Album Review: Live from Alabama by Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit

Not long after Jason Isbell released his first solo album, 2007's Sirens of the Ditch, he released an EP, Live at Twist and Shout, which documented an in-store performance by Isbell and his band the 400 Unit at a Denver, Colorado record shop. Just four years later, Isbell has delivered another live disc, Live from Alabama, a full-length album culled from a pair of August 2012 concerts, and if one wonders why Isbell seems so keen to record his live sets, one listen will tell you why: Isbell and his band are at their best in front of an audience, and Live from Alabama demonstrates Isbell's impressive gifts as a singer, guitarist, songwriter, and frontman. While his work with the Drive-By Truckers was impressive, he's grown tremendously as a singer since striking out on his own, and with a crowd to cheer him on, Isbell delivers the goods on Live from Alabama, sounding richly soulful on "Heart on a String," rueful and evocative on "In a Razor Town," and full of bluesy swagger on "The Blue.

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Since Jason Isbell emerged as the pup head to the Drive-By Truckers’ southern rock Cerberus about a decade ago, it’s been hard not to attach the phrase “promising” to the guy. Isbell’s first released recordings — amounting to just six songs on the band’s Decoration Day (2003) and The Dirty South (2004) — possess a narrative clarity that some songwriters take a career to develop. The rasp and drawl to his tenor makes songs about John Henry and archetypal Southern family feuds sink in like hard-learned life lessons, as much from the gut as the sad-funny advice from dad on “Outfit” and the sad-sad touring meditations on “Danko/Manuel”.

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The timing of ex-Drive-By Trucker Isbell’s first full concert album — there was a previous live EP — couldn’t have been better. He just won the Americana Music Awards and Honors song of the year for “Alabama Pines,” and his 400 Unit backing trio — here augmented by a three piece horn section for a few tunes — is in fighting form. Proudly captured raw with no overdubs during two performances from his titular home state, this 72 minute gig is everything a live album should be.

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Jason Isbell’s way with words — taking up home, family, the South, life at the margins of love or means — was proven during his time with Southern rockers Drive-By Truckers, and it’s only gotten stronger over the course of three solo records. His Trucker and post-Trucker material are equally represented on this new live offering. Observers have noted that Isbell has moved toward a quieter, country-infused sound on his own; but he and his band know how to get loud.

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