The Dirty South, more thoughts

Wow! Who thought the Drive-By Truckers would ever top Southern Rock Opera, the sprawling double-CD that was ostensibly about Lynyrd Skynyrd but was really a commentary on the South from many angles. Then came Decoration Day, which was littered with the mess of personal relationships. With the addition of singer/songwriter/guitarist Jason Isbell, the Truckers seemed to finally hit their stride and, against all expectations, did top Southern Rock Opera with the sprawling masterpiece.

So again expectations had to be set accordingly with the release of The Dirty South. The recent addition of veteran bassist (and Isbell's wife) Shonna Tucker seems to have infused new life into tha band, but c'mon - after SRO and Decoration Day, a dip in quality was to be expected, right?

Wrong again. The Dirty South easily stands beside those two records and is arguably the best of DBT's career. The argument is made early with three epic masterworks, Mike Cooley's "Where The Devil Don't Stay", Patterson Hood's "Tornadoes" and Jason Isbell's "The Day John Henry Died."

It's awesome - go buy it!