Patterson on Bob Harris
BEST OF 2012 – BOOKS AND OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
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!
BEST OF 2012 – MOVIES
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!
BEST OF 2012 – MUSIC
This month everyone is featuring their Best Of lists. We’ll be posting Patterson Hood’s “Best Of” lists over the next few days.
Make SURE to catch Patterson with The Downtown Rumblers this Saturday, Dec. 8 at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA; or catch one of the Nashville shows Dec. 13 & 14 – it will be a whole bunch of fun! As always, tickets for this year’s DBT Homecoming Shows at the 40 Watt in January are going fast, so get yours NOW!
Today’s “Best Of” List – MUSIC! Here’s what Patterson loved this year:
BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR (tie):
1. Father John Misty – Fear Fun
and
1. Bill Fay – Life Is People
Other great albums this year (in alphabetical order):
Alabama Shakes – Boys and Girls
Elephant Micah – Louder Than Thou
Craig Finn – Clear Heart Full Eyes
Jay Gonzalez – Mess of Happiness
Kelly Hogan – I Like To Keep Myself in Pain
Hope For Agoldensummer – Life Inside The Body
Will Johnson – Scorpion
Michael Kiwanuka – Home Again
Lotus Plaza – Spooky Action At A Distance
Jacob Morris – Moths
Dan Penn – The FAME Sessions
Lee Renaldo – Between The Times and The Tides
Sharon Van Etten – Tramp
Older but digging:
Pink Floyd – Obscured By Clouds
War On Drugs – Slave Ambient
Bonnie Prince Billy and The Cairo Gang – Wonder Show of the World
Verbena – Souls For Sale
SONG OF THE YEAR – “Only Son of the Ladies Man” by Father John Misty
Y’ALL:
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Returned home last night from my European / UK Tour. Really glad to be back with family in time for the holidays and glad to have a little sleep in my own bed and to recover from a very grueling but great three months.
Thanks to all the friends and fans who turned out for these shows, here and abroad. It was a truly amazing three tours.
Thanks to Will Johnson and Craig Finn for the fantastic shows and great times these last three weeks overseas. Will and I, of course, go way back as I have long been worlds biggest Centro-matic fan and he’s even played guitar in DBT when I injured my hand last year.
Craig and I have some history also, The Rock and Roll Means Well Tour back in 2008 between DBT and The Hold Steady was an all time highlight for us and this recent tour began with a lunch conversation between us last february.
Craig and Will were both incredible every single night. The stories, the songs, the voices and the banter were all top notch and I truly did have the best seat in the house every single night. (Between them). All of us have vowed to find a way to bring the show Stateside sometime next year.
I do have three more solo shows coming up before the end of the year. Playing at The Fabulous 40 Watt Club on December 8th w/ The Downtown Rumblers and special guest Don Chambers. Playing Thursday Dec 13 – Friday Dec. 14th in Nashville at The High Watt (in the Cannery Complex) w/ The Downtown Rumblers and special guests Hope For Agoldensummer. These will be my last shows for a while with this lineup of the band, as Page lives in Wisconsin and has her own album coming out soon (Dream Boat). Anyone who saw our shows in September and October can vouch of what a great band it is and I highly recommend your attendance if possible.
DBT also has some shows coming up. Our big New Years Eve three night blowout in DC is happening for a second year. We will be playing with Deer Tick on the 29th. They are a great band and it is a real treat finally getting to play with them. On the 30th we will be playing with Lee Fields who has one of my favorite albums of the year. Finally on the 31st, we play with our dear friends Luther and Cody Dickinson in The North Mississippi Allstars Duo. We have history with those gents dating back to our days in Adam’s House Cat (and theirs in DDT) but it’s a rare treat these days to get us all together and it will be a fantastic way to bring in 2013.
Finally, tickets are on sale for DBT’s annual Nuçi’s Space / 40 Watt Club Homecoming Weekend. January 17th – 19th. We have a stellar lineup of special guests to kick things off this time and it promises to be one of the best years yet. We have three Nuçi related bands this year. THUNDERCRACK, which was our crew’s entry into last years Athens Business Rocks competition. Our own Matt Defilippis channeling his inner Springsteen for an action packed set of E Street Favorites. Followed by Nuçi Space’s own stellar band who will be performing a southern soul music tribute. Of course on saturday we will have the Camp Amped Band comprised of players from this past year’s Camp Amped program. Additionally, we have Grass Giraffe playing on friday. They are one of my very favorite bands in Athens and I have wanted them for the past two years and am thrilled to finally get to have them on the bill. Saturday will also have Valocirapture. A band I’ve been watching for a couple of years that has gotten to be very stellar. They are fronted by Winston Barbe, who if I remember correctly was in our very first Camp Amped Band a few years ago. Tickets are on sale now and going fast.
Have a great and safe holiday and I look forward to seeing you at The Rock Show.
Sincerely, Patterson Hood
Drive-By Truckers