Drive-By Truckers: Brad Morgan, Jason Isbell, Shonna Tucker, Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley.

Personnel: Jason Isbell (guitar, E-bow, Wurlitzer organ); David Barbe (guitar, piano); Mike Cooley (guitar).

Audio Mixers: David Barbe; John Agnello.

Photographer: Danny Clinch.

The Drive-By Truckers have been widely acclaimed for their Southern-bred, salt-of-the-earth roots rock, and rightly so. With their gritty approach, memorable songs, and simultaneously wry and reverential take on the South, the band is something of a Lynyrd Skynyrd for the indie-rock set.

The band's 2006 release, A BLESSING AND A CURSE, is one of their most focused and streamlined recordings, paring the fat for an 11-track set that has the Truckers doing what they do best. Whether on Stones-influenced jams ("Aftermath USA"), drowsy Neil Young-like numbers ("Goodbye"), or mesmerizing minor-chord rockers that recall '80s college radio ("Easy on Yourself"), the Truckers don't hide their influences. Yet they also work those influences into a classic rock aesthetic that is as well-crafted as it is enjoyable.

Rolling Stone (p.100) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[An] engaging variation on old-school Southern rock. Amid ragged riffs, light honky-tonk and elegant slow stuff, the Truckers turn in tuneful, finely wrought story-songs."

Entertainment Weekly (p.75) - "[A] CD that finds the Southern rockers turning from the social concerns of 2004's DIRTY SOUTH to the more personal with career-best results." -- Grade: A-

Uncut (p.112) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] more personal and introspective record than usual....Truly there's still a lot to marvel at, especially the album's musical diversity..."

Magnet (p.93) - "A BLESSING AND A CURSE still exudes a distinctly Southern twang, but it also finds the Truckers embracing their inner Big Star."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.p.94) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[W]hat distinguishes them from other bands...is their sincerity, and the unselfconscious honesty that brings to their blistering three-guitar rock and ballads."