{"id":3450,"date":"2011-08-18T23:15:02","date_gmt":"2011-08-19T06:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3450"},"modified":"2011-08-18T23:15:02","modified_gmt":"2011-08-19T06:15:02","slug":"jason-isbell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/jason-isbell\/","title":{"rendered":"JASON ISBELL"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

JASON ISBELL<\/h1>\n

The feeling, the fever, the folks, the fiddles, a farewell and the 400 Unit<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Jason Isbell is not feeling well. \u201cI\u2019m always kind of glad to get sick at home,\u201d he says optimistically, \u201cbecause I don\u2019t want to mess with it when I\u2019m on the road.\u201d He\u2019ll have to get out of his sickbed soon, like it or not\u2014he and his backup group the 400 Unit have just completed their new album, and a series of high-profile gigs awaits. The album\u2019s title, Here We Rest<\/em>, is more than a little ironic given Isbell\u2019s current condition, but the title has nothing to do with R&R\u2014it\u2019s the original motto of his home state of Alabama, where he was raised and still resides. It\u2019s there he found the inspiration for his latest set of songs, among some of the people hardest hit by America\u2019s economic meltdown. \u201cYou have to pay attention to the folks around you,\u201d Isbell says. \u201cThe best stories come from people who are miserable. There\u2019s a lot of worth in what people say\u2014in bars, at ballgames\u2014just regular people who aren\u2019t by definition creative.\u201d<\/p>\n

The weathered Here We Rest<\/em> is relatively low-key compared to the fire and fury of Isbell\u2019s previous albums. Fiddles, accordion and acoustic guitars dominate the proceedings, and on songs like \u201cAlabama Pines,\u201d \u201cCodeine\u201d and \u201cTour of Duty,\u201d it\u2019s easy to imagine Isbell and his bandmates\u2014keyboardist Derry deBorja, bassist Jimbo Hart, guitarist Browan Lollar and drummer Chad Gamble\u2014hanging out on a back porch on a Sunday. \u201cThe arrangements were in service to the songs themselves,\u201d Isbell explains. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a concerted effort by the band to make a more rootsy record, but once the songs were there that\u2019s what they asked for. We just tried to have a good time recording a bunch of sad songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, Isbell owes his career to the fact he\u2019s a son of the South. An early association with some of the region\u2019s most prominent players led to an introduction to fellow singer-songwriter Patterson Hood and an invitation to join his band, the Drive-By Truckers. A six-year stint with the Truckers found him contributing to three albums prior to his amicable departure in 2007. \u201cIt was like stepping off the edge,\u201d Isbell recalls. \u201cIt\u2019s almost like having a kid\u2014you may not be prepared, but it doesn\u2019t really matter. What has to happen just happens.\u201d He doesn\u2019t regret his decision. \u201cWhen something works and I know how much I put into it,\u201d he says, \u201cit feels really good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2013Lee Zimmerman<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JASON ISBELL The feeling, the fever, the folks, the fiddles, a farewell and the 400 Unit Jason Isbell is not feeling well. \u201cI\u2019m always kind of glad to get sick at home,\u201d he says optimistically, \u201cbecause I don\u2019t want to mess with it when I\u2019m on the road.\u201d He\u2019ll have to get out of his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[2409,1807,10156],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3450"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3452,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3450\/revisions\/3452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}