Drive-By Truckers at Pine Hill Farm 10.6.01

 

Listening to this previously unreleased live acoustic version of “Sink Hole” from the upcoming expanded edition of Decoration Day (The Definitive Decoration Day, due November 14 on New West) immediately put me in mind of the first of two mostly acoustic house shows Drive-By Truckers did at Pine Hill Farm in Durham, NC nearly a quarter century ago this month. This show was among the last they did with Rob Malone. I’d just seen them the night before at Firebelly Lounge in Wilmington. By the time they returned to Firebelly in early December they had a new guitarist in tow, Jason Isbell. 

The following year they returned to Pine Hill Farm. It was no less enjoyable than the first show but had an entirely different vibe. The first show was held inside with everyone jammed in front of the fireplace. It had a far more intimate feel. It was also in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, which gave new meaning to songs from Southern Rock Opera, especially “Angels and Fuselage” and lines like, “Livin’ in fear’s just another way of dyin’ before your time” from Cooley’s “Shut Up and Get On the Plane.” 

While there were somber moments like the late Jyl Freed singing backup on and being moved to tears by “Angels and Fuselage,” there were also moments of jubilation such as the crowd singing along to the set closing cover of Wet Willie’s “Keep On Smilin’” and gut busting laughter thanks to the one liners of drummer Brad Morgan, who you usually never hear a peep out of during a regular show. 

The more casual atmosphere also afforded Patterson Hood more of an opportunity to preface the songs with his unique brand of storytelling.  It was an epic show in every sense of the word, never to be repeated. Their return engagement in early summer of 2002 with Isbell roughly a year before the release of Decoration Day (his first album with the band), had its moments but lacked the magic of the first. Years later, following Isbell’s departure from the band, these shows would serve as inspiration for the largely acoustic Dirt Underneath tour where they broke in songs that would become their next record, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark.

Circling back to “Sink Hole,” it was also at this first house show at Pine Hill Farm where Patterson tipped many of us off to The Accountant, a dark comedy starring Ray McKinnon about “saving the family by any means necessary,” that had inspired the song. The next year, it went on to win Best Live Action Short Film at the Oscars.

Below are some brief snippets from footage Craig Zearfoss shot at the first Pine Hill Farm show, the setlist, and other pertinent links. Unfortunately, I’ve been unable to locate an audio recording of the show to link to, though a recording does exist. Video can be obtained from the Southern Folklife Collection at UNC in Chapel Hill. In closing, I’m thankful to see an entire recording of one of the Truckers mostly acoustic shows finally see an official release.

Kurt Heggland, né Hickey introducing the Truckers

 

“Heathens” (snippet)

“Sink Hole” (snippet)

Drive-By Truckers at Pine Hill Farm in Durham, NC 10.6.01

1. Heathens
2. The Boys From Alabama
3. Marry Me
4. Goode's Field Road
5. Panties In Your Purse
6. The Tough Sell
7. The Company I Keep
8. Stupid Song
9. My Sweet Annette
10. Old Timer's Disease
11. One Of These Days
12. Sink Hole
13. Mizen Was American
14. Tornadoes
15. Daddy's Cup
16. Days of Graduation
17. Ronnie and Neil
18. 72 (This Highway's Mean)
19. Dead, Drunk, and Naked
20. Guitar Man Upstairs
21. Cassie's Brother
22. The Southern Thing
23. Women Without Whiskey
24. Zip City
25. Let There Be Rock
26. Shut Up and Get On The Plane
27. Greenville To Baton Rouge
28. Bulldozers and Dirt
29. Angels and Fuselage
30. Keep On Smilin' (Wet Willie)

Links

Craig Zearfoss Collection, 1988-2008

Drive-By Truckers at Pine Hill Farm, 6.29.02