Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.
With his new album, Here We Rest, Jason Isbell is finally done being the guy who used to be in the Drive-By Truckers. Isbell spent five years with the popular Southern rock crew before he split to pursue a solo career in 2007. While Isbell’s songwriting prowess immediately stood out during his time with the Truckers, he’s used his solo work to craft a broader musical palette. Varied taste comes from his upbringing near Muscle Shoals, Ala., once known as The Hit Recording Capitol of the World, being home to the legendary FAME Recording Studio where Wilson Pickett recorded “Mustang Sally” and Aretha Franklin cut “Do Right Woman.”
On Here We Rest, his third album under his own name and second with his band the 400 Unit, Isbell writes about getting reacquainted with home. His songs tell stories of characters fighting to stay afloat among the rural hardships of a depressed economy, be it through the acoustic highway ballad “Alabama Pines,” the country waltz of “Codeine,” the juke joint groove of “Never Could Believe,” or the Appalachian stomp of “Tour of Duty.”
How did taking time off to get reacquainted with Alabama affect your songwriting? I reduced my touring schedule in 2010 and finally took the time to get back in touch with the people I grew up with, so home was on my mind when I started writing. It immediately came out in the songs. I was spending time with people whose lives were more normal than mine—people who got up and went to work everyday and worried about getting their bills paid. I started to understand their concerns more than I had in the recent past, because I’ve essentially been on the road for the last 10 years.
You still live in the Muscle Shoals area. What is this storied music town like today? Culturally, it could be a whole lot better. There are still a lot of good studios and places to record, but we’re still working toward developing a live music scene. It’s hard, because a lot of the laws prevent you from opening a venue. Financially, people are pretty frustrated. They’re not in control of their lives, and that appears to be the situation in a lot of small towns.
With your three subsequent solo albums, your sound has become a lot more genre inclusive. Why do think that is? I listen to a lot of different kinds of music. I think I would be bored if I just played one kind. If you put a lot of different kinds of songs on an album, you can reach a wider audience. I really enjoy country and rock ‘n’ roll and everything in between. I would attempt hip-hop, but it wouldn’t be any good.
How have you adjusted to becoming a solo artist and a bandleader? I don’t mind coming up with material. I’ve always written a lot without a problem. Really the hardest thing for me is singing through an entire set. Now it’s on me to keep the crowd entertained, and when you’re tired, living on the road, that’s not always easy. I’m learning to defeat that.
Have you settled into a permanent group with the 400 Unit? I don’t have any plans to do anything different. I’m not a businessman with a plan for where I want to be in five years. I just want to make good music that’s written well and played well. Things are working really well with this band, and I’m lucky to be surrounded by such great players. We’ve known each other for a long time—since before I knew the Truckers guys—and played together in different situations for many years. As long as the level of comfort goes up as our ages do, I think we’ll be fine to do this for a long time.
Was it hard to create your own musical identity, while constantly being referred to as a former member of the Drive-By Truckers?
I just have to ignore that. I’m happy about what I accomplished with that band, but a musician’s identity comes from the media. I’ve never thought about my own identity. I’m just out here trying to write songs that don’t suck.
It’s no secret that bluegrass and beer go well together, but not many bands get their very own namesake brew. Virginia-based bluegrass outfit The Steel Wheels will be so lucky this month when Blue Mountain Brewery unveils Steel Wheels ESB. The small craft brewery, which sits in the scenic shadow of Hump Mountain in Afton, Va., has hosted a number of memorable Steel Wheels shows and decided to pay tribute to one of its favorite bands with a traditional English style beer augmented with an extra hoppy kick. The ESB will be available at the brewery on August 27, when the Steel Wheels will christen the craft suds with a live show.