Do they look like truckers to you?

The southern rock outfit Drive-By Truckers — led by Patterson Hood, son of soon-to-be Musicians Hall-of-Famer David Hood of the infamous Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section — is back from its first European tour, co-headlining with Brooklyn-by-way-of-Minneapolis, Springsteen-like rollers the Hold Steady. And now they head out on the U.S. highway. Tonight they’re in Norfolk, Va., at the NorVa, Saturday in Charlottesville and Sunday in Baltimore, promoting their new album, Brighter Than Creation’s Dark, the “>Truckers” third full-length since they broke beyond the underground with their Southern Rock Opera in 2001. That double album is something of a song cycle following the career of Lynyrd Skynyrd to chart the demise of traditional Southern culture in the U.S. during the 1970s. Look around, though. Is it really gone? Look for them out on the road. No word yet of the handle of their tour bus driver.