THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “I’m releasing my fourth solo album, the first in over 12 1/2 years, called Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams,” says singer-guitarist Patterson Hood, best known as the frontman of Drive-By Truckers. “It was recorded last year during an ice storm, no less, which is befitting for an album that starts out with a similar meteorological condition. My buddy Chris Funk produced and played a bunch of cool vintage analogue synthesizers (among other things) on it.
“The songs take a backwards journey through time — from the ice storm that wrecked my hometown just before my 30th birthday and move to Athens, GA, all the way back to my early childhood in North Alabama in the ’70s. It’s a very different album than anything I’ve ever done, yet somehow feels steeped in the universe our other albums seem to inhabit.
“I was blessed to be joined on it by some amazing friends who helped me make this most personal of records. Lydia Loveless sang a duet on the first single, A Werewolf And A Girl, Wednesday joined me on a song featuring vocals by Karly Hartzman, pedal steel by Xandy Chelmis and guitar work by MJ Lenderman, and Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) sings with me on the single The Forks of Cypress.
“Guests include Steve Berlin from Los Lobos, who plays baritone sax on several songs and played flute on the second single The Pool House, Stuart Bogie who plays woodwinds, and the great Kyleen King, who did strings and backing vocals. Other guests include Brad and Phil Cook, Dan Hunt, Kevin Morby, Nate Query, David Barbe, Jay Gonzalez and Brad Morgan.”
