By Steve Newton
If you’ve never had your favourite rock band give you a shout-out during a concert, lemme tell ya–you’re missing out. It’s a wonderful feeling.
When the Drive-By Truckers played Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom on Thursday (June 12) it happened to me.
I’d interviewed band members Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley seven times since 2003, so in the week leading up to the show I posted one each day on social media, including the DBT fan’s group on Facebook.
But I still didn’t expect to get in-concert acknowledgement for my efforts.
After banging off a few chords as the introduction to “Let There Be Rock” and proclaiming that rock ‘n’ roll saved his life as a teenager, Hood announced: “I want to send this out to our friend Ear of Newt, supportin’ our band for so long.”
The shout-out was captured at the 1:03 mark of a video shot by Americana Music. If you listen closely you can hear my wife, a fellow DBT fanatic, screaming “What?!” at the mention of my website. She was even more surprised than me.
Needless to say, the Drive-By Truckers are still my favourite rock band.
To hear the full audio of my interviews with Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley–and former DBT member Jason Isbell as well–subscribe to my Patreon page, where you can eavesdrop on over 500 of my uncut, one-on-one conversations with rockers since 1982.