broken mic

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (Muscle Shoals, Alabama)
AltCountry/Americana/Southern Rock

Jason Isbell made his mark in music with the Drive-By Truckers as a songwriter and guitarist, playing and writing alongside Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley. He joined the band in 2001, while they were on tour in support of their third studio album, Southern Rock Opera. Isbell’s credits with the Truckers include playing on the albums Decoration Day, The Dirty South and A Blessing and A Curse, as well as writing such songs as “Decoration Day”, “The Day John Henry Died” and “Lookout Mountain”, to name just a few. But he left the band in April of 2007, following his divorce with bassist Shonna Tucker.

Three months after leaving the Truckers, Isbell would release his debut solo album, Sirens of the Ditch, which featured the legendary session musician, Spooner Oldham. Although the album also features most of the members of his former band, including his ex-wife, it lacks the heavy arrangements and abstruse lyrics that the Truckers were known for. It wasn’t as easy as you would think for Isbell to establish his own name, but he struck gold when he put together a band called the 400 Unit, and released the follow-up earlier this year, entitled Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit.

The 400 Unit includes former Son Volt keyboardist Derry DeBorja, renouned guitarist and visual artist Browan Lollar (who created the album’s artwork), Jimbo Hart on bass and Chad Gamble on drums. Catch Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit at MidPoint on Thursday, September 24 in the Topic Design Tent at Grammer’s, located at Walnut and East Liberty Streets.

Check ‘em out if you’re into: Drive-By Truckers, Son Volt or Justin Townes Earle

Listen to Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit on MySpace

Check out some of Browan Lollar’s artwork here