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NFT: Jason Isbell kicks ass...

Davisian : 7/24/2014 9:30 pm
Discuss

He really fucking does.  
drkenneth : 7/24/2014 9:33 pm : link
He's a throwback. "Southeastern" is brilliant. I need to see him next time he come to NY/NJ.... Funny dude on Facebook as well.

Also: His interview on Mark Maron's podcast is a must listen (as well as Patterson Hood). Talks about his issues and great music discussion.
Well...  
manh george : 7/24/2014 9:47 pm : link
he has certainly kicked the Drive-by Truckers' asses.

The link is from when he was their lead and primary songwriter, before they had the clever idea of firing him. The claim is that the parting was amicable. It wasn't.
Link - ( New Window )
saw him last night at the Ogden theatre in denver  
Davisian : 7/24/2014 9:53 pm : link
He was opening for the hard working Americans and fuckin dominated the night.
Isbell certainly kicked ass...  
manh george : 7/24/2014 9:58 pm : link
in the Americana Award nominations. Album, artist, song.


Link - ( New Window )
RE: Well...  
drkenneth : 7/24/2014 9:59 pm : link
In comment 11780749 manh george said:
Quote:
he has certainly kicked the Drive-by Truckers' asses.

The link is from when he was their lead and primary songwriter, before they had the clever idea of firing him. The claim is that the parting was amicable. It wasn't. Link - ( New Window )


He never was DBT's "primary" songwriter. Hood and Cooley have always split duties (Cooley has a bunch of songs on English Oceans). Isbell was writing great songs for them no doubt, but he had a huge booze & coke issue, was 15 years younger than Hood/Cooley, and was married to Shona Tucker (who was in DBT at the time)...They divorced. I think Hood had good reason to boot him.

Per Isbell's own words (on Maron podcast)...He felt he was just as much part of the band as Hood/Cooley, and didn't want them to tour while he went to rehab. They decided to split. They had issues, but are cool now (they all played together a few weeks ago).
I stand...  
manh george : 7/24/2014 10:01 pm : link
(or sit, actually) corrected.
who  
chris r : 7/24/2014 10:02 pm : link
?
Jason  
JB in BB : 7/24/2014 10:05 pm : link
Isbell.
manh....No worries.  
drkenneth : 7/24/2014 10:05 pm : link
If Isbell ever re-joined DBT, it would be unreal. DBT's current lineup is fantastic (Jay Gonzalez plays guitar, pedal steel & keys).

Saw them with The Hold Steady at The Stone Pony a few weeks back...Both kicked ass. Great show.
Flying Over Water on Conan  
Defenderdawg : 7/24/2014 10:28 pm : link
"

From the sky the highway's straight as it could be

A string pulled tight from home to Tennessee

And still somehow those ditches took a better part of me

From the sky the highway's straight as it could be



Take my hand, baby we're over land

I know flying over water makes you cry

Been in the sky so long

Feels like a long way home

But I can't for the life of me say why..."
Link - ( New Window )
He's a Leonard Cohen-like poet, moved 1000 miles south.  
manh george : 7/24/2014 10:41 pm : link
Quote:

A heart on the run
Keeps a hand on a gun
It can't trust anyone
I was so sure
What I needed was more
Tried to shoot out the sun
In days when we raged
We flew off the page
Such damage was done
But I made it through
'Cause somebody knew
I was meant for someone

So girl leave your boots by the bed/we ain't leavin' this room
Til someone needs medical help or the magnolias bloom
It's cold in this house and I ain't goin' out to chop wood
So cover me up and know you're enough to use me for good

Put your faith to the test
When I tore off your dress
In Richmond all high
I sobered up
And I swore off that stuff
Forever this time
In the old lover's scene
I thought it'd be me
Who helped him get home
But home was dream
One that I'd never seen
Til you came along

So girl hang your dress up to dry/we ain't leavin' this room
Til Percy Priest breaks open wide and the river runs through
Carries this house on the stones like a piece of driftwood
Cover me up and know you're enough to use me for good.


God, that is good shit. Who writes like that anymore?

The story of his recovery, and this song, linked.

Link - ( New Window )
Every year on the first day of summer a friend of mine  
j_rud : 7/24/2014 11:18 pm : link
has a house party. Two years ago Isbell played his yard for about 40 people. This summer it was John McCauley from Deer Tick. Good freaking times. Also agree with whoever was talking about a drop off with DBT once they parted ways with Isbell. In some ways it was like Dirk Lance leaving Incubus and the effect it had on their songwriting.
This I can agree with you on.  
mikeygiants : 7/24/2014 11:51 pm : link
Isbell has been fucking amazing since Decoration Day came out in 2003. I don't know the specifics behind his fallout with DBT other than the divorce and his abuse issues. I always assumed that he was at odds with Patterson Hood, he was clearly the better lyricist and song writer. By 2006 A Blessing and A Curse featured one Isbell tune.
Check out Live From Alabama with the 400 Unit. It is a great album with some DBT throwbacks. Amazingly his sobriety and life changes have allowed him to refine his craft and develop the perfection you find on Southeastern.
A true American troubadour  
SB : 7/25/2014 12:16 am : link
... I saw a solo show of his last year in NYC and it was amazing. His latest album is also great. IMO DBT hasn't been nearly as good since he left.
Davisian,  
winoguy : 7/25/2014 7:39 am : link
one of your best, most coherent posts ever!
Dvisian, thanks for the thread  
Bill in UT : 7/25/2014 7:50 am : link
Never heard of him before. Good shit
Good stuff.....Although,  
drkenneth : 7/25/2014 8:36 am : link
I think some are underrating Hood/Cooley. The new album "English Oceans" is great. I look at DBT with Isbell is an embarrassment of riches- Most bands don't have of Hood/Cooley/Ibell caliber. DBT had all 3 at one time.

Isbell didn't even play on "Southern Rock Opera" (he joined the band to tour for the album).

Isbell is amazing, and "Southeastern" MAY be one of the greatest albums I've ever heard, but to act as if DBT are nothing without Isbell is plain wrong.
like Chris  
santacruzom : 7/25/2014 9:11 am : link
my first question, which I'd have kept to myself, was "who?" and I was partly afraid I was clicking on a baseball thread.

However, I genuinely asked that question merely because I'm unfamiliar with the name and have, thanks to this thread, read enough about him to seek him out, instead of trying to infer that he must not be worthy of my sophisticated attention.
drkenneth is spot on  
chiefgiant40 : 7/25/2014 9:13 am : link
Hood and once again Cooley are the main writers behind dbt. Isbell was great with them but he needed to straighten out. Southeastern is about his recovery and is fantastic. Dbt is still going strong as well.
Southern Rock Opera was a masterpiece as well  
mikeygiants : 7/25/2014 9:30 am : link
no one is going to argue with that. That is the one DBT truckers album complete from start to finish. Most of the others are hit/miss in my opinion. Gangstability favorites Steve McQueen/When Henry Drinks but the rest of the album... solid stuff mixed in with raunchy garage rock. Pizza Deliverance is much of the same (Bulldozers and Dirt, One of These Days). The Isbell albums are up there. I think they suffered after Isbell left for whatever reason, their next two albums were not great. I've enjoyed their last two albums more since Shonna Tucker left.

Oh and there has to be somewhat of a Ryan Adam's influence on Southeastern. Isbell toured with him before releasing the album and he was supposed to produce the album but backed out. Can we also mention that his wife is smoking hot?
.  
winoguy : 7/25/2014 9:33 am : link
Was waiting for someone to mention his wife, she is gorgeous!
Miss him in DBT  
Gap92 : 7/25/2014 9:41 am : link
But still love both acts. Haven't seen him live solo yet, hope to change that soon.

One of my favorite memories of seeing DBT live, was watching him lead them on the Stones' "Moonlight Mile" for the encore. Amazing.
Hey, I still love DBT  
SB : 7/25/2014 10:34 am : link
but somehow the addition of Isbell to the band really raised the level of Hood's and Cooley's songwriting IMO. They haven't come close to the form they showed in Decoration Day, Dirty South or Blessing until their latest album (which is very very good).

Maybe it was creative tension, who knows? But Brighter, The Big To-Do and Go Go Boots were all pretty meh IMO. Especially Hood's offerings on those releases. Hood's songs on English Oceans are excellent though.
Amanda Shires is a nice!  
drkenneth : 7/25/2014 12:31 pm : link
I like.
RE: Miss him in DBT  
drkenneth : 7/26/2014 8:56 am : link
In comment 11781011 Gap92 said:
Quote:
But still love both acts. Haven't seen him live solo yet, hope to change that soon.

One of my favorite memories of seeing DBT live, was watching him lead them on the Stones' "Moonlight Mile" for the encore. Amazing.


Thanks for this! Here it is...Awesome.
DBT (W/Isbell)- "Moonlight Mile" - ( New Window )
both isbell and DBT are in the top 10 of rock groups active today imo  
J Merkin : 7/27/2014 4:25 pm : link
Seen Isbell twice and DBT once in the last year...got to see Isbell just after Southeastern came out in a club that holds 300; stood on the floor maybe 20 ft from the stage and was unquestionably the best concert of the 50 or 60 i have been to in my life.

Now Isbell is coming back in Nov playing at a 3000 seat theatre. the 300 seater days are gone.

No doubt in my mind he is the greatest songwriter alive...a true poet with lyrics.

that being said, DBT are damn good even without jason. zip city, let there be rock, carl perkins' cadillac, sands of iwo jima. then off the new one...when walter went crazy is my personal favorite but the entire album is fantastic. patterson's solo record last year was also outstanding.

for a great read about DBT you need to check this out from Grantland:
first hand account of DBT - ( New Window )
I first learned about Isbell on the PBS show Nashville 2.0 ...  
manh george : 7/27/2014 7:34 pm : link
last winter, linked. It also included many other familiar artists, such as Rosanne Cash, Mumfgord and Sons, the Avett Brothers, the Alabama Shakes and Emylou Harris, and some others I had never heard, like Shovels and Rope (fabulous), Carolina Chocolate Drops, the Mavericks (spectacular), the Lumineers and the Milk Carton Kids.

Also Some I hadn't thought of as Americana, like Dwight Yoakim. It also made clearer the link between Americana and American Roots music. Unfortunately, I don't think there is a tape of the show available; you have to find it in bits and pieces.
Link - ( New Window )
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