinda Williams, Mike Cooley and Patterson Hood recently rolled into the Rams Head in Annapolis with nothing more than a few guitars, stories, songs, and their humorous nom de guerre as a duo. The Dimmer Twins, a play on The Glimmer Twins of Rolling Stones fame (Mick Jagger and Keith Richards), without an opener or a setlist.
Drive-By Truckers perform at The Anthem on Feb. 8, 2019. (Photo by Matt Ruppert)
Full disclosure: The songs of Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley have guided me through some of the best and hardest years of my adulthood. From the first discovery of Southern Rock Opera during my college years to the most recent American Band, I can write with confidence that their songs hold persistent meaning to me.
So, I will not be objective about the recent performance of Drive-By Truckers at The Anthem. Consider this your warning.
Patterson Hood performs at Pearl Street Warehouse on Dec. 7, 2018, in one of the best shows of the year. (Photo by Paivi Salonen)
Editor’s Note: This year, we asked our bloggers to name their Top 10 shows of 2018 or choose their Top 10 photos of the year. We will run them over the course of mid-December as our Best of the Year posts.
Mark Engleson, a man who truly loves live Americana, folk, and country, chose his Top 10 concerts of 2018 for Parklife DC.
Patterson Hood performs at Pearl Street Warehouse on Dec. 7, 2018. (Photo by Paivi)
Patterson Hood, who leads the Drive-By Truckers with Mike Cooley, started writing songs more than 45 years ago. He formed the predecessor to the Drive-By Truckers, Adam’s House Cat, more than 30 years ago, and the Truckers have been going strong for more than 20. In an amazing, sold-out solo acoustic show on Friday night, Patterson showed that he’s every bit in love with songs after all this time.
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