Let’s get one thing straight, country music today is not country music.  It’s pop music.  Just because you wear a cowboy hat and sing with a twang in your voice does not mean your music is country.  Carrie Underwood has more in common with Norah Jones than she does Patsy Cline.  Kenny Chesney has more in common with John Mayer than he does Hank Williams.  Country music is about the down-trodden.  About the working man.  About trying to pay your bills and failing.  About losing everything and never getting it back.  It’s about never trusting the government, even if they’re Republicans from Texas.  Country music was created at a time when citizens felt like America had turned their back on them.  Today, modern country preaches the glory of America even though times are at their worst.  At least one band hasn’t forgotten.

Drive By Truckers are one of the last remaining bands that embody the spirit of classic country.  Their songs are overflowing with broken characters ripe of desolation.  Of criminals forced down the wrong path.  Of good intentions spoiled by fatal flaws.  As dark and disturbing as their songs are, they’re stories are real.  There are pieces of ourselves in these songs.  We relate to the character’s weaknesses and their choices.  We relate to their challenges and their short-comings.  The Drive By Truckers remind all of us that even in our darkest times, we’re not alone.

Here are the 11 Best Songs By The Drive-By Truckers:

1. My Sweet Annette (Decoration Day)

2. The Day John Henry Died (The Dirty South)

3. The Sands of Iwo Jima (The Dirty South)

4. Sounds Better In The Song (Decoration Day)

5. The Righteous Path (Brighter Than Creation’s Dark)

6. Carl Perkins Cadalliac (The Dirty South)

7. The Boys From Alabama (The Dirty South)

8. Ronnie And Neil (Southern Rock Opera)

9. Two Daughters and A Beautiful Wife (Brighter Than Creation’s Dark)

10. Puttin’ People on the Moon (The Dirty South)

11. TVA (A Fine Print)

Buy the Drive-By Truckers new album, Go-Go Boots now!