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Daniel Hutchens Reports On Bloodkin-Drive By Truckers Shows Last Weekend

Bloodkin's Daniel Hutchens Talks About Shows with The Truckers

Last night I spoke with my old friend Daniel Hutchens. Daniel's band Bloodkin went out on the road with The Drive By Truckers last weekend. Bloodkin's new record Baby, They Told Us We Would Rise Again hits the streets on February 17. Last weekend, a powerful one-two punch of Bloodkin/Drive By Truckers shows were played in Richmond, Asheville, and Knoxville. Of course, my conversation with the Truckers' Patterson Hood coincided with these shows last week.

Danny and I go way back, so I wanted to break the conversation into parts for the sake of an ongoing dispatch. Last night I asked Danny to illuminate on these two Athens bands going out on the road together.

JC: Let's talk about Bloodkin's shows with The Truckers a few days ago...

DH: They were great. I have to say on a lot of different levels. First of all, just playing with those guys...I think it's a great match-up. To me, it's a no brainer. It's a great match. For us obviously playing in front of their crowd and playing these really nice venues that seat about 1,500 people. They have great sound systems--it's a treat. You know--a lot of the places we play are bars. That can be great too, but it's a different thing. We've done four shows with them so far. The first show was in Richmond at a place called The National, which all the Truckers and everybody else has told me about. They built this place up so much I didn't think it could live up to the billing. They were saying it was one of the best venues in America to play. Man, I have to say it was a beautifully restored building with a fantastic sound system and this crack team of sound guys and crew--everything was great.

JC: Did you get up and play in the other's set?

DH: Well, John Neff (Drive By Truckers pedal steel player) played on "End of the Show", "Wet Trombone Blues", "Stranger In A Strange Land" (Leon Russell), "Happy" (Stones) and Mike Cooley played banjo on "The Viper", which he plays on the record. It was a different thing each night. Eric (Carter-Bloodkin guitarist) got up a couple of times with the Truckers at the end of the night. He played on a Jim Carroll song "People Who Died". William Tonks--the second night in Asheville--played over half the show with The Truckers.

JC: Where and when are the next shows? People should check out this double-barrel rock and roll show. Two high-powered Athens bands...

DH: Let me look at the calender...it's a couple of weeks from now...February 19 in Charleston and the 20th and 21st in Washington D.C. The 17th is the date our record will be released.

Tomorrow night I put up the review of Bloodkin's newest CD, Baby, They Told Us We Would Rise Again. I'll also run Danny talking about songwriting and a new era of Bloodkin. Until tomorrow,

James Calemine

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