The term ‘three axe attack’ is only scary when it isn’t referring to music. Georgia-based band Drive-By Truckers specialize in the attack — which describes the arrangement of three guitars alongside bass and drum — and also in the effort to get away from a certain brand of Southern rock that initially made them famous.
Formed by childhood friends Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley in 1996, DBT has suffered the rock band cliché of a revolving-door list of musicians, recorded a Southern rock opera (the aptly named ‘Southern Rock Opera,’ an album that uses the rise and fall of Lynyrd Skynyrd as a means of analyzing the cultural deterioration of the South during the 1970s), and earned a four-star review from Rolling Stone Magazine. Now, some 14 years and 10 albums later, DBT has moved away from its Skynyrd-like sound to emerge on the other side with even tighter compositions, accelerated songwriting that channels sounds more in the vein of Tom Petty and Neil Young, and a big bang-up tour promoting their ninth studio effort, ‘The Big To Do.’ In a recent review by The Patriot Ledger, Chad Berndtson writes, ‘Asked to describe the Drive-By Truckers’ new album, ‘The Big To-Do,’ singer/guitarist Patterson Hood takes a second, chews over the question, and finally offers, ‘It’s the sound of us getting the bugs out of the system. It’s the sound of us getting the hang of what we’re doing, finally.’’
DBT is scheduled to make a stop a the Crystal Bay Club and Casino, and you don’t want to miss Hood (guitar, vocals, bass), Cooley (guitar, vocals, bass), John Neff (guitar, steel guitar, vocals), Brad Morgan (drums), Shonna Tucker (bass, vocals, guitar), and Jay Gonzalez (keyboards, vocals) rippin’ it up Southern style.
Sunday May 9. Show 9pm, tickets $25/Adv, $30/Door, Crystal Bay Club and Casino, Crystal Bay, crystalbaycasino.com
