Jason Isbell

Michael Jason Isbell (/ˈɪzbʊl/; born February 1, 1979) is a Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Green Hill, Alabama, in Lauderdale County. He is best known for his solo career and as a former member of the Drive-By Truckers for six years, from 2001 to 2007.

Isbell was born in Green Hill, Alabama, two miles from the Alabama/Tennessee state line, the son of interior designer mother Angela Hill Barnett and house painter Mike Isbell.

Isbell's mother was only 17 years old (and his father 19 years old) when he was born, and is the subject of a song, "Children of Children." Isbell's parents divorced, and he has two much younger half-siblings, Chantry Barnett and Emily Isbell.

Isbell grew up in rural North Alabama. His grandparents lived on a farm down the road, next to the school that Isbell attended; they looked after him while his parents were at work. His grandfather and uncle taught him to play various musical instruments, including the mandolin when he was 6 years old as it was easier for him to grip as a small child. They enjoyed gospel, bluegrass, and the Grand Ole Opry. In high school he played trumpet and French horn. Isbell's family would get together and play music every week, sometimes twice a week, which Isbell said has a lot to do with where he comes from and the family's focus on music. Isbell's paternal grandfather, who came from a musical family, was a Pentecostal preacher who played guitar in church. He spent his childhood attending both the Pentecostal church and the stricter Church of Christ, which permitted only singing (no musical instruments).

He started playing in a garage band and a country cover band when he was 14 or 15 years old with his friend songwriter Chris Tompkins. They played at Grand Ole Opry when he was 16.

Isbell attended University of Memphis, studying English and Creative Writing. He did not graduate.

When he was a teenager, Isbell said many musicians took him under their wing. Isbell got to know Drive-By Truckers co-founder Patterson Hood's dad and legendary session bassist, David Hood, because Hood was in the Florence, Alabama area and played around town on Friday and Saturday nights in restaurants and local bar and grills. By this time, Patterson and Cooley were older and had moved out of town. The young Isbell would go watch Hood others perform. It took a while but once he finally got up the nerve to tell them he played, they'd have him sit in with them, which resulted in friendship and mentorship.

Isbell submitted demos and eventually got a publishing deal with FAME Studios of Muscle Shoals, Alabama, when he was 21 years old. He stayed working for FAME until he joined the Drive-by Truckers.

Drive-By Truckers

Jason Isbell performing with Drive-By Truckers in Auburn, Alabama in 2005

After working as a songwriter, in 2001 at the age of 22, Isbell joined the rock band Drive-By Truckers while they toured in support of their album Southern Rock Opera. The band operates out of Athens, Georgia, where Isbell lived while with the Drive-By Truckers.

Patterson Hood recalls that he met Isbell through Dick Cooper, a mutual friend from Muscle Shoals. Hood already knew Shonna Tucker, and invited Isbell to join the Drive-by Truckers after he sat in with the group at an acoustic house party when guitarist Rob Malone didn't show up.

Isbell recorded and contributed many songs to the Drive-by Truckers for their next three albums, 2003's Decoration Day, 2004's The Dirty South, and 2006's A Blessing and a Curse. The title track of Decoration Day was revealed by Isbell in the 2014 Live from Lincoln Center concert to be a true story about his family members.

For most of his time as a band member Isbell was married to Shonna Tucker, who joined the band as a bassist (after Isbell). The two were part of the band's documentary, The Secret to a Happy Ending. The two later divorced.

On April 5, 2007, Isbell announced that he was no longer a member of Drive-By Truckers. The following day, Patterson Hood confirmed the break on the band's official site. In his letter to the fans, Hood described the parting of ways as "amicable" and expressed the hope that fans would continue to support Drive-By Truckers as well as Jason's solo efforts. Isbell had been with the Drive-By Truckers for six years.

Jimbo Hart (left) and Jason Isbell at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco, October 5, 2014

On June 15, 2014, Isbell teamed with Hood and Mike Cooley for a benefit at the Shoals Theater in Florence, Alabama. The sold out acoustic performance was the first time Isbell has performed with his former band mates since they split in 2007.

In a full-circle type of reunion, in August 2015, Hood joined Isbell onstage and played a couple of Drive-By Truckers songs together onstage in Hood's new adopted hometown of Portland, Oregon.

Solo work

Jason Isbell released his first solo album, Sirens of the Ditch, on July 10, 2007.

Emergence of the 400 Unit

Isbell's band, Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit, was primarily made up of musicians from the Muscle Shoals, Alabama area. The lineup was:

• Sadler Vaden, guitar - also of Drivin' N Cryin'
• Jimbo Hart, bass
• Derry DeBorja, keyboards - formerly of Son Volt
• Chad Gamble, drums - brother of Al Gamble

The band's name comes from the 400 Unit, a colloquial name for the psychiatric ward of Florence, Alabama's Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital, which is now named the Behavioral Health Center, or 1st North, and is located on the hospital's first floor. It was originally called the 400 unit because it was in a separate building from the main building's 3-story hospital. After renovation in the 1980s the name was changed.

Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit's eponymous album was released on February 17, 2009, on Lightning Rod Records. Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit was Isbell's second solo release and his first release with his band The 400 Unit. Matt Pence of Centro-Matic co-produced and engineered the record, as well as playing drums on the record.

Isbell and the 400 Unit released their second album, Here We Rest, on April 12, 2011, on Lightning Rod Records. The album was produced and recorded by the band. The song "Alabama Pines" was named Song of the Year at the 2012 Americana Music Awards.

In 2012, Isbell supported singer-songwriter Ryan Adams on his tour. Both played solo acoustic sets.

Solo records

On June 11, 2013, Isbell released his fourth solo album, Southeastern. Produced by Dave Cobb and featuring accompanying vocals by Kim Richey and Isbell's wife, Amanda Shires, Southeastern received overwhelmingly positive critical reviews, earning a score of 87 on Metacritic. Southeastern led to Isbell's clean sweep of the 2014 Americana Music Awards with Album of the Year, while Isbell was named Artist of the Year, and the song "Cover Me Up" was named Song of the Year. NPR rock critic Ken Tucker listed Southeastern at No. 1 on his top ten albums of 2013. Isbell's record received praise by artists like Bruce Springsteen and John Prine.

Isbell's music video for the song "Traveling Alone" features the Jackson House, a historic home in Moulton, Alabama.

In 2014, his song "Cover Me Up" was used as the Weather for the Welcome to Night Vale episode "Visitor."

Isbell's fifth solo record, Something More Than Free, was released on July 17, 2015, on Southeastern Records. Dave Cobb produced, continuing the partnership created with Isbell on Southeastern. They recorded the album at Nashville’s Sound Emporium studio with a full band. During the summer of 2015, Isbell was on a North American tour to promote the album, with four consecutive sold-out nights at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville at the end of October.

Isbell said that compared to Southeastern, Something More Than Free has a feeling of celebration, which reflects his upcoming fatherhood and a forward-facing momentum. One track on the record, "To a Band I Loved," is a love-letter to the band Centro-Matic, a now defunct band from Denton, Texas Isbell played with back in his Drive-By Truckers days.

Something More Than Free debuted at number 1 on Billboard Magazine's rock, folk and country record charts. Although he had had critical success in the Americana genre, this was the first time Isbell received such high ranking across genres. The album was well received winning two Grammy awards for Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Song (24 Frames).

In April 2016, Jason appeared on the BBC live-music show Later With Jools Holland singing "The Life You Chose," one of the standout tracks from his latest album Something More Than Free.

On May 11, 2016, Isbell, a four-time winner, was nominated for three more Americana Music Honors & Awards: Album of the Year (Something More Than Free), Song of the Year (24 Frames), and Artist of the Year. He won the first two, while Chris Stapleton won Artist of the Year.

On the importance of Isbell's Northern Alabama roots: "I definitely don’t feel like I would be the musician that I am, or the type of songwriter, had I not come from that particular place," he says now. "The soul music that came out of there, and a lot of the soul-influenced rock and roll and country music that came out of the studios in north Alabama in the '60s and '70s had a big influence on me." Isbell said that working at FAME Studios was everything to him, that it was a gateway towards the music that he wanted to play. In addition to citing Neil Young as a big influence, Isbell is a fan of singer-songwriter Ben Howard and guitarist Blake Mills.

Isbell married the singer-songwriter and violinist Amanda Shires, with whom he'd worked on and off for a decade, in February 2013, two days after they finished Southeastern. Musician Todd Snider married them. The couple had a baby girl, Mercy Rose, on September 1, 2015.

Isbell was previously married to Shonna Tucker, a fellow musician from the Muscle Shoals, Alabama community, and a former bass player from Drive-By Truckers. The two got married in 2002.

In February 2012, Isbell's wife, Shires, manager Traci Thomas, and Ryan Adams, did an intervention and got Isbell treatment at Cumberland Heights in Nashville. Isbell has discussed getting sober extensively, saying he drank Jack Daniel's and did cocaine during his time with the Drive-By Truckers in his late 20s—a time he does not remember very clearly. Southeastern, Isbell's 2013 solo album, is reflective of his newfound sober lifestyle.

Isbell has a tattoo on the inside of his left arm with a quotation from the lyrics of the Bob Dylan song "Boots of Spanish Leather." He said that the quote reminds him about the idea of salvaging things, that for him it evokes the idea of loss as well as learning and growing from the experience. During the 2015 Newport Folk Festival, Isbell cited Dylan as a huge influence on his writing.

Isbell has lived in Nashville, Tennessee since 2011. He is an Atlanta Braves fan and a Democrat.

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

Guitars

• Martin HD 28
• Duesenberg Starplayer TV Goldtop
• Fender Stratocaster
• First Act Custom Delgada w/ Bigsby
• First Act Custom Delia LS w/ Bigsby
• First Act Delia LS (standard fixed-bridge version)
• Gibson Les Paul Standard
• Gibson ES-335
• Reverend Buckshot
• Reverend Flatroc w/ Les Trem
• Harmony Archtop
• Fender Telecaster

Amps

• Sommatone Roaring-40 head & 2x12 Cabinet
• Magnatone Super Fifty-Nine

Other gear

• Marion Henry Guitar Pedals
• Mr. B's Bottleneck Guitar Slides
• POG electro-harmonix octave generator
• ZVex Box of Rock overdrive, Analog.man

• ^ Oz (5 April 2011). "An Interview With Jason Isbell – Here We Rest.". Hear Ya. Retrieved 27 March 2014. 

• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, June 14, 2011 - KEXP-FM (Seattle, WA)
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, October 26, 2012 - Daytrotter Studio (Rock Island, IL)
• Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, October 24, 2013 - Daytrotter, Big Light Studio, (Nashville, TN)
• Jason Isbell, September 10, 2013 - KEXP-FM (Seattle, WA)
• Jason Isbell, Neko Case, January 11, 2014 - Austin City Limits (Austin, TX)
• Jason Isbell: Moving Forward, April 11, 2014 - Live from Lincoln Center (New York, NY)

Americana Music Honors & Awards

The Americana Music Honors & Awards celebrate outstanding achievement in the genre of Americana. Isbell has won 6 awards out of 11 nominations.

Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards celebrate outstanding achievement in music. Isbell has won 2 awards out of 2 nominations.

• Weissman, Barr, Patterson Hood, Mike Cooley, Shonna Tucker, Brad Morgan, John Neff, and Jason Isbell. The Secret to a Happy Ending: A Documentary About the Drive-by Truckers. New York: ATO Records, 2011. (DVD of 2009 documentary)