Jason Isbell - very late to the party

darcym

So this month I stumbled across some music I'd bought a few months ago, maybe even a year ago for one album as a leap of faith but never actually listened to properly.

I sat down and listened to two Jason Isbell albums, what a song writer, lyrically and musically really really strong, playing and singing is good, but the songs, really impressed, went out and bought the whole back catalogue to go through the next week. 
Everyone I talk to seems to know about him and it's just I'm really late to the party, is this common is he as well known as people make out and I've just totally missed him ?

Any of you guys like him ?

stickyfiddle

I also love him, but only really knew he existed since The Nashville Sound was released. I'm not so keen on his earlier stuff beyond the odd song, but TNS is my favourite album of the year by a country mile.

Jason

Love him, I've followed him from when he joined DBT, then on to his solo career. I saw him at Symphony Hall a few weeks ago in Brum, its pretty big (and posh) so, yeah, he is well known

darcym

stickyfiddle said:

I also love him, but only really knew he existed since The Nashville Sound was released. I'm not so keen on his earlier stuff beyond the odd song, but TNS is my favourite album of the year by a country mile.

this is the exact album that got me hooked, the bar is set VERY high with it.

darcym

Jason said:

Love him, I've followed him from when he joined DBT, then on to his solo career. I saw him at Symphony Hall a few weeks ago in Brum, its pretty big (and posh) so, yeah, he is well known

I missed him in the UK ! damn it

stickyfiddle

darcym said:

stickyfiddle said:

I also love him, but only really knew he existed since The Nashville Sound was released. I'm not so keen on his earlier stuff beyond the odd song, but TNS is my favourite album of the year by a country mile.

this is the exact album that got me hooked, the bar is set VERY high with it.

Completely agree. It's a stunning record. Have you seen his set from the Ryman Auditorium the other week? Fantastic performance.

Starts at 7:00 ish

markblack

Saw him at the roundhouse recently. Great performance. I like his new album. But Somthing more than free & southeastern are the ones for me.

I think i saw that deer tick are supporting him soon. Now that's a line up. 

markblack

Great version of Last of my kind...



And his rig rundown. Bit out of date now. When I saw him I don't think he played a Duesenberg at all. His guitar player Sadler Vaden is no slouch either.

IvisonGuitars

Love him. Seen the last 2 tours, Southeastern is a classic IMO, i'm not that keen on The Nashville Sound to be honest but I appreciate i'm in the minority. 

Winny_Pooh

Got into him in the last month. Nice stuff, seems like a cool guy too.

BigMonka

I only know a few of his songs. The main reason I’ve heard of him is that I like Ryan Adams and a lot of fans like both even though the artists seem to have a mixed relationship (something about Isbell writing a song about Adams’s marriage break up and divorce)

Fuengi

Agree with @miserneil not quite as keen on TNS as his previous two albums. 

Southeastern was the one that got me hooked there are some incredible songs on that album. Yvette particularly deserves repeated listening in a darkened, silent room. 

Thought  Something More Than Free was an excellent follow up. 

IvisonGuitars

Fuengi said:

Agree with @miserneil not quite as keen on TNS as his previous two albums. 

Southeastern was the one that got me hooked there are some incredible songs on that album. Yvette particularly deserves repeated listening in a darkened, silent room. 

Thought  Something More Than Free was an excellent follow up. 

There are a couple of lines in Live Oak of Southeastern that had me blubbing like a baby:

Well I carved a cross from live oak

and a box from shortleaf pine

And Buried her so deep

she touched the water table line

That was it for me. The lyrics on Southeastern as a whole are magnificent too.

darcym

miserneil said:

Fuengi said:

Agree with @miserneil not quite as keen on TNS as his previous two albums. 

Southeastern was the one that got me hooked there are some incredible songs on that album. Yvette particularly deserves repeated listening in a darkened, silent room. 

Thought  Something More Than Free was an excellent follow up. 

There are a couple of lines in Live Oak of Southeastern that had me blubbing like a baby:

Well I carved a cross from live oak

and a box from shortleaf pine

And Buried her so deep

she touched the water table line

That was it for me. The lyrics on Southeastern as a whole are magnificent too.

I think thats the key for me thats taken me back, his playing / voice / performance is great, but his song writing you could move them into any other quality artist in any style or scope and they would still be excellent songs, the song writing is key, Jason performs and records them very well, but it would be easy to swap out the players/style with most others and they would be equally as strong.

stimpsonslostson

I'm also a big fan. I loved DBT till he left, and much prefer his solo output to theirs since the split. 
My favourite song is Flying over Water. I think he's probably one of the best singer songwriters out there- I'd rank him with Born to Run era Springsteen. 
I think it helps that his band are awesome. Amanda and Jimbo in particular. 

Here are a couple more videos of him. 
Tiny Desk- intimate acoustic


House of Blues- bigger & louder

LuttiS

Big fan here..

My wife was a fan for years, she saw Jason in the drive by truckers when she was part of a crowd of less than 20. Apparently the DBT got asked to leave to make way for a disco...

She got me into him and his Something More Than Free album really struck something with me and is one of my all time favourite albums. 

I've seen him three times now, each time in a bigger venue,, truly and incredible musician. 

People who don't like The Nashville Sound as much as southeasten/something more than free should remember that TNS is Jason Isbell & the 400 unit - It's not just him writing for it, so not technically part of his solo sound.

Alterlifeson

LuttiS said:

People who don't like The Nashville Sound as much as southeasten/something more than free should remember that TNS is Jason Isbell & the 400 unit - It's not just him writing for it, so not technically part of his solo sound.

Thats why i couldn't find it on Spotify! Gunna give it a go tonight. I really liked Southeastern so I've got high hopes

LuttiS

@Alterlifeson if you liked southeastern I'd check out something more than free if you haven't already before Nashville sound, it's more in line.