The Athens, Ga.-based group Drive-By Truckers has been writing about the Southern experience and its history for more than 20 years. Fronted by founding members Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, the band's latest record, American Band, is a collection of twangy rock underscoring blunt songs of anger and protest. The band intended to raise issues; it is their aim to get people thinking about their views on race, in addition to many other pressing topics: income inequality, gun violence, police brutality, Islamophobia, and the plague of suicides and opioid abuse.

Members of the band Drive-By Truckers join us in the studio to play a bit of a stripped-down set.