By Ryan Johnson
Since leaving the Drive-By Truckers in 2007, Jason Isbell has toured relentlessly, releasing three records as a solo artist, including 2011’s excellent “Here We Rest,” an album deeply rooted in a sense of place and which should be required listening for anyone interested in the Muscle Shoals revival.
The Alabama native brought his workingman’s brand of country soul to the Bluebird Theater on Saturday to the delight of an exuberant, near-capacity crowd. Sure, the venue misspelled his name (twice!) on the same marquee, but the slight didn’t get Isbell down. He good-naturedly tweeted his promise to “put on a great show tonight at the Bluebeard in Danver’s Colorado!”
And he did.
For two solid hours, Isbell lead his excellent backing band, the 400 Unit, through an eclectic and crowd-pleasing set of songs every bit as blues and gospel as they were rock and roll.
The new material, especially “Go It Alone” and “Alabama Pines” sounded right at home with older favorites “Outfit” and “Goddamn Lonely Love” — songs written during Isbell’s Drive-By Truckers days.
Later in the set, the 400 Unit proved their worth by rounding out the sultry soul sound of “Candi Staton’s” “Heart on a String” as Isbell struggled with a shorted out pedal board. With his backing band at the helm, Isbell calmly re-wired and finished out the song with a soulful solo even Eddie Hinton would have been proud of. Jason Isbell don’t need no stinkin’ pedals.
Isbell closed with a solo electric version of “TVA,” a song that tells of a family living, working, and most of all struggling to get by in the south. In the end, their fates are all tied together by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which allowed them to “work for an honest day’s pay” thanks to public works projects like the Wilson Dam.
“TVA” never made a proper Drive-By Truckers release. That we get to hear it in an intimate venue like the Bluebird should be reason enough for any fan to be grateful Isbell decided to go at it alone.
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Ryan Johnson is a freelance videographer, lousy guitar player, and a social media strategist at .
Christine Cool is a Denver photographer and a new contributor to Reverb.
