Patterson Hood (of Drive-By Truckers)

Patterson Hood plays HI-FI on Sunday, December 6, as part of the venue's concert series. If you know him, you know him as the singer, guitarist, and cofounder of Drive-By Truckers, the Southern rock band he started in 1996 with Mike Cooley. This is a solo date, though.

Hood grew up in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, a town that's practically a landmark in American music. His father, David Hood, was a session bassist for the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, so the region's recording tradition was the backdrop of his childhood. That Southern influence has stayed with him throughout his career, and it's a good place to start if you're trying to pin down his sound.

With Drive-By Truckers, he's been a central part of the band's narrative songwriting, and records like Southern Rock Opera (2001) and The Dirty South (2004) helped build their reputation. But he's also put out several solo albums over the years, including Killers and Stars, Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance, and Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, which came out in 2025. When he's not playing, he writes essays, columns, and short stories, so the storytelling side of his work carries over into his writing as well.

HI-FI is inside the Murphy Arts Center at 1043 Virginia Ave #4 in Indianapolis. Doors open at 7 PM and the show starts at 8 PM. Admission is free.