Album Review: Live from the Ryman by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Since Jason Isbell left the Drive-By Truckers in 2007, he and his backing band the 400 Unit have released a live EP (2008's Live at Twist and Shout), a full-length live album (2012's Live from Alabama), a concert video (2014's Jason Isbell: Live at Austin City Limits), and a limited-edition live in the studio EP dominated by covers (2017's Live from Welcome to 1979, a Record Store Day release). So is there really any compelling reason for Isbell to give us yet another live recording? One listen to 2018's Live from the Ryman, recorded during a six-night run of shows at Nashville's legendary Ryman Auditorium, does bring one good reason to mind -- Isbell and his band are an unusually good live act, and what they do communicates very well after the fact. Unlike Live from Alabama, Live from the Ryman was recorded in the wake of Isbell's breakthrough with 2013's Southeastern, and the set list was drawn from that album and its two follow-ups, 2015's Something More Than Free and 2017's The Nashville Sound.

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