Drive-By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood has shared “The Forks of Cypress (feat. Waxahatchee),” the latest single (featuring Katie Crutchfield) from his landmark new solo album, Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, arriving via ATO Records on Friday, February 21. Pre-orders are available now. An official music video – filmed by Bradley Wagner and Juan M. Soria at the historic Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY before Drive-By Truckers took the stage on their Southern Rock Opera Revisited Tour earlier this year and featuring aerial footage of Hood’s hometown of Florence, AL provided by local pilot John David Apkarian of Wings Over Bama – premieres today on YouTube.

“The Forks of Cypress a real place, a few miles just north of my hometown of Florence, Alabama,” says Patterson Hood. “A former plantation house, once owned by a cousin of Andrew Jackson, it was struck by a ‘lightning cluster’ in 1966 – when I was two – and exploded into flames, burning to the ground in under five minutes. All that was left were these huge columns, in a rectangle on top of the hill overlooking the meadow. It was right by a very creepy rickety one lane bridge that the locals called Ghost Bridge. I drove past this (and crossed the scary bridge) every week of my childhood on my way to my Great Uncle’s house (where I spent every weekend). Later, as a teenager, kids would drive dates out to Ghost Bridge and tell ghost stories and make out. The bridge was torn down about a decade ago.

“I wrote the song as pure fiction, inspired by those great story songs that Bobbie Gentry did, an ‘Ode to Billie Joe,’ etc., where she implies a story without really telling it. In my head, I heard Katie Crutchfield (Waxahatchee) singing it with me and was blessed that she was willing to do so. She’s one of my very favorite artists, and such a lovely person.

“The song was fleshed out wonderfully by Phil and Brad Cook (who played keyboards, dobro and bass on it), Dan Hunt on drums, and then Kevin Morby put the cherry on top with a stunning lead part. 

“Whipped cream and cherry.”

LISTEN TO “THE FORKS OF CYPRESS (FEAT. WAXAHATCHEE)”

WATCH “THE FORKS OF CYPRESS (FEAT. WAXAHATCHEE)” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

PRE-ORDER EXPLODING TREES & AIRPLANE SCREAMS

Produced by Chris Funk (The Decemberists, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks) at various studios in Hood’s current hometown of Portland, OR, Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams marks the singer-songwriter-guitarist’s most expansive and ambitious extracurricular effort to date, supported by a stellar cast of friends and fellow musicians including Waxahatchee, Brad and Phil Cook (Megafaun), Kevin Morby, Wednesday, Brad Morgan and Jay Gonzalez (Drive-By Truckers), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, The Blasters), David Barbe (Sugar, Mercyland), Nate Query (The Decemberists), Steve Drizos (Jerry Joseph and The Jackmormons), Daniel Hunt (Neko Case, M Ward), and Stuart Bogie (The Hold Steady, Goose). 

The 10-track was heralded late in 2024 with the first single, “A Werewolf and a Girl,” featuring additional vocals from Lydia Loveless. A lyric video directed by Jason Shevchuk is streaming now on YouTube.

LISTEN TO “A WEREWOLF AND A GIRL”

WATCH “A WEREWOLF AND A GIRL” LYRIC VIDEO

LISTEN TO “THE POOL HOUSE”

WATCH “THE POOL HOUSE” OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO

Hood will celebrate the arrival of Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams with an eagerly anticipated run of US headline dates. The Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams 2025 Tour – which will feature backing from his band, The Sensurrounders, along with support from special guest Lydia Loveless – gets underway March 18 at Somerville, MA’s Arts at the Armory and then travels into April. Hood – who is also set for a two-night solo stand at Little Rock, AR’s White Water Tavern on May 2-3 – will then reconvene with The Sensurrounders for a very special double bill alongside MJ Lenderman as part of Charleston, SC’s famed Spoleto Festival USA on May 24. Before the tour begins, Hood will be performing a stripped-down acoustic set and signing at Music Millenium for free in his hometown of Portland, OR on release day, February 21 at 6 PM.

For complete details and ticket information, please visit pattersonhood.com/tour-dates.

PATTERSON HOOD AND THE SENSURROUNDERS

EXPLODING TREES & AIRPLANE SCREAMS 2025 TOUR 

MARCH

18 – Somerville, MA – Arts at the Armory *

19 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Made *

21 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theater *

22 – Washington, DC – The Atlantis *

23 – Washington, DC – The Atlantis *

25 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle *

26 – Atlanta, GA – Terminal West *

28 – Birmingham, AL – Saturn *

29 – Nashville, TN – Eastside Bowl *

30 – Indianapolis, IN – HI-FI Indy *

APRIL

1 – Chicago, IL – Old Town School of Folk Music *

2 – Evanston, IL – SPACE *

4 – St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway *

5 – Louisville, KY – The Whirling Tiger *

30 – New Orleans, LA – Chickie Wah Wah

MAY

2 – Little Rock, AR – White Water Tavern †

3 – Little Rock, AR – White Water Tavern †

24 – Charleston, SC – Spoleto Festival USA ^

* w/ Special Guest Lydia Loveless

† Patterson Hood Solo

^ w/ Special Guest MJ Lenderman