“Three albums in a row was enough,” the Alabama native said recently by phone on tour in Colorado. “I think I’ve said what I set out to say. If something else happens that inspires a song, OK, but I’m not looking for that at this point. I feel like I covered plenty of ground.
“I have two songs about school shootings and that’s enough,” he continued. “Well, they keep happening so, obviously, they’re not enough but I don’t see me writing the one that changes the mind of anybody that isn’t going to already have their mind changed.”
Off the shelf
Hood started writing material for what became “Welcome 2 Club XIII” more than six years ago. The Portland, Oregon transplant kept shelving the more autobiographical songs until the time was right.
“I’ve been writing with an album in mind, in the back of my head, since well before ‘American Band’ came out,” Hood said. “It just kept getting pushed back so I kept writing for it. Even though, in the end, a lot of the songs on the record were written not long before we made it. There were songs along the way that kind of got left behind for songs that were written in the last year or so.
“We had ‘Wilder Days’ and a couple of songs already recorded before we made the rest of the record,” Hood continued. “We were sitting on them as part of this record we wanted to make but we still needed to write the songs that actually set up ‘Wilder Days.’ The last song I actually wrote for the record was ‘The Driver.’ When I wrote it, I was like, ‘OK, now we’ve got the first song and we’ve got the last song. We’re sitting pretty good now.’”
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Surprise album sessions
Along with co-founder Mike Cooley and his bandmates, Hood says he didn’t enter the studio with the intention of recording a new album.
“We went in to demo our new songs,” he said. “We wanted to see where we stood about, maybe, making a record later. And, we hadn’t been in a room together for a year-and-a-half. We thought we should all play together before we started doing shows and make sure we all remembered the songs and could still connect.
“We ended up making the record during the three days we booked for that,” Hood continued. “At the end of the third day, Cooley said, ‘I think we’re done. I think we’ve got a record.’ I was like, ‘I do too, honestly.’ So, that was it. We were so glad to see each other and so glad to get to play together in a room. It immediately had this joyfulness about it that offsets the darkness of the lyrics.”
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
Credit: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A light in darkness
That darkness is understandable given Hood’s empathic nature but he’s trying to remain positive.
“We’re truly going to hell, and I don’t know anything to do to stop it,” Hood said. “I mean, 2022 is terrible. I’m lucky as hell, man. I love my job, but it sucks out there. It’s wonderful because I’m out here doing this with my best friends. We’re surviving but everything else is off kilter.
“I just keep writing my silly songs,” he added. “The best I can hope for is some guy in Alabama who feels kind of similar about things can hear our songs with my southern accent and go, ‘OK, I’m not alone. At least there’s someone else who feels this way too.’ That’s about as close to changing the world as I get.”
Contact this contributing writer at 937-287-6139 or e-mail at donthrasher100@gmail.com.
HOW TO GO
Who: Drive-By Truckers with special guest Lydia Loveless
Where: Masonic Center, 525 W. Riverview Ave., Dayton
When: 8:30 p.m. Saturday, July 23. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $25-$55 in advance, $30-$60 day of show
More info: daytonmasonic.live
Artist info: drivebytruckers.com
FYI: The band’s appearance will mark the first time they’ve played within the city of Dayton since their early days, playing legendary venues like The Nite Owl and Canal Street Tavern.
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