Drive-By Truckers to Unveil Previously Unreleased Adam’s House Cat Album, Announce Tour

Before Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley created enlightened country group Drive-By Truckers in 1996, they were cranking out searing, southern rock ‘n’ roll under a different name: Adam’s House Cat. The band, named for the amusing southern colloquialism, “I wouldn’t know him from Adam’s house cat,” formed in 1987. They played venues across the Southeast but, unlike a house cat, never quite found their footing (when it came to releasing an album, that is). Despite their stumbles, the band recorded an album in Muscle Shoals, Ala.: Town Burned Down. Nearly 30 years after Adam’s House Cat’s inception, the record will see the light of day thanks to ATO Records. The first track from the album, “Runaway Train,” is out now, and you can listen to it below.

Drive-By Truckers also announced on Wednesday that they’re going on tour this fall, and on the dates in Knoxville, Tenn. and Atlanta, Ga., the original Adam’s House Cat lineup will open for the Truckers. Town Burned Down is out Sept. 21 via ATO.

The Drive-By Truckers have their own vein of southern rock, but Adam’s House Cat’s “Runaway Train” indexes an even dirtier, sludgier—dare we say punkier?—rock ‘n’ roll, no doubt inspired by the college and indie rock of the day. After Adam’s House Cat was dismantled, the Drive-By Truckers were born of the same land as R.E.M. and Widespread Panic (Athens, Ga.).

Hood says of Town Burned Down in the LP’s liner notes :

Finally releasing TOWN BURNED DOWN brings a sort of closure to one of the saddest and most important chapters of mine and Cooley’s lives. The years we spent pounding out these songs made us the people and artists that we have later become, but we carried with us a darkness from never having been able to get the album out. The sound of these songs blasting out of the control room after all of these years while Cooley, Chuck and I grinned from ear to ear has truly been one of the most joyous events of my entire life. Songs from literally half of my life ago that somehow still seem vital to me all of these years later.

You can preorder Town Burned Down here. To purchase Drive-By Truckers tickets, go here.

Again, you can listen to the rollicking “Runaway Train” below. Then listen to Drive-By Truckers’ 2010 Daytrotter Session. Further down, glance at the Town Burned Down album art and tracklist, and keep scrolling for both Drive-By Truckers’ and Patterson Hood’s solo tour dates.

Town Burned Down Album Art:

Town Burned Down Tracklist:
01. Lookout Mountain
02.Town Burned Down
03. Runaway Train
04. Down On Me
05. 6 O’ Clock Train
06. Buttholeville
07. Child Abuse
08. Love Really Sucks
09. Kiss My Baby
10. Shot Rang Out
11. Long Time Ago
12. Cemeteries

Drive-By Truckers Tour Dates:

August
25 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Once in a Blue Moon Festival

September
02 – Sausalito, Calif. @ Sausalito Art Festival
03 – Richmond, Va. @ Stone’s Throw Down
22 – Chicago, Ill. @ Goose Island Block Party
27 – Knoxville, Tenn. @ Bijou Theatre #
28 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Variety Playhouse #
29 – Atlanta, Ga. @ Variety Playhouse #
30 – Chattanooga, Tenn. @ Walker Theatre

October
02 – Peoria, Ill. @ Monarch Music Hall *
03 – Lincoln, Neb. @ Bourbon Theatre *
05 – Boulder, Colo. @ Boulder Theater *
06 – Fort Collins, Colo. @ Washington’s
07 – Fort Collins, Colo. @ Washington’s

November
06 – Birmingham, Ala. @ Saturn
07 – Birmingham, Ala. @ Saturn
08 – Birmingham, Ala. @ Saturn
09 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Cannery Ballroom &*
10 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Cannery Ballroom &*
13 – Little Rock, Ark. @ Revolution Music Room *
14 – Tulsa, Okla. @ Cain’s Ballroom *
15 – Dallas, Texas @ Granada Theater
16 – Austin, Texas @ The Scoot Inn *
17 – Austin, Texas @ The Scoot Inn *

January/February
Jan. 27 – Feb. 1 – Tampa, Fla. @ Outlaw Music Cruise – SOLD OUT

(# – w/ Adam’s House Cat)
(* – w/ T. Hardy Morris)
(& – w/ Lily Hiatt)

Patterson Hood Tour Dates:

October
12 – San Diego, Calif. @ Music Box
13 – Santa Monica, Calif. @ McCabes
14 – Mill Valley, Calif. @ Sweetwater Music Hall