East met the South in the West at Slim's in San Francisco on Saturday,
January 25, 2003. Music fans from the Bay Area’s fabulous
cross-pollinated live music fan base filled the floor to comfortable capacity. This night,
solar powered sinners and redeemed rockers stood on the dark wood floor
ready for a night of hard driving southern shots and road worthy rock
jams.

The Mother Truckers celebrated the release of their first CD, _Something
Worth Dying For_, and opened for the Drive By Truckers who played a couple
of hours of original songs including many from their acclaimed indy CD,
Southern Rock Opera.

Teal Collins’ (gold and platinum albums for her work on Shanice (Motown)
and Third Eye Blind’s album Blue) voice radiated golden Marin Country
sunshine as The Mother Truckers opened with "You Belong To Me." Her voice
and million dollar smile could be a sweetly pitched solo instrument. In
tandem with co-songwriter/guitarist/vocalist Josh Zee (Protein) her voice
harmonized with his; her ukulele tuned with his guitar. With Dana Miller
on drums and Pete Franco on bass a slight variation of the standard country
sound was created. What was clearly audible was a distinct California
rock-country sound. It had a "mineral" sound; like the band rediscovered
it in the airwaves of an old mining shaft of an abandoned town somewhere near
upper-northern California and set it free in their music. While the set
was too short for them to fully engage in straight-on jams, the musical nuggets
they tossed to the crowd were well received. For example, in the song,
"Behind The Bleachers," as Teal launched into her "Harlow"-esque yodel she
did so with a passionate edge that demonstrated willing yet raw control.
Zee’s guitar took off into ricocheting riffs with drums and bass holding
the reigns as the band got set to giddyup.

Whereas The Mother Truckers’ tone was deftly rolling grooves embedded in
rock structures; Drive By Truckers pulled up in their John Deere tractors
and plowed right through them. Patterson Hood wasted no time rallying the
crowd to have a real good party. With a triple shot of guitars (Hood,
Cooley, Isbell) and straight-eight cylinder rhythm (Earl Hicks-bass and
Brad Morgan-drums) it didn’t take long for fans to get to their happy space.
In true Southern style, the substance of the stories being sung were as meaty
as the music they were sung to. Hood’s raspy voice punctuated evocative
lyrics and added a layer of gravel over thick rhythm. Cooley and Isbell
played their guitars like swashbucklers set loose on the open highway.
Throughout the night, Hood broke from vocals to join in with his fast and
sweaty fret work. Whether the words invoked images of 70’s rock concerts
or chances lost to forever; Drive By Truckers’ music gave power to the
sometimes funny, often provoking stories. Somehow, after the last note
was played, it wasn’t just the end of the show – it was the feeling of having
to say "bye" to an old good friend.