By the time you read this, the Drive-By Trucker Homecoming Weekend & Nuçi’s Space Benefit shows will have sold out, making fewer by three your opportunities to catch a band spending most of 2012 on a well deserved respite from the road.  There are families to raise, batteries to recharge and other songs to sing.Â
A few days into the new year, Flagpole finds itself at DBT headquarters where drummer Brad Morgan is working on his latest side project: building quality, custom road-cases for bands to transport gear. Â A decade ago, did Morgan ever imagine the band would have a bona fide HQ, a space where gear and memorabilia and stage props and Dr. Pepper could be so easily stored and archived?Â
“I thought it was all post-office boxes,†he admits.Â
Naturally, the recent loss of bassist Shonna Tucker is something fans of the band are curious about. Â As the other half of the rhythm section, Morgan seems confident that the transition will be smooth.
“With Patterson and Cooley, there’s always been a lot of bass players. Even in Adam’s House Cat, they always had trouble keeping a bass player,†he says with a laugh before chronicling the band’s bassist history, from Adam Howell to Rob Malone to Earl Hicks, and the long run with Tucker.  “I’m always used to change, you know… I love them all. They’ve all taught be something.â€
As for Tucker’s successor, will there be a permanent replacement? Will they showcase special guests as needed? Can we expect [legendary bassist and DBT guitarist Patterson Hood’s father] David Hood to come out of retirement?Â
“I’m sure all that will probably happen…†Morgan speculates, before adding, “David Hood is not retired; he’s a very busy fellow… Whoever’s available—David Barbe’s very busy with school, so we can’t really take him away from that, but we’ve got a couple of other options.â€Â
Stay tuned, Trucker Nation.
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