Next month, onetime Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell, along with his 400 Unit, is releasing a self-titled album. We're told the opening track "Seven-Mile Island" is "an oblique eulogy" to Alabama harmonica player Topper Price. It's also a story about:
[A] failed father, a birthing mother, an island on which banished Native Americans congregated, a place where Jason and his dad used to go to collect arrowheads.
There's much more than that -- the story comes alive in the details, the concrete towers and airstream trailers -- so pay attention.
Jason Isbell - "Seven-Mile Island" (MP3)
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit is out 2/17 via Lightning Rod.You can get additional sounds at Myspace and on the road:
02/12 - Birmingham, AL @ Workplay %
02/14 - Florence, AL @ Shoals Theater %
02/17 - Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre #
02/18 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earl #
02/20 - Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre #
02/21 - Richmond, VA@ The National #
02/22 - Harrisonburg, VA @ The Pub #
02/24 - Boston, MA @ TT the Bears $
02/26 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
02/27 - Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live $
02/28 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe $
03/01 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club $
03/02 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom $
03/04 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern $
03/05 - Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place $
03/06 - Columbus, OH @ The Rumba Café $
03/07 - Cincinnati, OH @ Southgate House $
03/08 - Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel # $
03/13 - Louisville, KY @ Headliner's $
03/14 - Nashville, TN @ The Mercy Lounge $
03/18 - 22 Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/24 - Memphis, TN @ The Hi-Tone !
03/25 - Little Rock, AR @ Sticky Fingerz !
03/26 - Oklahoma City, OK @ Wormy Dog Saloon !
03/28 - Telluride, CO @ Sheridan Opera House !
03/30 - Flagstaff, AZ@ Green Room !
03/31 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress !
04/02 - Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland !
04/03 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent !
04/04 - Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp !
04/05 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir !
04/06 - Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern !
04/08 - TBD
04/09 - Aspen, CO @ Belly Up !
04/10 - Vail, CO @ The Sand Bar !
04/11 - Denver, CO @ The Bluebird !
04/12 - Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads !
04/14 - Lincoln, NE@ Knickerbockers !
04/15 - St. Paul, MN @ The Turf Club !
04/16 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon !
04/17 - Chicago, IL @ Double Door !
04/24 - Auburn, AL @ Strutting Duck (Outdoors)
04/25 - Oxford, MS@ Double Decker Arts Festival (3:30PM)
% w/ Sons of Roswell
# w/ Benji Hughes
$ w/ Deer Tick
! w/ Justin Townes Earle
[Photo by Allison V. Smith]
