During this split, Hood moved to Athens and began forming what would become Drive-By Truckers, "with the intent of luring Cooley back into the fold".

The album weaves the history of Lynyrd Skynyrd into a narrative about a fictitious rock band called Betamax Guillotine, whose story unfolds within the context of the South during the 1970s.

Southern Rock Opera was originally released independently on Drive-By Truckers' own Soul Dump Records on September 12, 2001, and garnered praise from fans and critics alike.

To meet the new demand brought on by, among other things, a four-star review in Rolling Stone, Southern Rock Opera was reissued by Mercury and Lost Highway Records in July 2002.

While Drive-By Truckers were touring in support of Southern Rock Opera, the band ran into a problem when they were left with only two guitarists (Cooley and Hood) following the departure of Rob Malone in late 2001.

[citation needed] It is another concept album, containing characters who are faced with hard decisions about marriage, incest, break-ups, revenge, murder, and suicide.

After touring throughout 2004 and 2005, Drive-By Truckers found their way to the Fidelitorium Recording Studio in Forsyth County, North Carolina, during late 2005.

The album sounds less like Lynyrd Skynyrd, and more closely resembles the bare-bones British rock of the early 1970s such as The Rolling Stones and Faces.

Tom Petty, Blue Öyster Cult, and Neil Young's influence on the band's sound is more prominent on this album, as well.

In 2006, Drive-By Truckers reunited, both on-stage and on-record, with Athens-based, Savannah-born pedal steel guitarist John Neff.

This stripped-down tour set the writing mood and style for the band's next release, 2008's Brighter Than Creation's Dark, a far more "swampy" and country record than its predecessor.

[11] After being released from New West Records, the Drive-By Truckers entered the studio throughout periods of 2009 and emerged with two albums' worth of material.

The Big To-Do further brought media attention to the band, resulting in their highest chart success, appearances on David Letterman and Jimmy Fallon's late night shows, and a scheduled tour opening for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers.

Along with John Hiatt, English band The Heavy and Alabama-based St. Paul and The Broken Bones,[12] they are the only musical act ever asked to play an encore on his show.

Based on the success of the single, the band decided to release a limited edition (2,500 copies) special 10-inch 45 with two new songs, "The Thanksgiving Filter"/"Used to Be a Cop", on Black Friday of 2010.

David Barbe replaced Tucker for their subsequent shows until Matt Patton of The Dexateens joined the band for their spring 2012 tour.

On August 3, 2013, Hood's Instagram account revealed the band had begun recording their next album at Chase Park Transduction in Athens.

[18] In November 2017, they released the politically charged single "The Perilous Night", showing a continuation of their increased focus on protest songs.

[1] On June 17, 2020, NPR published an opinion piece by Patterson Hood, wherein he apologized for the band's name and called it "a drunken joke that was never intended to be in rotation and reckoned with two-and-a-half decades later".

[23] The title derives from the venue where founding members Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley performed at the start of their careers.

[24] On March 21, 2024, Drive-By Truckers announced the "Southern Rock Opera Revisited 2024 Tour" which will feature full-length live performances of that album in the summer and autumn of 2024 for, per the band, "very likely the last time.

"[25] In 2007, Drive-By Truckers backed up Bettye LaVette on her comeback album The Scene of the Crime, which was released on September 25 on Anti Records.

On it, LaVette transforms country and rock songs written by Willie Nelson, Elton John, and Don Henley, among others, into devastating[according to whom?]

Potato Hole features a re-recording of the Cooley penned track "Space City", which originally was released on the album A Blessing And A Curse.

[63] The song "Ramon Casiano" is about the little known story of gun rights advocate and former NRA leader Harlon Carter, who shot and killed a 15-year-old Hispanic boy in 1931, but escaped incarceration.

[65] “Surrender Under Protest,” “Ever South,” and “Guns of Umpqua” examine generations of racial injustice in a country that "shoots first and asks questions later.

Band member and songwriter Mike Cooley recalled that "After the 9/11 attacks, Clear Channel put out that list of songs that their stations shouldn’t play.

The Red Scare, the War on Crime, the War on Terrorism, they’re just excuses for cracking down on anything the establishment finds objectionable.”[66] The follow-up album, The Unraveling, continues the band's political songwriting, with "Thoughts and Prayers" and "Babies in Cages" discussing the issues of gun violence and the Trump administration family separation policy directly.