Listen to the excellent HearYa session recorded by The Downtown Rumblers, which include Patterson Hood, Jay Gonzalez and Brad Morgan from DBT, Page and Claire Campbell from the Athens band Hope For a Golden Summer, and Jacob Morris on cello. The songs performed in the session include “Come Back Little Star”, a tune that was co-written by Kelly Hogan in tribute to the tragic loss of their friend and Athens music icon, Vic Chesnutt, who died in 2009. Enjoy!

Listen to the new Patterson Hood session on Daytrotter.

This month everyone is featuring their Best Of lists, and here’s the last installation of Patterson’s list for 2012! In case you missed it, here’s his list of Movies and Music.

Meanwhile, don’t forget – tickets for this year’s New Years Shows at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC are going fast – Dec 29 is already SOLD OUT! Make sure you get your tickets to Dec 30 and 31 shows, and don’t forget the DBT Homecoming Shows at the 40 Watt in January.

Here’s the last installment of Patterson’s Best Of 2012:

BOOKS:

The Passage of Power – The Years of Lyndon B. Johnson (Vol 4) by Robert Caro was by far my favorite read of the year.
Stunning from start to finish and the part about November 22 1963 was the best writing I’ve ever seen about the Kennedy Assassination.

Other great reads (from this and other years) include:

The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin; Fire and Rain by David Browne; Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon; Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young; Classic Crews (a collection) by Harry Crews

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR:

Of course my family and friends.

Louie (FX TV) – The greatest sitcom since All in the Family. Genius.

The Daily Show and Colbert Report – Making the news bearable. Truly TV as it’s finest.

Playing with The Mystic Rumblers (Oxford MS 4/12) – Band I put together with my Dad, Brad, Jay and Jacob. Played a killer cover of “Take A Letter Maria” with two great trumpet players that Matt Patton helped us find.

Playing with The Downtown Rumblers (Sept-Oct) – The killer band I put together to go out and work my new album featuring the fabulous Campbell Sisters (also known as Hope For Agoldensummer). Great shows coast to coast, especially Helsinki on the Hudson, Hudson NY and The Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Playing with The Dimmer Twins (Marriage Equality Tour – June 2012, more to come?) Cooley and I celebrated 27 years together with two shows in Virginia that were among our favorite shows we’ve ever played.

Playing with DBT. Damned if we didn’t have some great shows in our Sweet Sixteenth Year. Makes me look forward to recording the next album.

Alabama Shakes – Watching them have such an amazing year has reaffirmed my faith in the power of Rock. Having them back me up in London and Germany was great fun.

The Americana Music Awards in Nashville. I always hate awards shit, but this show at The Ryman was an absolutely incredible evening of great music and vibes. I got to present Booker T. Jones with a lifetime achievment award, met Tom T. Hall and saw an unbelievable Richard Thompson performance. All that and so much more.

Playing with Craig Finn and Will Johnson – An unbelievable pleasure to sit between them for two weeks in Europe this past fall.

And finally, playing with The Downtown 13 – Having so many incredibly talented friends all jump in to record “After It’s Gone” to raise awareness about a proposed development in Athens GA. On no notice at all members of DBT, Widespread Panic, REM, Hope For Agoldensummer, Henry Barbe, Futurebirds, and Lera Lynn joined David Barbe and I and two weeks later it was released (with a great video by Jason Thrasher). AWESOME!

Have a GREAT Holiday Season and a HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

This month everyone is featuring their Best Of lists. We’ll be posting Patterson Hood’s “Best Of” lists over the next few days. In case you missed it, see Best of Music. Today we have Best Of Movies!

My favorite film of the year (by far) is
Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Its star Quvenzhane Wallis should win Best Actress.
Best Director should be Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild who broke the three golden rules of filmmaking (no kids, animals or water) and made a true work of art.
Best Actor Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) with Joaquin Phoenix a close runner up for The Master.

ALSO LOVED:
The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson), Lincoln (Steven Spielberg),
Moonrise Kingdom (Wes Anderson)
looking forward to Django Unchained (Quintin Tarantino)

Make SURE to catch Patterson with The Downtown Rumblers in Nashville Dec. 13 & 14 –  it will be a whole bunch of fun! As always, tickets for this year’s New Years Shows at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC and the DBT Homecoming Shows at the 40 Watt in January are going fast, so get yours NOW!