Patterson Hood
The driving force behind a seminal Southern rock band, crafting dense, novelistic songs about the American South's complex soul.
Born 1964 (age 62)·American singer-songwriter·Birthday: March 24·Baby Boomers
Biography
Patterson Hood didn't just start a band; he built a world. Co-founding the Drive-By Truckers in Athens, Georgia, he set out to document the gritty, nuanced reality of the modern South, far from clichéd rebel flags. His songwriting is literary and unflinching, weaving tales of working-class struggle, historical ghosts, and personal redemption over a bedrock of triple-guitar rock. Albums like 'Southern Rock Opera' and 'The Dirty South' established the Truckers as vital storytellers, with Hood as their principal narrator. His voice, a worn-in drawl, delivers lines that are both deeply specific and universally resonant. Beyond the music, he fostered a collaborative, almost familial band culture that survived countless lineup changes. Hood's work insists that regional identity is not a simple nostalgia trip but a living, breathing, and often contradictory story that demands to be told with both pride and clear-eyed criticism.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Patterson was born in 1964, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Patterson Was Born
The biggest hits of 1964
#1 Movie
Mary Poppins
Best Picture
My Fair Lady
#1 TV Show
Bonanza
Patterson's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1964Born
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1969Started school
Apollo 11: humans walk on the Moon; Woodstock festival
Gas: $0.35/galHome: $15,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Sugar, Sugar" — The ArchiesBest Picture: Midnight Cowboy
1977Became a teenager
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1980Could drive
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1982Could vote
Michael Jackson releases Thriller
Gas: $1.22/galHome: $55,200Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Physical" — Olivia Newton-JohnBest Picture: Gandhi
1985Turned 21
Live Aid concerts raise money for Ethiopian famine
Gas: $1.12/galHome: $62,900Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Careless Whisper" — Wham!Best Picture: Out of Africa
1994Turned 30
Nelson Mandela elected president of South Africa
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $90,400Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"The Sign" — Ace of BaseBest Picture: Forrest Gump
2004Turned 40
Indian Ocean tsunami kills over 230,000
Gas: $1.88/galHome: $157,300Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Yeah!" — UsherBest Picture: Million Dollar Baby
2014Turned 50
Russia annexes Crimea; Ebola outbreak in West Africa
Gas: $3.37/galHome: $160,700Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Barack Obama"Happy" — Pharrell WilliamsBest Picture: Birdman
2024Turned 60
AI reshapes industries; Paris Olympics
Gas: $3.31/galHome: $372,000Min wage: $7.25/hrPresident: Joe Biden"Espresso" — Sabrina CarpenterBest Picture: Anora
2026Age 62 today
Gas: $3.91/galPresident: Donald Trump
Key Achievements
- Wrote and released the critically acclaimed double-album rock opera 'Southern Rock Opera' with Drive-By Truckers.
- Co-founded the band Drive-By Truckers, which has released over a dozen studio albums and influenced a generation of alternative country and rock artists.
- His songwriting has been praised for its literary quality and exploration of Southern U.S. culture and history.
- Has maintained a prolific solo career alongside his work with the Drive-By Truckers.
Did You Know?
He is the son of famed Muscle Shoals session bassist David Hood.
He wrote much of the early Drive-By Truckers material while living in a friend's shed in Alabama.
He directed a documentary film about his father and the Muscle Shoals music scene called 'The Secret to a Happy Ending.'
Before music, he studied film at the University of North Alabama.
“The duality of the Southern thing is something I've thought about my whole life.”
