Patterson Hood has written hundreds of songs in his life, the best of which he’s performed with his band Drive-By Truckers for nearly three decades.
His latest batch were largely biographical musings, covering his coming of age period in Alabama. Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, his fourth solo outing, was eventually played in its entirety during the first of two sold out shows Saturday at The Atlantis, the cozy 9:30 Club anteroom in DC.
That it was “hours until” his 61st birthday Monday only seemed to further stoke his giddy nostalgia at his past, telling stories of being raised by grandparents and a great uncle in lieu of his teenage parents, all the parties he used to sneak into, the neighbors and adults he looked up to, the curve of the rural roads, and the general magic of childhood and the promises of adolescence. That he told the essence of his fondly-remembered stories before doing the songs kind of robbed the tunes of any surprise, but the thematic continuity of the show made it feel whole.
Hood sat for the entirety of the 19-song set, mostly playing a vintage Harmony acoustic that in its diminutive size made him look even bigger than he was. As on the album, he wasn’t strictly solo, but surrounded himself with able musicians.
Eschewing by large measure the rocking electric guitar crunch of his primary band, he relied instead on the buzzing drone of synth, a bit of mellotron, some sax and woodwinds, from the four piece touring band he called the Sensurrounders—two of whom were from Drive-By Truckers.
Jay Gonzalez of the Truckers was one side on keyboards or occasional slide guitar; on the other, the multi instrumentalist Ben Hackett had baritone sax, a flute, keyboards, and guitar, sometimes at the same time. The rhythm section was provided by the bearded Brad Morgan of the Truckers and, in a bit of a surprise, Lydia Loveless played bass.
Loveless, who had formerly headlined her own Atlantis show, and had put on a stellar opening set with just her electric guitar and sharp songs before Hood, so she looked a little peeved to be in the backing band of the headliner (she had the look of already hearing these stories and songs too often). But she was a key addition to him, particularly when she joined in on “A Werewolf and a Girl,” the duet she performs on the album, and adding harmonies sparingly here and there.
Hood had come up with is first solo album in more than a dozen years during the pandemic, when he was trying out new approaches to songwriting by accompanying himself on piano rather than guitar. However this helped open up lyric possibilities, he never came close to mastering the instrument, and it was a little painful to hear him try to play on the opening “Exploding Trees” or once again later in the set. Combined with the already limited, pinched, and slightly drawling vocals, it was a lot to take in.
“I know you noticed, I’m not a piano player,” he admitted.
He’s clearly been thinking about the piano-rocker notion, opening his encore with no less than Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” (with Gonzalez, thankfully, on keys). (On some stops, he’s also been throwing in “Benny & the Jets”). What fans were craving was a bit of Truckers, though, and there was precious little: “Heathens” from their 1998 debut Gangstabilly mid-set, and to close the encore, “A World of Hurt” from A Blessing and a Curse.
They both sort of fit into his coming-of-age theme, as did the older solo songs he threw in—“Disappear” was essentially the same idea of “The Van Pelt Parties,”—a child hiding at an adult party. “Uncle Disney” mused on the maestro, alongside a song about his film that fascinated him as a child (and horrified his own kids), “Pinocchio.”
Although most of his songs turn on specific observations, Hood was best when he stepped back to present a wider picture of growing up, and what it all really meant, as on “A Safe Distance.” He created a shimmering portrait of aquatic doom (aided by the blue lights) in “The Pool House.” And strong songs like “Back of a Bible” and “A World of Hurt” seemed a fine summary to end the encore—he’d come out of adolescence and learned some hard-won lessons.
Perhaps because it was more succinct, Loveless’ opening set shone bright. To the slashing of her own electric guitar, her songs soared from her own deftly-observed songs to her strong and soaring country-tinged vocals.
The essence of the latest songs from her 2023 album Nothing’s Gonna Stand in My Way have her writing from a stronger vantage point than earlier, lovelorn tunes. And she’s trying out her own writing exercise: Turning out a new song on Bandcamp each month. The latest, “Accolades,” sounded just fine.
