JoWhat a year it’s been for the Drive-By Truckers. Another in a long list of great bands from Athens, Georgia the Drive-By Truckers are a good old fashioned rock and roll band who are as popular with the alt-country crowd as they are with the jam band community. They have a new CD out called “Brighter than Creation’s Dark” and it is being hailed as the best work of their illustrious career. It’s a nineteen song set of original music that is available on CD as well as vinyl. (Remember the days of double albums?) Anchored by founding members Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, DBT also features Brad Morgan on drums, Shonna Tucker on bass, and John Neff on guitar and petal steel. Joining the group for the new CD is the legendary Muscle Shoals keyboardist Spooner Oldham.

The surprising thing about this outstanding new CD is that it comes so soon after the departure of guitarist Jason Isbell. Jason was a big part of the band over the last five years but personal and creative differences brought about the need for change and the parting, which happened in April of 2007, was both amicable and mutually desired. The band responded by going out on the road for a series of semi-acoustic shows nicknamed “The Dirt Underneath” tour during which time many of these new tunes were written. Also, the band found time to go into the studio to back up the legendary blues woman Bettye LaVette for her new studio recording called “Scene of the Crime.” This record went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award for the best contemporary blues album. DBT also worked with Spooner Oldham on this record and Spooner kept right on working with them all the way through the completion of “Brighter than Creation’s Dark.” In fact the Drive-By Truckers hold Spooner in such high regard that they actually dedicated the new CD to him.

“Brighter than Creation’s Dark” which clocks in at just over seventy-five minutes in length really is a revelation. Mike Cooley penned seven cuts from the pure country of “Bob,” to the rip roaring rock of “3 Dimes Down” and “Self Destructive Zones.” Patterson Hood has nine contributions including two cuts that make statements about the Iraq war called “The Home Front” and “That Man I Shot,” the latter sounding a lot like Neil Young and Crazy Horse in their prime. The remaining three songs were contributed by Shonna Tucker who adds a woman’s touch to the proceedings.

The Drive-By Truckers are now on tour in support of the “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark” recording. They will be in the area on March 21st in Northampton, March 22nd in Boston, and March 25th at Toad’s Place in New Haven. This interview with Mike Cooley took place on Thursday February 7th. Mike was at home in Alabama at the time.

BH – Congratulations on the new CD!

MC – “Thanks, thanks it’s been cool.”

BH – The reviews have been great.

MC – "Yeah I've probably read more for this record than I ever have in the past. Most of it gets forwarded to me through email and I’ve come across a few of them by accident and that’s kind of cool. I had some surgery a couple of weeks ago and I was laid up and my wife just brought a few magazines in there to kill some time and I’ve come across a few reviews, even one that wasn’t a good one. The cool thing is that some of the ones I’ve come across that are even borderline less than favorable are still overall really good reviews so I’m not complaining.”

BH – It must be nice getting ready to tour the new songs when you know your fans finally have the CD in their hands.

MC – “You know news travels faster than bullets. They were singing along to those songs from day one. We would play a show, literally, play one of those songs live for the first time, play the next show the next night and people were singing along to it. I mean that’s how fast this shit travels now. You can’t keep it a secret.”

BH – You must be proud of your new songs.

MC – “Yeah it was the first really good creative run I’ve had in really almost ten years. So it felt really good to pry some of those doors open and actually get back in to doing what I really like which is seeing a song come together.”

BH – How was it working with Spooner Oldham?

MC - “You know it’s been a great year all the way around and working with Spooner has more to do with that than anything. He’s just great and he kind of became a member of the band. We have an open door policy, you don’t even have to call first just show up. He’s just great, what he adds makes the songs better. No matter how good it is to begin with, he makes it better. And he’s just a wonderful, warm human being to hang out with.”

BH – Will he be touring with you

MC - “I’m not sure how many shows on this tour we’re going to have him. We have him whenever we can and whenever he wants to. We generally try to have him as much as possible but I don’t know yet how much or when.”

BH – I noticed that you’ll be playing at Toad’s Place. Have you been there before?

MC - “I don’t think we played there. I think the only Connecticut show we’ve ever played was some little tiny bar, it might be right by Yale. We had a ball that night but we played in a room that was about the size of my living room.” (I think Mike was referring to Café Nine.)

BH – I also noticed that you’re starting out the tour playing with the North Mississippi All-Stars. That’s a hot little band don’t you think?

MC - “Oh yeah, we’ve known those guys Luther and Cody (Dickinson) since they were kids. They’ve always been amazing. They came right out of the gate hot.”

BH – It seems that the jam band community has really embraced you guys

MC - “Yeah, that’s kind of cool. From the beginning the alt-country crowd embraced us for a while and they still do. We’ve been able to be embraced by a lot of these different genres without burning any bridges or without getting pigeonholed in any one of them. I’m glad they’re opened minded enough to appreciate a song that starts and finishes in a timely fashion.”

BH – And I think it helps that you guys are a taper friendly band too.

MC - “Yeah, we always have been. Why try to stop it?”

BH – I see that you’re headed back to Bonnaroo again?

MC – “It will be our third time there.”

BH – Is that a festival that you look forward to?

MC - “Oh sure, I don’t know if Zeppelin is going to play it or not but that could almost get me off the bus and back into the festival. Usually when we do a festival I stay on the bus, I get into a golf cart, I go to the stage, I play the show, I go back to the bus because I hate crowds. But if Zeppelin plays I might get off my ass!”

BH – Yeah but Mike, what happens if you become so successful that you have to play to sold out hockey arenas?

MC - “I don’t mind those kind of crowds! The reason I started doing this is so I can be on stage, it’s not crowded up there.”

BH – Let’s talk about the new record for a minute. Patterson wrote two anti-Iraq songs. Are you two on the same page politically?

MC - “Well I live in Alabama so a voted a few days ago but we’re very much on the same page. What I’m most proud of, what political statements were made weren’t opinionated on this record. I feel like we just said ‘this is what this guy sees through his eyes.’ You can’t disagree with it, it’s what he sees. I like that because it’s not like preaching from a soapbox.”

BH – I like your song “Bob.” You write about this character without passing judgment on him.

MC - “I was goofing off when I wrote that song, I wasn’t really taking anything that seriously and we cut it and I didn’t really plan on it going the record but the rest of the band really liked it and now it’s become the one that everybody is singling out. OK cool.”

BH – It’s amazing that the Truckers haven’t missed a beat with the departure of Jason Isbell. But I guess as long as you and Patterson are together the band will always have its anchor.

MC - “We’ve had a lot of people come in but we’ve been fortunate enough to have mostly really talented people, people with a lot to say and a lot to offer. And eventually a person who is that talented and has that much to say and that much to offer will find their own way. I’m proud to have been a part of all those people and their ambitions.”

BH – Shonna Tucker certainly took a big step forward.

MC - “Yeah, that’s just great. The songs she came in with are great. I don’t think we would have gotten away with having nineteen songs on a record if it hadn’t been for those three because you get one of Patterson’s, one of mine, one or two here or there and then you get this gem that’s different. And then it happens again and then it happens again. It really serves the placement to draw people back into the record. I think it’s amazing.”

BH – I understand that you’ll be releasing this music as a double album as well as a compact disc. Does vinyl still sell?

MC - “Well it’s starting to again. For the last couple of years I think vinyl is going to become, as far as a physical and tangible format or product to buy and hold in your hand and collect, it’s going to reemerge as the one. Even people younger than us who didn’t grow up with it are now embracing it as just a better product to have in your collection. If you want to hear the music you can download it and you can put it straight on your ipod, if you just want to hear the songs. But if you want the product vinyl is just superior, it’s nicer, it’s better, it’s bigger, it’s cooler, and it sounds better too.”

BH – You’ve always had great artwork on your discs and “Brighter Than Creation’s Dark” is no exception. I’m sure it will look even better on a nice big album.

MC - “It always does and that’s because of our connection and friendship with Wes Freed. We happened to meet this guy who is a phenomenal artist real early in the development of the band. And we knew that we wanted him to do this work. You look at CD’s and even the nicest packages just don’t have it. And now, lo and behold, here comes vinyl back. So I can’t wait to see all these records and all that artwork on that LP format.”

BH – With this record out will you be able to take a break from the songwriting process or is that a continuous thing for you?

MC - “It’s a continuous thing. It’s my favorite thing to do. I’m just not always able to immerse myself in it as much as I’d like to. I hate taking a break from songwriting. I don’t really have the time anymore or the ability just to drift into that world and let it happen. But right now I’m happy. I’m glad I got the songs on the record and we have it to tour behind and that’s what I’m going to focus on but I’m looking forward to getting to the next step and writing some more songs for the next record.”

Some have called what the Drive-By Truckers do “storyteller rock.” Their lyrics are always intriguing and provocative and the musicianship is flawless. There are times when their sound moves effortlessly from southern rock to punk to blues and back to country. Patterson Hood once said that the listener should just consider it rock and leave it at that. Still, as good as their new studio CD is the Drive-By Truckers are a band that you need to see live in order to get the full aural experience. For more information on this truly great American band check out their website at www.drivebytruckers.com.

Better yet, show up at Toad’s Place in New Haven on March 25th.