By Brent Thompson

It’s always interesting to trace a band’s roots, especially when those roots include music that’s literally been in the vault for nearly 30 years. In 1990, Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley of Drive-By Truckers recorded Town Burned Down with their band Adam’s House Cat. Now, the 12-track collection has been unearthed and released on ATO Records. In the liner notes, Hood writes, “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…Songs from literally half of my life ago that somehow still seem vital to me all of these years later.” With the exception of some updated sweetening of the vocals, what you hear is what went down as Hood and Cooley worked their way to the formation of the Truckers. Established fans will find the release essential to their collections as it rounds out the A-Z progression of these torchbearers of raw, honest Southern Rock. To cement the revitalization of the project, Adam’s House Cat will perform at select shows with Drive-By Truckers this fall.