Jason Isbell

On Wednesday night, some friends and I attended the Jason Isbell concert at Headliner's. It was a terrific show -- and longer than I expected. The venue holds just under 700 people and it was packed with fans.

However, this was the first time I had seen Isbell fronting his own band, though I did see him twice when performing in the Drive-By Truckers. I blogged about one of those shows back in 2006.

The Isbell song "Outfit" was a highlight of that Truckers show and became something of a running joke on Wednesday night. Isbell told the crowd that he played "Outfit" every night, but that he never played it when someone in the crowd yelled out the song title. Of course, fans had been calling for it throughout the night -- and continued to do so after his warning.

I only own one Isbell CD -- "Live from Alabama" -- but this "Southeastern" show offered several songs from his new recording, including "Super 8," which has now been stuck in my head for a couple of days.  It doesn't appear that this show featured his full band, the 400 Unit.

Holly Williams, grand-daughter of Hank (and half sister of Hank III) was the warm up act and she was OK. Her sound was fine, but I didn't find much of distinction in her music.


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