drive-by truckers have signed to pias records for the release of their new album 'the big to do'. it's very much a rock album...very melodic and more rocking than anything they've done since disc 2 of 'southern rock opera'. the inspiration for 'the big to-do' came to the band during their time on the road. "we've often set our songs and albums in different periods of time, but this one finds us directly in our present. riding all through the highways of america (and europe) trying to make sense of a very different world than the one we grew up in," says hood. "i don't write a lot of songs on the road, but i did more than usual on this album and many more were inspired by or set there, either in a literal sense or something i witnessed or heard about while i was out there." bassist shonna tucker has written two of the thirteen songs, but the rest are hood and mike cooley jams.