The Drive-By Truckers salute Stephen Colbert

The Drive-By Truckers reunited with guitarist Jason Isbell for their final appearance on The Late Show on December 2, 2025. 

From Patterson Hood...

"To say that DBT are massive fans of Stephen Colbert is an understatement in the league of saying I kind of like The Beatles, The Stones, Zeppelin or The Clash. Mr. Colbert is not only the best at what he does on TV, he is among The BEST of what America has to offer itself and the world. A true class act, top to bottom. Smart (another understatement), kind, caring, full of love and joy. And funny as hell. Truly sidesplitting hilarious, always punching up and never punching down, speaking truth to power and the ridiculousness that so often accompanies it. 

"We were honored to play Hell No, I Ain’t Happy (with Jason Isbell sitting in) on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this past winter. We did it knowing that it would be the last time. To say it was joyful would be another understatement. DBT has been doing late night TV for nearly 25 years, having done so numerous times for hosts ranging from Craig Kilborn, Conan O’Brien (numerous times on two of his shows), Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman, but this was a next level experience. The joy we witnessed backstage was moving and infectious. The staff was next-level wonderful to us and Mr. Colbert himself came back to personally greet us. It was truly one of my favorite experiences of the 30 years DBT has been a band.  

"I’d like to thank Stephen Colbert for being the man you are. A man of rare intelligence and grace, a source of joy and light in these dark times, a man of wisdom and humor when we needed it most. Thank you for what you’ve done and especially for how you’ve gone about doing it."

Much Love and Respect,

Patterson Hood and Drive-By Truckers

Watch The Drive-By Truckers with Jason Isbell perform "Hell No, I Ain't Happy" from the Definitive Decoration Day box set below. 

Patterson Hood nearly makes a DBT album

Better Off Without is the first single off the forthcoming solo album from Patterson Hood and fans of his group Drive-By Truckers will likely be relieved to find that Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance won't sound drastically different from a DBT album.

And that's about what one would expect considering that Hood's third "solo" project was co-produced by longtime Truckers collaborator David Barbe and all of Hood's bandmates (Mike Cooley, Jay Gonzalez, Brad Morgan and John Neff) appear on the thing along with Hood's celebrated bass-playing dad David Hood, Centro-matic's Will Johnson and cracker soul chanteuse Kelly Hogan.

If the album had a typically colourful Wes Freed illustration on the sleeve instead of an artfully unfocused snapshot of our man in the mirror, you wouldn't know it from a DBT release. Personally, I would've liked to hear what Hood could've done backed by the Muscle Shoals crew with Rick Hall and Dan Penn overseeing the sessions at FAME but maybe next time.

ATO Records plans to release Heat Lightning Rumbles In The Distance on September 11. In the meantime, check out Patterson's first single Better Off Without

Better Off Without by Patterson Hood