About Drive-By Truckers
Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alabama. The group also has roots in Richmond, Virginia.
The band currently consists of Mike Cooley , Patterson Hood , Brad Morgan , Jay Gonzalez , and Matt Patton . The line-up has undergone multiple changes since the band's formation, with Cooley and Hood serving as the sole constants throughout. The band's constant touring has developed a dedicated following.
Drive-By Truckers was cofounded by Patterson Hood and longtime friend, former roommate, and musical partner Mike Cooley in Athens, Georgia, in 1996. The two had played in various other bands including Adam's House Cat, which was chosen as a top-10 Best Unsigned Band by a Musician contest in the late 1980s. Adam's House Cat recordings, entitled Town Burned Down were released in September 2018 via ATO Records. After the demise of Adam's House Cat, Cooley and Hood performed as a duo under the name Virgil Kane. They eventually started a new band, Horsepussy, with bassist-vocalist Adam Howell and Aaron Bryant before splitting for a few years. During this split, Hood moved to Athens and began forming what would become Drive-By Truckers, "with the intent of luring Cooley back into the fold".
The band's original lineup was fluid, but it most often included Hood, Cooley, and Howell, along with drummer Matt Lane, pedal steel player John Neff, and mandolin player Barry Sell. They released their first album Gangstabilly in 1998. With Hood and Cooley sometimes playing mandolin and banjo instead of guitar, and Howell playing double bass. After recording their first album, the band added a third guitarist/vocalist, Rob Malone. By the second album, Pizza Deliverance, released in 1999, Howell had left, Malone switched to bass, and Sell had left the band. Neff was also listed as a guest rather than a member, although he plays on much of the album. Hood dominated the songwriting and lead vocals in these early records, but Cooley, Howell, and Malone also contributed songs, with Cooley's songwriting share increasing notably by the second album.
Following their second release, Lane was replaced by drummer Brad Morgan, who had already filled in for Lane during some of the band's shows. Morgan went on to become the band's other constant member along with Hood and Cooley. With Neff also having declined to remain a full-time band contributor, Hood and Cooley were left as the only original members. The band then embarked on a nationwide tour as a four-piece band, resulting in a live album entitled Alabama Ass Whuppin' .
After three years on the road, a tight-knit group of musicians had emerged. Malone had switched back to guitar, giving the band a three-member guitar army like Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Earl Hicks, a friend who had previously been involved in the band's production, took over the bass slot. They then began work on 2001's double album, Southern Rock Opera.
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