DRIVE BY TRUCKERS

Drive by Truckers
Photo: McClister

Some things will just never go out of style. Despite whatever abominations find a home in the mainstream. No matter what foolish sounds become fashionable in the vernacular of popular music. Wild bleeps, bloops, and dropped bass be damned, there is absolutely nothing that can take a goddamned thing away from a well-written song done up in the classic twang-imbued rock ‘n’ roll finery that the Drive By Truckers have been perfecting since the late ‘90s.

The Drive By Truckers remain a powerhouse of alternative country in 2014, and while the band has seen its share of members come and go over the years (most notably providing singer/songwriter Jason Isbell with his start), founding members and principal songwriters, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, have continued to keep the band on its intended course of writing organic, no frills, tried and true alt. country well into its current iteration. The discography boasted by the Truckers is absolutely massive and while many bands begin to tread water after a few records, 2014’s English Oceans is another winner that holds up just fine amid the modern classics the band has released over the years.

There is a specific charm to the simplistic, witty, and approachable Southern musings the Truckers purvey that makes the band’s music distinct, yet immediately comfortable. While the Truckers have certainly not reinvented the wheel in the realm of roots rock they occupy, eschewing the oddities and spacial experimentations that have become the norm for peers like Wilco, the band has always hung its hat on its live show, which has garnered plenty of attention and respect to warrant the release of three live albums.

The interesting thing about the musical climate in South Florida is that, while the mega-selling pop-country acts sell out the area’s largest venues, the alternative end of the roots spectrum seem to go very much unnoticed — despite the wealth of great rootsy acts that call South Florida home. This affords fans with a taste for the authentic, honest stuff that is the calling card of band’s like Drive By Truckers opportunities to enjoy such artists in the intimacy of venues like Fort Lauderdale’s Culture Room, which will be hosting the Truckers on Wednesday, June 4. While you’re at it, check out some of the locals currently purveying a variety of alt. country and roots styles, like the Goddamn’ Hustle or the should-have-been-legendary Charlie Pickett.

~ Von Bader