Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit with The Sons of Roswell
Jason Isbell may still be young, but he's packed an enormous amount of
musical experience into his 28 years. Growing up in a family of
musicians, he absorbed everything he heard and began channeling it into
guitar at age six and piano at 12. For the past six years, Isbell was
one of three front men for the critically acclaimed Drive-By Truckers
(DBT)-and although fans may have been shocked by his leaving the band
in April, once you hear his solo debut Sirens Of The Ditch (which was
co-produced by Isbell and DBT's Patterson Hood) it will only confirm
that Isbell has his own unique voice.
Sons of Roswell 8:00 PM
Since their formation in the summer of 2005, Sons of Roswell has been on a rocket ride.
The band steadily toured the eastern US, and released their self
titled debut album in March 2007 to rave reviews. They received praise
for being an act with a familiar sound, yet not sounding exactly like
your run of the mill Rock n' Roll band.
The band comprised of Kevin Keenum, Jay Burgess, Corey Keenum and
Stephen Akridge has proven to be a captivating Rock act. And since a
recent shakeup in the line-up, Sons of Roswell has finally returned to
its original style that listeners grew to love.
The band spent most of 2008 recording and touring, sharing stages
with the Avett Brothers, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, and playing the
Bonnaroo Arts and Music Festival. Their Bonnaroo performance was
captured by the Our Stage Video Crew and featured on the festival
website.
Jason Isbell 9:00 PM
Jason Isbell may still be young, but he's packed an enormous amount
of musical experience into his 28 years. Growing up in a family of
musicians, he absorbed everything he heard and began channeling it into
guitar at age six and piano at 12. For the past six years, Isbell was
one of three frontmen for the critically acclaimed Drive-By Truckers
(DBT)-and although fans may have been shocked by his leaving the band
in April, once you hear his solo debut Sirens Of The Ditch (which was
co-produced by Isbell and DBT's Patterson Hood) it will only confirm
that Isbell has his own unique voice. Musicians joining Isbell on the
album include DBT's Shonna Tucker (bass) and Brad Morgan (drums) with
cameos from Patterson Hood, his father David Hood, Spooner Oldham, John
Neff and more.
Recorded over the past four years at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals
(Aretha Franklin, Duane Allman, Otis Redding), Sirens Of The Ditch is a
diverse collection of songs that incorporates elements of rock, blues
and soul music into a heartfelt mix of songs that favor piano and pedal
steel over buzzing guitars-although, don't worry, there's a fair share
of overdriven amps as well. "A lot of old soul musicians came through
here in the late '60s and '70s and helped define the Muscle Shoals
sound," the lifelong Alabamian explains, "so that influence was always
in my environment, but on this record I really tried to capture that."
I think in a lot of ways these songs are different than the stuff
I wrote for the Truckers," Isbell explains from his home in Muscle
Shoals, Alabama, a few days before leaving for a solo tour supporting
alt-country legends, Son Volt. "Usually when I write, it's pretty
obvious if I'm writing a Truckers song or I'm writing a song for some
other purpose," he continues. "Sirens Of The Ditch is more of a
power-pop record than what the Truckers would normally write. The songs
are more hook-oriented and they're not necessarily as story-driven.
While driving rock numbers like the opener "Brand New Kind Of
Actress" evoke Isbell's previous band, there's a remarkable amount of
variance inherent on Sirens Of The Ditch. For example, "Chicago
Promenade" is a heartfelt, piano-driven ballad that's a paean to the
past as much as it is a hopeful glance toward the future; "Hurricanes
& Hand Grenades" is a classic Muscle Shoals soul track that
showcases Isbell's tender tenor; and the acoustically driven "In A
Razor Town" continues the folk tradition pioneered by artists like Pete
Seeger and Woody Guthrie, but recontextualized through Isbell's
decidedly pop paradigm.
Although Sirens Of The Ditch may be more tender musically, that
doesn't mean the lyrics are any less striking that what Isbell has
penned in the past. "There are definitely some political overtones on
this record," Isbell explains, clearly referring to the song "Dress
Blues." "I'm really proud of that song because it seems to affect
people in a certain way," Isbell elaborates. "It was one of those where
you sit down and the story was already there, so I just told it the
best way I knew how."
Essentially, that statement is as good as any to describe what
Sirens Of The Ditch is all about. "I guess I tried in some ways to
write a record that sounded more pop-oriented, but still talked about
darker issues," Isbell summarizes. " I can't help it, that's just want
I'm drawn to."