THE DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS DOC: "THE SECRET TO A HAPPY ENDING"

If you've been reading No Expiration for a while, you know I'm a huge fan of The Drive-By Truckers. So I was really excited to see the doc about the band, The Secret To A Happy Ending (it's a quote from one of my favorite Truckers songs, "A World Of Hurt").

It goes into the story of frontman Patterson Hood and his father, David Hood, who played bass at Muscle Shoals studio, playing for the likes of The Staple Singers and Otis Redding. Hood and Mike Cooley's relationship gets a lot of time, including their former band, Adam's House Cat. It also goes into, but without much detail (appropriately) former guitarist/singer Jason Isbell and bassist/singer Shonna Tucker's divorce. It also looks at why the band have connected in such a strong way with fans (I feel like they are one of very few bands that have connected in a really strong way in the past decade or so).

The DBTs seem to be coming into their own now, and they seem to be getting new fans every year.  This is a great film to watch to learn about them, whether you've been a long time fan or you're just starting out.

"WHY INDIE ROCK IGNORES THE DRIVE BY TRUCKERS"

I just read an article at IndyWeek.com called "Why Indie Rock Continues To Ignore The Drive-By Truckers, and What It's Missing."

Although The DBTs have recorded for indie labels, and handled themselves as an indie band, it never actually would have occurred to me that the super-anglo meek-seeming scene that has championed Pavement, The Strokes, Animal Collective and Vampire Weekend would have an appreciation for The Drive-By Truckers.  OK, that's a bit condescending, and I just posted a comment on the article that was a bit snide.  I guess The White Stripes came from the indie scene, sort of. The Afghan Whigs used to have indie support, sort of. I mean, when I think of independent music, I think of Ian MacKaye or Ani DiFranco. But that's not what people are referring to when they talk about "indie" music today.

Really, part of it is that they, like Bruce Springsteen or Bob Seger, honor the lives of everyday folks who work for a living and survive by the seat of their pants (sometimes only barely). That won't ever be "cool" to most of the people who worry too much about "cool." For the rest of us, thank god there's a band like this still around today.  I can't wait to get their album (on vinyl - that's pretty indie, right?) and the DVD of their documentary The Secret To A Happy Ending in the mail this week, and I'm looking forward to seeing them on Thursday. On Tuesday, they are playing the Bowery Ballroom in New York City. Thursday I'm going to see them at the Paramount Center For The Arts in Peekskill, NY.  I'm glad I'm going to that one.

Part of what the article, which is well written, postulates that, is that because they are so southern, notherners find it a bit off-putting. I would agree with that, except for the fact that Kings Of Leon came from the indie scene (to be fair, KOL has always seemed puzzled by this, and don't seem to care about indie-ness at all). I would be curious to hear indie types explain why the scene hasn't embraced The DBTs.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS NEW ALBUM AND DOC

I've written a lot about The Drive-By Truckers, they are one of the artists that I would not have become a fan of without the great Outlaw Country channel on SIRIUS XM. They are one of my favorite artists of the '00s, and I'm glad that they aren't letting this decade get too old before putting out a new album. The Big To-Do comes out on March 16 and they also have a documentary film, The Secret To A Happy Ending. I'm not sure when that comes out, I'll let you know. It isn't available as a DVD on their web site. 

If you read No Expiration often, you know that I don't write too much about new(ish) artists. But if you trust my judgement, this is a band I think you should check out.