A change of heart after a change of location

I went to see Patterson Hood, lead singer of the Drive By Truckers, do a solo show last night. Even though he was coming down with Laryngitis it was still pretty good. He played some of the hits and told stories about some of the songs. It’s been a while since I’ve heard somebody describe someone else as being “meaner than shit.” Now, I’ll be the first to admit that when I lived in Athens I wasn’t a fan of the Truckers. I thought they were kind of boring and I, wrongly, associated them with the more negative aspects of bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd and that whole “Southern Thang” attitude (in my defense they do have a song called “The Southern Thing” so you can see how I might have made such an assumption). But after I had been up here for a couple of months I saw that they had put out a new album and I decided to give them another shot. It was only after being out of the South that I really began to appreciated them as songwriters. They have an amazing way of examining life in the South, and more importantly the people who live it, without playing up or totally ignoring the stereotypes that are so commonly associated with the region. They present characters that might seem like clichés to others with the dignity that they deserve. I also think “Outfit” off of Decoration Day is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. Anyway, all of this is to say that Chicago has turned me into a Truckers fan and last night was a great show. DBT!