Review Under Two: Where the Devil Don't Stay by Stephen Deusner

Review Under Two is a segment of The Marinade with Jason Earle podcast where host Jason Earle reviews a work he finds inspiring in under two minutes.

Our Review Under Two for Episode 99 with singer-songwriter Jeremie Albino focuses on Stephen Deusner’s excellent book about the band Drive-by Truckers.

The Drive-by Truckers are one of the great American rock bands. Not a household name like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers or Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band, but every bit as important and influential. To tell the story of such a band is to tackle a powerful and fascinating story. The Truckers might not be the most famous band in the world but few collectives have kept at it this long and engendered such a passionate following.

Stephen Deusner’s Where the Devil Don’t Stay is a book that sits back and waits for the off-speed pitch to come its way then, with incredible alacrity, drives the challenge over the right centerfield fence. But, describing the book as a home run may be selling it short. Where the Devil Don’t Stay is a masterwork in the musical biography genre. 

Deusner unfolds the story of one of America’s greatest rock bands by taking the reader on a tour of the places that shaped their legacy. Along the way we meet faces both familiar and lesser-known. And get to know places any Southerner thought they knew as intimates. The Athens of the Drive-by Truckers is not that of the average Georgian. Nor is their Birmingham like that of most Alabamans; or Memphis as to residents of the Volunteer State. 

The story of The Truckers is one of perseverance and survival, which is why Deusner’s decision to examine the story by taking a tour of The South is such an important one. To a couple generations of Americans, DBT provided a true education of one of the worlds’ most complicated regions. In less capable hands, the nuance of the band’s significance could be buried in drama and excess. Deusner takes the reins of a bucking hot potato and wrestles the beast into submission. 

The reader does not have to be as obsessive as this author to understand and appreciate the stories told in Where the Devil Don’t Stay. Deusner’s exhaustive research and passion for the work will win over anyone who cares about the history and culture of The South, or even just damn fine storytelling. 

For the diehards, this book will feel like the first time you heard Decoration Day or Southern Rock Opera. For anyone who loves a good yarn and good music, Where the Devil Don’t Stay is an essential read.

A Series of Essays on The Marinade's Favorite Albums of 2020 | Fetch the Bolt Cutters by Fiona Apple

Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters blasted into the world while much of the United States was still in quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Do you remember when you first listened to it? I was in my living room. My partner and I had just played a game of Scrabble and I succumbed to my Twitter-checking reflex. My feed is full of artists and fans of art so just about every other Tweet referenced the triumph of Apple’s surprise album.

We dialed it up in an instant and listened while dinner was prepared. About once a week for a couple of months we listened together, not to mention the times we each listened alone. Fetch the Bolt Cutters is unlike anything I have heard this year or any other. It is unpredictable, powerful, honest, cathartic, pop, rock, hip hop, soul. Every time I think I have the record figured out another listen sets me straight.

Fetch the Bolt Cutters comes from a place of liberation and this year in so many ways felt like a personal liberation for me. I was forced to confront my anxiety about mortality without the benefit of escape. I was faced with an examination of my commitment to causes I have long made noise about but which require more than just noise. And, I insisted on being paid what I’m worth. 

Apple’s masterpiece was a fitting soundtrack to a tumultuous year of growth. It was messy, complicated, and challenging. There were fits of anger and bursts of hope. At the end, as difficult as it may seem, love won a lot more than hate. Anger was channeled into action. And, the future looks brighter than the past.