John Ford

Drive By Truckers: Another Athens band, the Truckers have gone from cult heroes to superb songwriters in a few years. "Brighter Than Creation's Dark" is filled with elegant songs such as "Monument Valley" (an ode to filmmaker John Ford), along with harrowing snapshots of modern ... morelife gone wrong on "You and Your Crystal Meth." They capture a moment on "The Righteous Path," a song about struggling through hard times, when Mike Cooley sings, "We got messed-up minds / for these messed-up times." Amen, brother.

(Robb D. Cohen/Retna Ltd.)