Patterson Hood and Craig Finn, frontmen and songwriters for the Drive-By Truckers and the Hold Steady respectively, visited the Tractor Tavern in November on their ‘Devil is in the Details’ tour. This intimate, primarily acoustic show afforded fans of both bands the opportunity to experience these two revered and highly accomplished songwriters in an up close and personal setting. Hood and Finn were accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Ben Hackett.

I’ve had the good fortune to have seen both the Drive-By Truckers and the Hold Steady quite a few times over the years and I’m a huge fan of both bands’ guitar heavy attack. As much as I enjoy loud guitars, bass, and drums, both Hood and Finn are worldclass songwriters and their lyrics tend to sometimes get swamped amidst all the caterwaul and feedback when they’re fronting their rock outfits. They each have outstanding new albums and it was a treat to be able to hear their new material mixed in with efforts from previous releases. Finn steered clear of material that he performs with the Hold Steady, instead highlighting songs from his solo career. Hood mixed solo material with acoustic versions of Drive-By Truckers classics. Both artists were generous with anecdotes and observations collected during their years in the rock and roll trenches.

I tend to remember shows as individual moments rather than in total. It will be a long time before I forget the tension and release captured in the evening’s closing song, the Drive-by Truckers’ ‘World of Hurt’. I’m a sucker for a good redemption story, especially those that chronicle the lives of ordinary, fallible folks and I’d be hard pressed to find a better example than ‘World of Hurt’. The assembled seemed to share my opinion, as the majority of the audience sang the tune’s hard-bitten chorus while Hood told his tale of struggle and ultimately, triumph. The show reached its conclusion with Hood grinning his luminous smile and exclaiming “It’s f’ing great to be alive!”.

Indeed.