It's been more than a month since Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued a stay-at-home order requiring certain businesses to close and people to remain in their places of residence "to the maximum extent possible." The order was put in place to try and slow the spread of coronavirus and flatten the curve of people becoming infected with COVID-19.
The order also means that lots of people have more time on their hands than usual, so we've been using that time to expand our musical horizons. We started the series by taking a deep dive into classical music and followed it with the discovering new music from Pacific Northwest bands affected by the pandemic.
In our third installment, we decided to get an education on country music and we tapped the Portland-based musician and songwriter Patterson Hood to help be our guide. Hood has what feels like an encyclopedic knowledge of classic country music and is the co-founder of the Drive By Truckers, a southern rock band with roots in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.
Patterson Hood is a musician, songwriter, and fan of country music. Originally from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, he eschewed country music as a child, but fell in love with the genre as an adult.
Courtesy of Red Light Management
Hood spoke with OPB "All Things Considered" host Crystal Ligori about his introduction to country, the under-appreciated talent of Tom T. Hall, some of his favorite classic country musicians, and where he sees new music heading in the wake of a pandemic. Here are the highlights:
Crystal Ligori: One of the reasons that I wanted to reach out to you was because you wrote a piece about the legacy and music of Merle Haggard and the passion and love that you had for the country genre really came through. Can you talk me through some of your first memories listening to country music?
Patterson Hood: Oh God, it sounds terrible to tell, but my initial exposure to country was watching Hee Haw. In my childhood I spent every weekend with my great uncle [and] he watched Hee Haw religiously every Saturday night, and I hated it, but it was always on. Some of the performances on there were amazing, and it was where I was first turned on to Tom T. Hall.
I can remember my uncle telling me, "That guy is the greatest songwriter in the world!"
"Are you crazy? This is terrible! What about John Lennon and Bob Dylan?"
And then in my 30s, when I was a touring musician and kind of first becoming really fascinated with old timey country and kind of learning about it, a friend made me a mixed tape, a compilation of Tom T. Hall songs. I became obsessed with it — he and Randy Newman are the two masters, in my opinion, of writing story songs.
Ligori: So your exposure to country was pretty young. What song do you think would be a good entry point for younger listeners?
Hood: My kids [will] tell you they hate country music, and I was just like them when I was their age. But then the other day, I was playing an old Bob Wills record around the house, a compilation of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys from like the '40s or '50s, really early stuff, and she thought it was amazing! She thought it was a jazz record, which it kind of is.
There’s a whole stream of country that came out of North Texas and Oklahoma during that era that had more to do with jazz... than you would think.
Ligori: What about for adults who have never been exposed to the genre?
Hood: It's hard to deny, Merle Haggard is an incredible songwriter, incredible musician and incredible vocalist. You don't have to make too deep a dive to see just how amazing his artistry was. That's kind of an obvious place to go.
Of course, Willie Nelson has put out hundreds of records through the years. Red Headed Stranger, which is the quintessential iconic Willie Nelson record.
But there's a record he made, the record before that one, called Phases and Stages, that actually my father plays on. My dad's a bass player and was part of the Muscle Shoals rhythm section in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, and Phases and Stages is the record he made in Muscle Shoals.
That’s a wonderful record, kind of a concept record about a divorce told through both the man and the woman’s point of view, but all sung by Willie. It totally bombed when it came out, and it caused Willie to get dropped from Atlantic Records, but it’s an absolutely stunning record, and I’m not just saying that because my dad’s on it. Of the hundreds and hundreds of records my dad played on, it’s in my top, probably three or four all-time favorites.
And of course if you want to get deeper into the really country part of it, you can't go wrong with Loretta Lynn, who is absolutely one of the greatest songwriters that's ever lived, an amazing artist, and just a genuine piece of Americana. Just fantastic.
Ligori: Drive By Truckers has a new album out called "The Unraveling," and it was released at the end of January. You did have a tour that was scheduled to start last month, but at least the first few shows are being canceled and rescheduled. Do you think the pandemic is going to change how we’re experiencing music?
Hood: I think unfortunately, it's inevitable that it's going to, for at least the foreseeable future, and I don't know beyond that. I don't know what it's going to look like when it comes back, and how much of it will come back, and how much of it is just going to be lost forever. We're losing venues, there are bands that are going bankrupt and are no longer able to function as bands. It's terrifying. I mean, it's destroying our industry, which was already in a pretty weak and vulnerable spot.
“Listen to the full conversation by clicking play on the audio player at the top of this story.”