Patterson Hood Shares Reflective ‘The Forks Of Cypress’ Single Featuring Waxahatchee

Drive-By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood offered the final preview of his upcoming solo album, Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, which will be released this Friday, February 21 through ATO Records. Hood recruited Waxahatchee for the latest single, “The Forks Of Cypress.”

Recorded at various studios in Hood’s current hometown of Portland, Oregon, Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams is his first solo album in 12 years. Chris Funk (The Decemberists) produced the record, which features appearances by Hood’s DBT bandmates, Brad Morgan and Jay Gonzalez. Additional contributors to the 10-track LP include Wednesday, Lydia Loveless, Steve Berlin, David Barbe, Steve Drizos and Stuart Bogie, among others.

“The Forks Of Cypress” was recorded by Hood and fellow Alabama native Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield along with multi-instrumentalists Brad Cook and Phil Cook, drummer Daniel Hunt and guitar played by Kevin Morby.

Detailing the track, Hood shared a statement about “The Forks Of Cypress,” explaining:

“The Forks of Cypress a real place, a few miles just north of my hometown of Florence, Alabama. A former plantation house, once owned by a cousin of Andrew Jackson, it was struck by a ‘lightning cluster’ in 1966 – when I was 2 – and exploded into flames, burning to the ground in under five minutes. All that was left were these huge columns, in a rectangle on top of the hill overlooking the meadow. It was right by a very creepy rickety one lane bridge that the locals called Ghost Bridge.

“I drove past this (and crossed the scary bridge) every week of my childhood on my way to my Great Uncle’s house (where I spent every weekend). Later, as a teenager, kids would drive dates out to Ghost Bridge and tell ghost stories and make out. The bridge was torn down about a decade ago.

“I wrote the song as pure fiction, inspired by those great story songs that Bobbie Gentry did, an ‘Ode to Billie Joe,’ etc., where she implies a story without really telling it. In my head, I heard Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) singing it with me and was blessed that she was willing to do so. She’s one of my very favorite artists, and such a lovely person.

“The song was fleshed out wonderfully by Phil and Brad Cook (who played keyboards, dobro and bass on it), Dan Hunt on drums, and then Kevin Morby put the cherry on top with a stunning lead part.

“Whipped cream and cherry.”

The video for “The Forks Of Cypress” includes footage filmed by Bradley Wagner and Juan M. Soria at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York earlier this year. The video also showcases aerial footage of Hood’s hometown of Florence, Alabama recorded by John David Apkarian of Wings Over Bama. Watch the video below: