HeAthens Homecoming is back: Drive-By Truckers take the 40 Watt Feb. 10–13

The band's winter run at the Washington Street room returns for four nights, opening Wednesday, Feb. 10 with Taylor Hollingsworth.

In Athens, February has a fixed point on the calendar. When the Drive-By Truckers post HeAthens Homecoming dates, people who've been going for years start sorting out which nights they can do. The 2027 dates are out, and the run starts on a Wednesday.

Drive-By Truckers play the 40 Watt Club Wednesday, Feb. 10 through Saturday, Feb. 13, 2027, according to the 40 Watt's schedule. Taylor Hollingsworth opens the first night. The venue's listings also name Crazier on Thursday and The Star Room Boys and Willi Carlisle on Saturday; a Friday opener wasn't clear in what we could see. The run was announced Oct. 14, and tickets are sold through the 40 Watt. If you've been waiting, check now — we couldn't confirm which nights still have tickets.

The Wednesday is the one this preview is about, and it's a good one to grab. Opening nights of a multi-night stand tend to have their own energy: the band is finding the room again, the crowd is the most committed, and the set is less predictable.

The Truckers are the obvious choice for a long homecoming. The band's story runs through Athens, and HeAthens Homecoming has been a recurring run for years — the band's own store has posters and shirts from earlier editions, including 2025 and 2026. Their catalog goes back to the late '90s, and their most recent full-band studio album, Welcome 2 Club XIII, came out on ATO in June 2022. Since then, the band has spent time on the road, including the 2025 Charm & Decadence Tour with Deer Tick, while Patterson Hood put out a solo record, Exploding Trees & Airplane Screams, on ATO.

Opening nights of a multi-night stand have their own energy: the band is finding the room again, and the crowd is the most committed.

The 40 Watt holds about 500 people, and that's what makes Homecoming different from a regular tour stop. A band that can play much bigger rooms chooses to spend four nights in a club where you can see everyone's faces from the stage. For a lot of Athens fans, that's the best way to see this band.

Taylor Hollingsworth is a good fit for the opening slot — a guitarist with Alabama roots who's played in the orbit of the band's broader Southern rock circle. Get there early.

A few notes: four nights means four sets of people competing for tickets. Downtown on a February weeknight is quieter, so parking and dinner beforehand are easier than on Saturday.

Whatever night you pick, you're getting a band that treats this room as home. For Athens, that's the point.

Sources: 40 Watt Club — Schedule (40watt.com); 40 Watt Club (40watt.com); Drive-By Truckers — official site (drivebytruckers.com); Drive-By Truckers store — HeAthens Homecoming 25 Poster (store.drivebytruckers.com); Drive-By Truckers store — HeAthens Homecoming 2026 Tee (store.drivebytruckers.com); American Songwriter — Drive-By Truckers announce new album, new track and tour dates (americansongwriter.com); Drive-By Truckers return with Welcome 2 Club XIII on June 3 via ATO Records — Spill Magazine (spillmagazine.com); Taylor Hollingsworth — Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)