Hear Mike Cooley-

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In the Drive by Truckers universe, Patterson Hood is the sun and hills. That would make Mike Cooley the shadows and the moon.

Cooley writes character sketches, wields a keen sense of observation and intelligence, and possesses some wicked country guitar skills in his back pocket.

Yes, I'd like to discuss part two of the essential Drive By Truckers. I've already featured 7 songs from frontman Patterson Hood. Now it's Cooley's turn. First song? "First Air of Autumn".


"First Air of Autumn" hits a melancholy fall day right on the head, featuring a sharp and rhythmic acoustic guitar, shuffling drums, and Cooley's muttering country vocals. He'll surprise you, as he sings like a man who has hidden talent and is coyly playing his cards. I almost image him as an uncle who one day picks up a guitar and sings a song that no one thought he was capable of.

This song is pure emotion and nature, as Cooley uses his observations of the countryside to paint a picture and explore life's challenges and cherished memories soaked in regret. After all, it is autumn. The world is beautiful but it's dying.

Key lyric: "Memory only shows the promise that beauty broke/ a beauty ageless in it's time/ light attracts the same/ you glance away and the glory fades/ and being on your own has lost it's shine".

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