How important were the Murdering Oscar sessions to bringing Neff back in full time [to Drive-By Truckers]?
I think it led directly to it. And I can tell you the exact moment was when he did the part on “Screwtopia.” I remember when he did that I was like, “You know, I’d really, really like him to play on the next Truckers record and start playing with us [again].” It’s kind of funny because ironically, that was one of the few things that we could all agree on at that time, because that wasn’t a particularly great time in the band’s history. There was definitely at least two camps going on in the band and the two camps weren’t necessarily seeing eye-to-eye, and John [Neff] coming in and playing with us was the one thing that everybody could agree on. Do you find that there’s a thematic thread that kind of runs through Oscar, something that makes it so cohesive? Patterson Hood by Matt Pence Absolutely. It’s the yin and yang of family attachment. The title sounds kind of tongue in cheek because I’m not necessarily known for writing love songs and so there’s a certain amount of sarcasm in the t
