The members of Athens, Ga.-based band Drive-By Truckers are no strangers to college crowds, so it’s befitting that the Southern rock group is headlining this year’s Old Main Music Festival, Music Makers’ biggest outdoor event of the spring.
The Truckers recently returned from a European tour, with Old Main being their second performance since returning to the States. To branch out from the group’s national recognition, it has been touring the globe and acquiring a more diverse fanbase. The Truckers are currently enjoying a little down time before heading south this weekend.
Lead singer Patterson Hood had some time to sit down and talk about Europe, his influences in music and his love for good old-fashioned hell-raising.
T.S.: The band just got back from a European tour, how did it go? Was it much of a culture shock?
P.H.: “It was our seventh time over there, so it’s not a culture shock now. It’s different, especially with transportation. [Getting around] is harder there.”
T.S.: How were the audiences?
P.H.: “Really good. We just played for 1,100 [people] in London; we’re really optimistic. It’s still a work in progress with some of the cultural barriers.”
Though the group has spent a lot of its time on the road and in unfamiliar places, the group is undoubtedly most familiar with the South.
T.S.: Being from Florence, Ala., and Athens, Ga., the band is obviously rooted in the South. Are their many Southern music influences within the group?
P.H.: “Tons. Everything from Stax and Sun Records to the Blues. We’re influenced by other bands like Big Star and British bands that were influenced by Southern music, like the [Rolling] Stones and the Faces,”
T.S.: Being the son of Dave Hood [world class bassist and producer], were you brought up around a lot of music?
P.H.: “Yeah, he had a great record collection. I didn’t hang around the studio, but I’d pillage through his collection picking up albums with cool covers and listening to them for hours and hours with a pair of headphones on: Neil Young, Led Zeppelin and old soul and country records. Of course, I fell in love with punk rock when that phase came around.”
Those influences have followed Hood into his career as lead singer for the Drive-By Truckers. His gritty voice accompanies a fusion of Southern rock, punk and soul and the dark lyrics he emits have that sting that can be felt from the Blues. Of course, he wants Truckers’ audiences to have a grand time.
P.H.: “We want people to raise hell and have a good time. That’s the point. We like to make our message palatable. We want people to have a good time even though the message can sometimes be dark, like hearing the Blues.”