Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/85450
Long-haul legacy As DIVERSIONS By Todd Dills Lynyrd Skynyrd's new "Last of a Dyin' Breed" is a testament to the on-highway roots of Southern rock. noted in a 2004 obituary to "Father of Southern Rock" Lacy Van Zant, for the men of Lynyrd Skynyrd, touring through the years "wasn't so different from trucking." Lacy was a long-haul driver and the father of Ronnie (Skynyrd's origi- nal front man) and Donnie (38 Special), as well as the current lead vocal, Johnny. The band is on the road to this day with performances attendant to the release of Skynyrd's new "Last of a Dyin' Breed." The title track runs hard in themes of the passing of generations of highwaymen and -women, of the real working people current Skynyrd guitarist Rickey Medlocke says are his band's favored subjects. "I'm one of those guys that likes to give acknowledgment to the guys and gals humping it down the highway for the betterment of everybody," Medlocke says. He grew up with the Van Zants and other members in Jacksonville, Scan the code to purchase the digital version of the new record on Amazon.com, or visit RoadrunnerRecords.com. Driving Lynyrd Skynyrd High Rock Lake, N.C.-based Dale Macon is not only the lead driver for Skynyrd's tour operation. "I'm a partner in the company," he says, pulling dry vans and some "drop-deck electronics vans" in a 2013 Volvo 780 powered by a Volvo D16. Macon got his start with Autumn artistry • Pennsylvania just east of the Ohio line and inward along the mountains. – Riley M. • Tennessee. – Casey S. • Driving along I-90 and I-94 in Wisconsin. – Tim E. • Football fi elds! – Dave S. 52 | Overdrive | October 2012 • Northern Michigan! – Tim M. • Blue Ridge Parkway. – Thomas F. • Interstate 91 northeast between Vermont and New Hampshire. – Bethany • Just about anywhere in the Appala- chians. – Raymond W. Fla., and played percussion in the band in the early 1970s. A 1977 plane crash killed three band members, and the band did not re-form until 1987. Medlocke rejoined Skynyrd in the mid-1990s. "It was like coming back to people that I'd really missed," he says. "It was an honor and a big privilege." music acts in the 1970s, doing sound and "driving truck to shows locally in North Carolina." In the 1980s, he worked with Metallica, U2 and Guns and Roses, among others, he says. He hauled for the first time with Skynyrd beginning in 1993 until Georgia-based company Night Moves went bankrupt, he says. Full-production company Special Event Services was doing the Hootie and the Blowfish tour in 1996 and wanted to start an affiliated trucking company. Macon's past with Skynyrd cemented the relationship and he's been driving for the band ever since. To view updated fall foliage: FoliageNetwork.net Weather.com/activities/driving/fallfoliage/ Where is your favorite area to view fall colors? Via Facebook.com/OverdriveTrucking Weather.com