Winnipeg music & culture since 1989
by Sheldon Birnie
It’s been a busy year for Drive-By Truckers, both present and past, even though 2012 marked possibly their least active road-schedule since the early days of their 15+ years out on the Hillbilly Highway. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – DBT, Haulin’ Solo”
by Sheldon Birnie
The Hillbilly Highway crosses many borders. Provincial, state, international: it doesn’t give a fuck. I cruised myself down the Pembina Highway to America last week in order to check out two of my favourite bands — the Drive-By Truckers and Those Darlins — play at First Avenue in Minneapolis. The trip was short, but sweet as fucking sin. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Cruising the Interstates to First Avenue”
by Sheldon Birnie
The Drive-By Truckers are a band from the Muscle Shoals, Alabama / Athens, Georgia areas. They play southern inspired rock and roll, with literate as hell lyrics and a touch of country and a dash of R&B. They’ve put about a dozen records, give or take a couple, since 1998, most of which I own on LP, CD, or both, and the rest of which I have on MP3. They’ve played thousands upon thousands of shows up and down and all over the Hillbilly Highway, and are hitting Minneapolis right aways.
Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Drive-By Truckers passing on your left”
by Sheldon Birnie
Those Darlins are a group of three babes and one sweet dude who rock. The formula is sure fire – who doesn’t love babes? – but their output is above and beyond the pale.
The Hillbilly Highway is filled with groups with similar dynamics. Hell, Winnipeg itself is infested with successful groups of rootsy babes. But there’s more to kicking ass at every honky-tonk on the Hillbilly Highway than a pretty face or three. Those Darlins are different. Hard work, crotch punching songs and a bunch of hearts hungry for rock have combined: the result is an act to catch while you can.
Currently riding the road in support of their sophomore LP Screws Get Loose, the band is set to play in Minneapolis next week with the Drive-By Truckers, one of my favourite groups in the world. I am making the pilgrimage to Twin Cities, America to catch the gig, and I’d be a goddamn liar if I said I wasn’t pumped. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Gettin’ loose with Those Darlins”
Taking the stage on Austin City Limits this time are Drive-By Truckers. First of all, I’ll get the technical aspects out of the way; the visual quality is good. It looks nice on the big screen television at my house, and the audio quality is great in my home theatre system. You can hear every instrument being played in detail. But what you really want to hear about is the music. The Drive-By Truckers could have very easily stormed the stage, and unleashed a three-guitar southern rock attack that could have made the studio look like it was hit by a tornado when they were through, but instead they opt to do a slow-building set. They start off very soft, very folk rock, and then build up from there, reaching the peak in the middle with “Putting People on the Moon,” a seven-minute southern rock epic that Lynyrd Skynyrd would be proud of, and “Space City,” one of the best country ballads you’ll hear anywhere. This CD/DVD set made me a fan of Drive-By Truckers (even though the CD contains only half of the 26 tracks on the DVD). (New West Records, www.newwestrecords.com) Charles Lefebvre