The Fine Print

In the wake of the Drive-By Truckers’ split with New West Records this past spring, it’s hardly a surprise that the label is churning out whatever previously unreleased DBT-related material they can scrounge up. And after all, who can blame ‘em? Since picking up the Alabama-bred, Georgia-based band in 2003, the Drive-By Truckers have gone on to become one of, if not the most popular band on the label’s roster, and wi th a large fan base built solely from years of extensive touring, the demand for new product is definitely there. However, befitting a band who continually puts out superb, meticulously crafted albums, from the songwriting to the artwork, this summer’s two new releases are hardly your usual contractual obligation toss-offs. Released this past July, Live From Austin, TX is a terrific document of the band’s memorable appearance on the PBS series Austin City Limits, while the early September follow-up The Fine Print (A Collection of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008) puts an interesting twist on the usual “odds and sods” collection we’re normally subject to.

In March 1999, George Jones slammed his SUV into a bridge abutment, and Drive-By Truckers got a song out of it. Jones wasn't reeling from alcohol, nor was he being chased by an angry ex, nor did any of the hard-living country tropes play into the crash. Instead, he was simply talking on his cell phone to his daughter. He was in critical condition but recovered eventually. Which is fortunate, because a legend like Jones shouldn't go out that way. Part joking and part shaming, the Truckers' "George Jones Talkin' Cell Phone Blues" acts as a biopic of sorts, framing a consideration of his life and legacy with details from the crash. "He almost stopped loving her today," Hood sings, before admonishing the legend: "Better leave that cell phone alone."