The Athens, Ga. quintet Drive-By Truckers will make a triumphant return Aug. 5 and 6 to The Windjammer on Isle of Palms.
The Truckers, led by singers/songwriters/guitarists Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, formed in 1996 creating a heavy-but-enlightened brand of Southern rock with as much intelligence as volume. And it spent a lot of years honing that sound at The Windjammer.
In a recent conversation with the Charleston City Paper, Hood reminisced about his favorite Windjammer memories over the years — and that’s when things got a little blurry. In its early years, the band had a reputation for partying as hard as it played.
“Oh God, I don’t know what I can tell you,” Hood said. “Let me think. See, we used to play there back in the early wilder days back in the early 2000s. Back when Jason Isbell was in the band (Isbell left in 2007), there was a night where he … maybe I shouldn’t talk about that.”
Hood added, “For sure, these shows are going to be a good time and hopefully the weather will be good.”
Hood said he is also excited the band is playing two shows, which gives the Truckers room to stretch, both onstage and off.
“I love a two-nighter,” he said. “Because then we actually can spend a little time in the town and not just rush in and out. And so those are always my favorite shows. Typically two nights are both my favorite, because it affects both shows in a good way.”
And if you love guitars and aggression, you don’t want to miss the supporting acts. On this swing, called the Charm & Decadence tour, the band shares the stage with the Rhode Island alt-rockers Deer Tick and the Southern-fried punk rockers Thelma & The Sleaze.
Add that to the massive guitar muscle of Drive By Truckers, and you’re going to need earplugs for these shows.
“It’s funny, because we’re friends with Deer Tick,” Hood said, “and we’ve played with them a number of times over the years, but we’ve never actually toured with them. But I’d go see them because they’re a fun band and I love their music. So when this tour with them came up, we jumped at it.”
“And then adding Thelma & The Sleaze was like putting whipped cream and a cherry on top because I love that band,” he added. “It is really one of my favorite young bands out there. So it’s a fun show all night.”
The pair of shows also give the Truckers a chance to move away from the style of shows it played last year. The band performed all of its critically-acclaimed 2001 album Southern Rock Opera on a tour last year, and as proud as Hood is of that album (a concept album loosely based on the rise and fall of Lynyrd Skynyrd), he said playing the same songs every night wasn’t what the Drive By Truckers is about.
“It was fun to go back and revisit it after 23 years,” Hood said. “People were excited about it, and I was happy that something we did so long ago was something that people still wanted to go see.
“But there’s a reason that that’s not what we do all the time. We don’t have a set list, so it’s different every night.”
And if you want to see the Truckers live, The Windjammer show is going to be your last chance for a while. The band hasn’t released an album since 2022’s Welcome 2 Club XIII, and Hood said that’s about to change.
“The tour is a fun thing to do this summer for sure,” he said, “but then after this year, we’re taking a bit of a hiatus because we’re wanting to make a record next year. So after this, we’re going to lay low until we get a new record out, because it’s been too long.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO: Doors open at 5 p.m., Aug. 5 and 6, The Windjammer, 10008 Ocean Blvd., Isle of Palms. Tickets are $40 in advance, $50 day of show: the-windjammer.com
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