The Triple Crown: 05/20 - 06/02

This installment of the Triple Crown has a little bit country and a little bit rock n roll, but is all soul. Filled with some amazing acts this Triple Crown also has a the added bonus of being kind to the billfold. So take your pick or see them all, either way it's a great selection of music to choose from.

Tuesday, May 21st
The Detroit Cobras
Pangea / No Good Lovers
Dante's
350 W Burnside St
Doors: 8PM / Show: 9:30PM
Adv.: $13 / Day of: $13
21 & Over

If you love music but don't know about The Detroit Cobras, something is drastically wrong. Having spent nearly the last two decades dusting off forgotten soul gems and revitalizing them with a rock perfection only they are capable of, The Detroit Cobras have earned their place as queens and kings of the musical underground.  Rachel Nagy and her band of merry men and women truly do create some of the greatest soul rockin' music around. Live, the band has few equals, bursting with an energy that attacks with the speed and force of a Bruce Lee movie.
Sharing the night is the garage magnificence of Pangea from LA and Portland's own freak rockers the No Good Lovers.Together this show should be a must, and as for the next morning. The week's already half over, why not make the hump worth getting over.       

Photo By Mark Lawrence IV

Friday, May 24th
Thundering Asteroids!
Pitchfork Motorway / The Vacillators
Katie O'Brien's
2809 NE Sandy Blvd
Show: 9PM
Donation of $3 - $5
21 & Over

Like a good meal, rock shows are always better when bands are perfectly paired. Such is the case with this punk rock show at Katie O'Brien's. The triple threat of these top tier Portland punk bands should make this night memorable. Headlining the festivities is the fabulously fun nerd-core of the Thundering Asteroids!. Righteously energetic their set is always a riot, with songs so drenched in pop culture reference that it's know to cause bouts of 80's retrograde flashbacks. Also on the bill is the all-power, no mess of  Pitchfork Motorway. Their high octane speed rock will red-line your senses and will make you beg for more . While opening the night is the garage tease of The Vacillators with their crunchy guitars and front woman Camille's sultry vocals. If you're looking for good thrills to fill your Friday night I can't think of anything better and the price line is unbeatable.     

Friday, May 31st
Patterson Hood
Mississippi Studios
3939 N Mississippi
Doors: 8PM /Show: 9PM
Adv.: $14 / Day Of: $15
21 & Over

All the best song writers are story tellers at their core. Van Morrison, Ronnie Van Zant, Springsteen and certainly Patterson Hood. As one of the front men for the Drive-By Truckers Hood has brought dignity to character back to Southern Rock. As a solo artist Hood reveals a deeper side with songs that are filled with honest stories that are revealing of the wonderful and at times heartbreaking nature of the human experience. Touring in support of this years earlier release of Heat Lighting Rumbles in the Distance, Hood will be bringing his solo act to the warm environs of our own Mississippi Studios. This rare opportunity should not be missed and with tickets still available you should move fast. Make sure you take a second and check out the interview and review of Heat Lighting Rumbles in the Distance we did earlier this year, and I hope to see you at the show.

10 Questions: Patterson Hood

Patterson Hood, the curly locked half of the Drive-By Truckers is known for his storytelling so it was no surprised when he sat down to write a book and ended up with his most personal album to date : Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance. Between his consummate touring and busy schedule he graciously took some time to answer some questions. 
BLS: Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance is your 3rd solo album. How does it differentiate musically from solo albums you’ve made in the past?

PH: It's the most personal and intimate album I've ever made.

BLS: Your father David Hood played Bass on the album. How did the family connections effect the creation of the album? What were you able to draw on from his years as a Muscle Shoals session ace?

PH: My dad is a consummate musician and a sweetheart of a guy. I'm very lucky in the Dad department. He definitely brought his A game to the studio for his sessions on this album. His playing on the title cut is one of my favorite things I've ever been a part of.

BLS: You have said that this is your most autobiographical album to date, with songs derived from two specific periods of your life. Did you find it was easier or harder to write more personal songs?

PH: I don't know generally. I just write what occurs to me and usually don't realize what it all is about until after the fact. These songs came really fast and easy, probably the fastest I've ever written an album so I must have been inspired, but I have no idea why this album occurred at this moment in time. I'm sure glad it did though.

BLS: I’ve read that this album developed out of a rerouted book writing project. Are there any writers that you admire and have inspired your writing whether in prose and songwriting?

PH: Way too many to list. I'm obsessed with great writing and always reading and listening. Right now I'm really loving the Father John Misty album (Fear Fun). I think his writing is fantastic. What a great wit. I'm reading "Reading My Father" by Alexandria Styron. She is a really fine writer and daughter of William Styron who wrote "Darkness Visible" and "Sophie's Choice".

BLS: On this album you co-wrote a song with Kelly Hogan. How was your experience working with her? What insights did her feminine view point lend to the songwriting process?

PH: Kelly is one of my favorite people and one of the greatest singers in the world today. She is also a very underrated writer. Her lyrics on "Come Back Little Star" are among my favorite lines on my album. I always love and welcome a feminine point of view. I just love smart and funny people, whether they happen to be male or female.

BLS: Like George Jones, you dabbled with a spoken word format for the song (Untitled Pretties). What was it about this song that made you decide to use this format?

PH: That was an accident. It was originally supposed to be an instrumental song but it was inspired by a very short chapter I had written for my aborted book project. At last minute, I had the idea to read the chapter over the music and it synched up like it was always meant to be that way. I guess it was. I always love and welcome the happy accident when making a record.

BLS: You have described DBT as a Noir band. Do you feel that your solo work is as emotionally dark or is it driven by a different emotional battery?

PH: There is obviously always a lot of darkness in my music, but I also consider it to be cathartic in the same way that the blues was considered cathartic to the people who played it, listened to it, danced and fucked to it. I actually think of this album as very uplifting, especially at the end. It may come from and visit some dark places, but I consider it very hopeful. It at least makes peace with it's demons and is a tale of survival and pushing though the darkness and finding joy in the things that are important.

BLS: With touring in support of Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance, how does the live experience differ from DBT shows?

PH: This is a very different type of show. I love the DBT show with it's wild abandon and cathartic uplift and big sweaty anthems, but this is a very beautiful and cathartic show, it just achieves it in a very different way. I love this band. The harmonies are beautiful and I love all of the piano and cello. I would very much like to continue doing both shows for a very long time.

BLS: Everyone likes to fantasize about the life of a rock star, but the reality is sure to be a whole different beast. In your experience what is the hardest thing about the day to day grind of being a professional musician?

PH: It's a very hard life and you get tired and homesick, but it's also wonderful. I get to see the world and meet all kinds of people and get to play the show, which I always look forward to and still love as much, all of these years later, as I did when I was a teenager.

BLS: What is the name of 5 bands you love but few people have heard of?

PH: As I mentioned earlier, I'm loving that Father John Misty album (Fear Fun).
The War on Drugs is one of my faves right now.
There'a a great band from Athens called Bloodkin, that has been together for over 25 years. They write great songs.
Centro-matic has long been my favorite band in the world. They should be selling out arenas.
The band I'm touring with right now, Hope For Agoldensummer is fantastic. Page and Claire Campbell sing those incredible sister harmonies, write great songs and have some of the best stage banter ever.

From The Shelf: Patterson Hood - Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance (2012)

Patterson Hood
Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance
ATO Records

With an album title like a Charles Bukowski poem, Patterson Hood has produced his most emotionally honest record to date in Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance. Using his amazing storytelling skills to finally share his own story, this record holds some of the most personal songs we've ever heard from Hood.  Melding together, the songs on this album reveals the uneven journey to manhood.  Told through lyrics that  hold the same detailed mastery that we have grown to expect from Patterson Hood. Heat Lightning is ripe with potent characters and vividly emotional moods. Coming off like the passages of a great novel, this record leaves you with a deeper respect and simpathy for Hood as an artist as well as a human being.

As usual, the musical soundness of this album is unquestionable. In addition to some of the usual contributors like Mike Cooley, Brad Morgan and David Barde this album features appearances by other talented artists including Kelly Hogan and Patterson's father and well known Muscle Shoals session bassist David Hood.  Ranging from the sparse George Jones styled "untold pretties' to the short but driving energy of "Better Off Without" the emotional landscape of this album mimics the ups and downs of it's subject mater.

Patterson Hood has truly topped himself with this album. Once again joining the best of lyrics and music to create an unforgettable album that you'll want to place in heavy rotation.