DBT and West Virginia

[RaidPanther88]

This will probably devolve into stream-of-consciousness, so forgive me....

The first time I saw DBT live was in Washington D.C. at the 9:30 Club last February. Saw them both nights of a two night run. My friend and I were the first ones in line that first night, and we were soon greeted by about 10 other people from WV, all of us on the front rail that night.

Of course, I'd known DBT for about a year prior to seeing them live, so I had become familiar with their songs. Being from West Virginia and the Appalachian region, I could really understand a lot of where their songwriting comes from. Yes, they do have some universal lyrics--and crime, sex, and drugs happen all over the country--but I really do wonder how somebody from a big city could ever be a DBT fan if they haven't seen up close and personal the hardships of Southern/Appalachian living. I know they're an Alabama band, but I really think there's not a state that exemplifies the "duality of the Southern Thing" more so than WV--fought for the Union, but identify with southern culture; primarily Democrat and left-to-moderate politics, but still hold conservative values in religion and whatnot--so, even though they might be an Alabama band, I really do think of them as a West Virginia band, too.

I know they've played in the state on several occasions (they could play here more often, I wish). I even know they played at a little music bar in my home town probably at least 10 years ago. I can't possibily imagine them fitting on that stage nowadays.

(Interesting note: Jason Isbell has played on that same stage, too, and when he passed through town a few months ago and stopped there, I got to do a shot of bourbon with him, which was pretty awesome).

I also know that the AC/DC concert referred to in "Let There Be Rock" was held in Charleston, too. Patterson told this story at an Allgood Performance a couple years back. My friend's dad was at the same concert back in '77. I feel like I heard about there being another Truckers song about WV--or maybe an Adam's House Cat song--but I can't recall what it would be....

My point: I just think it's interesting how my state and the Truckers seem to always overlap, and, for whatever reason, it gives me a sort of pride in both my home and one of my favorite bands. And, on a more basic level, I just think it's really, really cool to say that "Let There Be Rock" got its basis in my hometown.

[RevMatt]

I caught Drive By Truckers in Morgantown fall of 2010. Generally speaking, I am up for a DBT roadtrip anytime they play West Virginia. It is one of the most picturesque states in the country. I am hoping they will play there sometime and the weather will cooperate so I can make the roadrip on my motorcycle. I don't think there is anything better than a DBT West Virginia roadtrip on my Triumph.

As far as being from certain places, it is very easy to relate to Drive By Truckers. I grew up in NJ which on the surface couldn't have been more different than the Muscle Shoals region of northern Alabama. But the first time I heard Southern Rock Opera I was floored. So much of what Patterson and Cooley wrote about spoke true to my experience even though I come from a place where the Three Great New Jersey icons are Bill Parcells, Bruce Springsteen and Tony Soprano. Here are a few of the things that I felt I had in common, song by song.

1) "Days of Graduation" -- the experience of losing someone from your high school class in a car wreck was almost universal for those of us who came of age in the late '70's/ early 80's. Three of my friends I lost in three separate car wrecks from Westfield, NJ are Ann Henn, Chris Bing and Randy "Hicknot" Morgan. They all died within a few years of each other. I can't listen to that song without thinking of those people.

2) "Dead, Drunk and Naked" Everyone knows this guy. Had trouble with drugs in high school. Got sent to rehab. Now he's the happy town drunk. But at least he isn't doing "drugs".

3) Guitar Man Upstairs -- A song about every musician's first apartment. You want it to be jamming and party central. But there is the little problem of the
neighbors. In my first apartment it was the guy in the yarn store downstairs who banged on the ceiling with his cane everytime I put an album on.

4) The Three Great Alabama Icons -- I came of age rebelling against the music in my high school parking lot. A guitar was a poor substitute for a football with the girls in my high school, so my band hit the road and we didn't play no Springsteen either. This song really made me feel like if by some fluke my Dad got transferred to Alabama and I ended up having to spend my junior and senior year of high school in the same school Patterson went to I would have found guys to jam with and go to shows with.

5) Zip City -- You are the nerdy kid in high school. You can't get a girlfriend your own age because all the girls in your school hold it against you how uncool you were in middle school. The car won't even get you chicks. What do you do? Well, join Young Life (or some other Christian/church related organization) and get a girlfriend two or three years younger who lives far enough away that she won't know about how nerdy you really are. Worked for me.

6) Let There Be Rock -- I never saw Leonard Skynyrd but I sure saw Stevie Ray Vaughn. I did just about everything in that song, got busted for a half ounce of weed, dropped acid at an Ozzy concert, sat in the front row for Blue Oyster Cult. Once I played quarters with wine and parallel parked my station wagon without a scratch, then passed out in the bathroom. That was the night I hung out with my future lead singer and future guitarist for the first time. Recorded and toured with them until 1986 when the singer decided to become a hippie and more to Colorado.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I also know that the AC/DC concert referred to in "Let There Be Rock" was held in Charleston, too. Patterson told this story at an Allgood Performance a couple years back. My friend's dad was at the same concert back in '77. I feel like I heard about there being another Truckers song about WV--or maybe an Adam's House Cat song--but I can't recall what it would be...

You're probably thinking of "White Knuckle, WVA", an old Truckers song that's never made onto an album. It was mentioned in this thread back in the Spring. Smitty even dug up Patterson's old write up about it from an earlier version of the DBTs' website. Someday, I'd love to see those stories and Patterson's old blog entries added back to the site. A lot of work I'm sure but they were a huge part of what made discovering them back in the late 90s so intriguing. I'm still hoping to dig up an old blog entry of Patterson's that's used in the new Replacements documentary, Color Me Obsessed. If I'm not mistaken, it was from a show when he saw them open up for Tom Petty and they were slandering Petty from the stage.

"Let There Be Rock" reminds me of lots of things but mainly it takes me right back to seeing AC/DC, Cheap Trick and Nantucket at Cumberland County Memorial Auditorium in Fayetteville, NC a year or so before Bon Scott died. I honestly wasn't all that familiar with them at the time but that concert made me a fan. It was unbridled rock n' roll at it's most primitive. Oh, and very fucking loud.

[RaidPanther88]

Thank you both for your thoughtful replies.

To RevMatt, I think it really is a testament to the band's songwriting abilities that they can be so specific in setting and character, but so universal in theme. I was an English major in college, and in my creative writing classes one thing drilled into you is that the more specific you are, the more real and universal it becomes; Hood and Cooley both seem to excel in this wonderfully. Another songwriter that does it well, and the one I compare Patterson to the most: Springsteen. So it is fitting, I think, that somebody from New Jersey gets the band. And I know there are many, many fans of DBT from all parts of the country; I wasn't meaning my prior statement as a knock against fans from more urban areas, just that it does blow my mind how talented the band must be to appeal to such broad and diverse areas, tapping into what is, essentially, the darkside of the American Dream that affects us all (I realize this whole paragraph is coming off much more pretentious than I meant it to, but I cannot think of any better way to phrase it, so please forgive me).

Also, to RevMatt: thank you for your kind words about WV. I had a friend that was at that same concert in Morgantown you mentioned.

And, to the second poster, "Whiteknuckle, WVa" is the song I was thinking of. I remember it being about them almost dying on a road somewhere in WV. Would love to someday have it unearthed so I can hear what it sounds like.

[beantownbubba]

Yes, they do have some universal lyrics--and crime, sex, and drugs happen all over the country--but I really do wonder how somebody from a big city could ever be a DBT fan if they haven't seen up close and personal the hardships of Southern/Appalachian living.

Please note that my point here is to be observational, not at all argumentative.

I grew up and lived in northern big cities my entire life until I moved to a large suburb of a big city after our 2d child was born. I consider myself urban to the core and I consider myself a DBT fan to the core. Obviously those who grew up in ways specifically described in various DBT songs will feel a special connection through those similarities but the band's truths resonate in many ways. Just sayin...

[beantownbubba]

PS It was only recently that I learned that "Decoration Day" doesn't refer to Memorial Day. Go figure.

[RaidPanther88]

Please note that my point here is to be observational, not at all argumentative.

I grew up and lived in big cities my entire life until I moved to a large suburb of a big city after our 2d child was born. I consider myself urban to the core and I consider myself a DBT fan to the core. Obviously those who grew up in ways specifically described in various DBT songs will feel a special connection through those similarities but the band's truths resonate in many ways. Just sayin...

Yes. And just to clarify, I didn't mean my original comment to say that DBT can't have fans from cities. It's mostly what you say, that I feel a close connection to them because of similarities in upbringing, but I do think it's a true testament to the band's songwriting abilities that they can appeal to people from anywhere and everywhere.

And, on another note, I found a recording of "White Knuckle, WV," and it's wonderful.

[Maluca3]

I'm with you, BTB, on the universality. However I do think there is an element of surreality about living in a place like WV (or maybe north Alabama) that resonates with the the stuff of DBT's musical stories.

And having lived for a time in Rio de Janeiro, I knows me some surreality.

[Gang Green]

The first time I saw DBT live was in Washington D.C. at the 9:30 Club last February. Saw them both nights of a two night run. My friend and I were the first ones in line that first night, and we were soon greeted by about 10 other people from WV, all of us on the front rail that night.

That's funny, the first time I ever DBT live was in Charleston WV in Nov 2009 which was the last show of the Rightous Path tour. I had just gotten heavy into DBT and made the 6 hour drive with my son from Central PA thinking this would be the last chance we would have to see them. It was a Sunday night and my son got to miss school on Monday. Am I a cool dad or what? oops don't call social services, please. We had been living in a pretty rural spot in PA for about 8 years and my parents moved from the New York City subarbs to Charles Town, WV in 1995, so I thought I knew what to expect. My wife and I go to Shepardstown, WV a couple of times a year to hang out. So, I thought I was the WV expert. But that drive from Morgantown to Charleston down that lonely highway (we where the only car at several points along the way) was like nothing I had ever seen. I actually thought I was in a foriegn country.

Anyway, Patterson told the story of the AC/DC concert and how he used to spend summers in Charleston. But, we was focusing on UFO which was the opening act for AC/DC that night which was the Intro to the "Opening Act". Of course, as soon as we got home, DBT started announcing dates for 2010 prior to the Big to Do release.

[Razorback]

I feel the same way about Arkansas. We have much in common with Alabama when it comes to the significant racial frictions of the past. Little Rock Central High School, specifically and the connections of our state with the KKK. Also, being a former Confederate state

Humidity, isolation, religious-fanaticism, murder and racism. Good manners, respect, loving your fellow man regardless of skin color, helping your fellow man. Rich, poor. Cowboys, hippies, rednecks, bikers, yanks, foreigners. It's all here. If you come here you'll meet so many different types of good, decent folks living and working together, problem free. Then, there are some really bad people who'll kill and rob you and throw your body in the river bottoms. It's civilized enough to wanna stay and just uncivilized enough to scare the hell outta ya. There's a sort of pride that can be sensed about being from this state that, maybe, people from other states can't understand. I bitch about it all the time, but I'll never leave.

DBT's music resonates with me in a, sometimes, unexplainable way. It really is my life. That's really as best and simple as I can put it.

[Iowan]

I feel that same way about Iowa that many of you feel about your home states for all the reasons described. I've always a felt a strong sense of pride in my mostly misunderstood home state, and when I saw that same thing in the Truckers' music, it cemented my immediate bond with this music.


RaidPanther: I've always had a sense of respect for West Virginia. Passed through once as a kid and thought it was beautiful. Now that WVU is in the Big 12, I plan on going to Morgantown for a game weekend the first time my Cyclones go out there. I expect nothing less than a weekend full of rowdy behavior, good food, and shine.

[RaidPanther88]

Gameday in Morgantown is something special, for sure. I live about three hours from Morgantown, but I try to make it up for at least one or two games a year. Be sure to get there early so you can see the band; WVU has one of the marching bands you'll ever see, and that's not my bias talking, either. And, yes, I'm excited for us to be in the Big 12, too.

[Iowan]

Gameday in Morgantown is something special, for sure. I live about three hours from Morgantown, but I try to make it up for at least one or two games a year. Be sure to get there early so you can see the band; WVU has one of the marching bands you'll ever see, and that's not my bias talking, either. And, yes, I'm excited for us to be in the Big 12, too.

I've heard that about the marching band. It's pretty cool when they form the outline of the state. Not exactly an easy formation to assemble! Maybe I'll be lucky enough that the Truckers will be rolling through town whatever weekend I get out there.

[Flying Rabbit]

I was born and raised in Baltimore, and then came west to West Virginia for college (panhandle, so some of you might say that doesn't count), been through a good part of the state, and heck, even married a WV girl.

RevMatt, you are absolutely correct in what you said about WV being one of the most picturesque states. In one way the stereotype of WV being hillbilly land is good, since it keeps the state wild...and wait for it...wonderful. Seriously though, its gorgeous and I'm glad it hasn't been overrun by mass tourism.

As for DBT's songs having a certain parallel, I think it can be pointed in the direction that residents in both places have a bit of a lore about them. They revel in the stories that their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents passed down. There definitely is a sense of tradition and keeping a certain culture alive in both places. I love my home state of MD, but when you meet someone from WV, they have a certain blood that runs through them that is WV blue and gold.

Being that my mother's side is from Alabama, I've witnessed the same aspect--but on a broader scale about "the south". There are just some things that me, as a Mid-Atlantic Marylander doesn't understand about the culture necessarily. But that's ok, because there are things about this area that someone outside wouldn't understand either. Without getting too hippy dippy here, its one of the things that makes this country great.

[Maluca3]

In one way the stereotype of WV being hillbilly land is good, since it keeps the state wild...and wait for it...wonderful. Seriously though, its gorgeous and I'm glad it hasn't been overrun by mass tourism.

Exactly. I am always happy to hear that people think WV is populated by scary clones of Jesco (not that there's anything to be looked down on with making your outlaw way at the margins as that family has done) and a place to be avoided. If that's what they think, they can stay away and the empty green spaces will last longer.

[BigTom]

In one way the stereotype of WV being hillbilly land is good, since it keeps the state wild...and wait for it...wonderful. Seriously though, its gorgeous and I'm glad it hasn't been overrun by mass tourism.

Exactly. I am always happy to hear that people think WV is populated by scary clones of Jesco (not that there's anything to be looked down on with making your outlaw way at the margins as that family has done) and a place to be avoided. If that's what they think, they can stay away and the empty green spaces will last longer.

I totally agree. I basically live in DC during the week and WV on weekends and if I could I would live in WV full time. There are way more douchebags in DC than there are backwards hillbillies in WV.

[Iowan]

In one way the stereotype of WV being hillbilly land is good, since it keeps the state wild...and wait for it...wonderful. Seriously though, its gorgeous and I'm glad it hasn't been overrun by mass tourism.

Exactly. I am always happy to hear that people think WV is populated by scary clones of Jesco (not that there's anything to be looked down on with making your outlaw way at the margins as that family has done) and a place to be avoided. If that's what they think, they can stay away and the empty green spaces will last longer.

Honestly, the fact that its a place where people can still get by in that outlaw way is a draw to me. The very things that society in general holds against a place like West Virginia make me want to visit.

[beantownbubba]

There are way more douchebags in DC than there are backwards hillbillies in WV.

There are way more douchebags per capita in DC than pretty much anywhere else on earth, at least out of all the places i've been.