Patterson Hood has a steady creative outlet as one of Drive-By Truckers' principal songwriters, but evidently that band isn't enough for the singer-guitarist, since he has a solo album on the way. Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance will arrive on September 11 through ATO Records.
In a statement, Hood explained that the album began as a semi-autobiographical novel he started writing while on the road with Drive-By Truckers.
He said, "The book was basically a half-assed fictionalization of that very turbulent period of my life. I was 27, my band broke up, I got divorced and left my hometown to live in Memphis. My car got stolen, our band's truck got stripped and I fell in love. I fell out with my family (who I was very, very close to) and had my heart broken. I seriously pondered killing myself several times but instead wrote literally over 500 songs in a three-year period."
When his prose stalled, however, he ended up completing an album's worth of songs instead, with the lyrics addressing both his past struggles and current life.
He explained, "It is in some ways the most personal album I've ever made. There has always been a lot of me in all of the albums we've done, but usually semi-disguised as character sketches and stories, but the first person narrative in this one is pretty firmly rooted in autobiography, albeit in two dramatically differing time periods."
The album features most of his Drive-By Truckers cohorts, plus other collaborators, including Kelly Hogan on vocals. It's his third solo album overall, and follows 2009's Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs). Hood co-produced it along with David Barbe at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, GA.
You can get a taste of the new album by downloading the song "Come Back Little Star" in the widget at the bottom of the page.
See Hood's tour schedule below the tracklist. In addition to lots of U.S. and European dates, it includes a sole Canadian appearance: September 29 in Vancouver.
Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance;
1. 12:01
2. Leaving Time
3. Disappear
4. Better Off Without
5. (untold pretties)
6. After The Damage
7. Better Than The Truth
8. Betty Ford
9. Depression Era
10. Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance
11. Come Back Little Star
12. Fifteen Days (Leaving Again)
Tour dates:
8/3 Charleston, SC - The Pour House
8/16 Lexington, KY - Lexington Opera House
9/14 Pinnacle, NC - Jomeokee Campground
9/15 Charlottesville, VA - Southern Cafe & Music Hall
9/16 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
9/17 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
9/18 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
9/20 Hudson, NY - Club Helsinki
9/22 Chicago, IL - City Winery Chicago
9/23 Chicago, IL - City Winery Chicago
9/24 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe
9/27 Portland, OR - Star Theater
9/28 Portland, OR - Star Theater
9/29 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret
10/1 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
10/2 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
10/6 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Forever
10/7 San Diego, CA - Anthology
10/10 Austin, TX - Cactus Cafe
10/11 Austin, TX - Cactus Cafe
10/12 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Music Festival
11/4 Munich, Germany - Muffathalle *
11/5 Berlin, Germany - Astra
11/6 Barcelona, Spain - Sidecar
11/7 Madrid, Spain - Teatro Lara
11/8 Ourense, Spain - Cafe Y Pop Torgal
11/9 San Sebastián, Spain - Teatro Victoria Eugenia
11/11 Sankt Hanshaugen, Norway - John Dee
11/12 Helsinki, Finland - Savoy Theatre
11/13 London, UK - Compton Terrace
11/15 Enschede, Netherlands - Crossing Border
11/16 Den Haag, Netherlands - Crossing Border
11/18 Dublin, Ireland - The Workmans Club
* with Alabama Shakes
In a statement, Hood explained that the album began as a semi-autobiographical novel he started writing while on the road with Drive-By Truckers.
He said, "The book was basically a half-assed fictionalization of that very turbulent period of my life. I was 27, my band broke up, I got divorced and left my hometown to live in Memphis. My car got stolen, our band's truck got stripped and I fell in love. I fell out with my family (who I was very, very close to) and had my heart broken. I seriously pondered killing myself several times but instead wrote literally over 500 songs in a three-year period."
When his prose stalled, however, he ended up completing an album's worth of songs instead, with the lyrics addressing both his past struggles and current life.
He explained, "It is in some ways the most personal album I've ever made. There has always been a lot of me in all of the albums we've done, but usually semi-disguised as character sketches and stories, but the first person narrative in this one is pretty firmly rooted in autobiography, albeit in two dramatically differing time periods."
The album features most of his Drive-By Truckers cohorts, plus other collaborators, including Kelly Hogan on vocals. It's his third solo album overall, and follows 2009's Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs). Hood co-produced it along with David Barbe at Chase Park Transduction in Athens, GA.
You can get a taste of the new album by downloading the song "Come Back Little Star" in the widget at the bottom of the page.
See Hood's tour schedule below the tracklist. In addition to lots of U.S. and European dates, it includes a sole Canadian appearance: September 29 in Vancouver.
Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance;
1. 12:01
2. Leaving Time
3. Disappear
4. Better Off Without
5. (untold pretties)
6. After The Damage
7. Better Than The Truth
8. Betty Ford
9. Depression Era
10. Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance
11. Come Back Little Star
12. Fifteen Days (Leaving Again)
Tour dates:
8/3 Charleston, SC - The Pour House
8/16 Lexington, KY - Lexington Opera House
9/14 Pinnacle, NC - Jomeokee Campground
9/15 Charlottesville, VA - Southern Cafe & Music Hall
9/16 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
9/17 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
9/18 Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
9/20 Hudson, NY - Club Helsinki
9/22 Chicago, IL - City Winery Chicago
9/23 Chicago, IL - City Winery Chicago
9/24 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe
9/27 Portland, OR - Star Theater
9/28 Portland, OR - Star Theater
9/29 Vancouver, BC - Biltmore Cabaret
10/1 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
10/2 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
10/6 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Forever
10/7 San Diego, CA - Anthology
10/10 Austin, TX - Cactus Cafe
10/11 Austin, TX - Cactus Cafe
10/12 Austin, TX - Austin City Limits Music Festival
11/4 Munich, Germany - Muffathalle *
11/5 Berlin, Germany - Astra
11/6 Barcelona, Spain - Sidecar
11/7 Madrid, Spain - Teatro Lara
11/8 Ourense, Spain - Cafe Y Pop Torgal
11/9 San Sebastián, Spain - Teatro Victoria Eugenia
11/11 Sankt Hanshaugen, Norway - John Dee
11/12 Helsinki, Finland - Savoy Theatre
11/13 London, UK - Compton Terrace
11/15 Enschede, Netherlands - Crossing Border
11/16 Den Haag, Netherlands - Crossing Border
11/18 Dublin, Ireland - The Workmans Club
* with Alabama Shakes
