The Drive By Truckers, an alternative country band from Athens, Ga., have played in Milwaukee many times in the past decade or so.

"We have played three times at The Pabst Theater, which is absolutely beautiful. I have always really loved coming to your town," says Patterson Hood, who provides vocals, guitar and bass to the band.

Hood and the other members will return to Brew City and make their first Turner Hall appearance on Saturday, Oct. 22 The doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets cost $25 and are still available.

Hood co-founded the band in 1996 with musician and friend Mike Cooley. The band has welcomed many different members and collaborators throughout the years. They have nine studio albums and two live albums. Earlier this year the band release a collection of greatest hits called "Ugly buildings, whores and politicians: greatest hits 1998-2009."

OnMilwaukee.com recently had the chance to chat with Hood and find out more about his future plans, passion for vinyl and how a drunken joke has stuck with the band for more than a decade.

OnMilwaukee.com: Even though multiple members of the band are from Alabama, the band is based in Athens. Because of its history, does Athens offer a lot more opportunity for your band?

Patterson Hood: Athens offered me a home base to grow from, cool local venues to play in and a wide array of great musicians to play with. It's a nice liberal oasis in a vast story sea of red state hysteria and wrongheadedness. Athens has been my home for nearly two decades. Many of my songs are based in my Alabama hometown, which is probably another good reason not to live there anymore.

OMC: What are you and the band currently working on now?

PH: I'm making a new solo album. It's going really well. It will be out sometime next year.

OMC: What do you like to do that's not music?

PH: I don't really have many hobbies. I love going to movies and reading but between work and family I'm pretty damned busy all of the time.

OMC: Why is it important to you that your music is released on vinyl?

PH: Vinyl sounds best and I love the way the art work looks in that format. I grew up in the age of records and my first job was at a record store. I do love the iPod. As a touring musician I can take thousands of albums with me on my iPod, but when I'm at home I spin my vinyl. Our albums come on vinyl with a CD inside that you can download into your computer or play in your car. It's the best all around way to release music and I applaud our record label for doing it that way.

OMC: Did you grow up in a musical family?

PH: My father is a musician. He is a session bass player and part of the legendary Muscle Shoals Sound Rhythm Section. He is certainly an influence as was his vast record collection that I grew up listening to.

OMC: Are you a self-taught musician?

PH: I grew up spinning all the '70s classics and then punk rock came along and I fell in love with that. I started writing songs when I was in third grade and pretty much wrote everyday for 20 years or so. I was self-taught on guitar, and I might add a slow learner, but I'm stubborn and relentless so it's all worked out.

OMC: Who are your current musical influences of the last few years? What are you listening to this week?

PH: This year I've been loving the Kurt Vile album and The Low Anthem's new album. I'm a huge Centro-matic fan and love their new album, too.

OMC: What do you think of the term "Southern rock?"

PH: I think it sucks. We are a rock-and-roll band and that includes most if not all of the sub-genres that get associated with it, including punk rock, R&B, arena rock, power pop and country (the original good kind, not the bullsh*t that gets called that nowadays).

OMC: How is your tour going? How long have you been on tour and when does it end? What do you do while traveling?

PH: It's been good. We released two albums back to back so we toured pretty relentlessly for 18 months. We've slowed down to a more manageable pace now, so we're all fairly rested and ready for a big weekend night in Milwaukee.

OMC: Which DBT album are you the most proud of and why?

PH: I'm pretty proud of our whole catalog, but if I had to pick two favorites it would be Decoration Day and the latest one Go-Go Boots. Declaration Day was a different era and lineup of the band but that was probably the peak of that era and GGB is some of my strongest writing, plus the band just plays so well now. It's an album I have wanted to make a very long time and has been really fun to play behind.

OMC: Where did the band name come from?

PH: A drunken joke. Be careful what you name your band. You might find yourself answering about it 16 years later.