Truckin' on: The Hoods share a legacy in music

Although he might best be known these days as the father of Patterson Hood, the co-founder of the Drive-By Truckers, David Hood has carved out his own significant niche in the annals of popular music, albeit in a more low-key fashion than his son.

Hood the elder has for nearly 45 years plied his trade on the electric bass, performing on the recorded releases of dozens of superstars; he also has owned Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, one of music's celebrated rock-'n'-roll recording facilities, where legends like Aretha Franklin, Paul Simon, Bob Seger, Willie Nelson, Rod Stewart and Wilson Pickett worked.

"I've been fortunate in my career," says Hood from his home just outside the city limits of Muscle Shoals, Ala., on the banks of the Tennessee River. "One of my first jobs was a gold record, and that got me other jobs. And I was lucky to be an owner of a studio in this area, so I didn't have to travel and be gone like most touring musicians."

He's been in a zillion different band set-ups (including playing on recording dates organized by his offspring, who is referred to as "Pat"), but this weekend he'll be in a fairly unfamiliar situation as he and a group of his friends collectively known as The Decoys (which includes guitarist Scott Boyer) opens for DBT tonight and Saturday at the 40 Watt. Hood says The Decoys have performed in support of the Truckers only one other time.

"This past summer, they came to the Muscle Shoals area to the W.C. Handy Music Festival," says Hood of his son's band. "They played two nights at a theater here and the promoter booked the band I play in for one of those nights.

"It was f

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