Jason Isbell – Sirens of the Ditch (INTERVIEW)

In 2001, when the Drive-By Truckers needed to re-bolster their sound after the departure of guitarist Rob Malone, they called on a fellow Alabamian, Jason Isbell, who in five and a half years became one of the group’s songwriting assets and most popular players.

This past April, Truckers guitarist/singer Patterson Hood announced via the band’s Web site that Isbell would depart the group, describing the separation as “amicable” and urging fans to support future Truckers and Jason Isbell efforts.

Postings on Isbell’s MySpace page at the time, however, seemed to suggest a parting of ways not quite so comfortable.

“I am not in the Drive By Truckers anymore. Go figure. I wish them luck. I will not answer questions about it,” he wrote, ending with a somewhat cryptic “If I could change it…I would.”

DBT has since added guitarist and pedal steel player John Neff, who started collaborating with the Truckers as early as 1998’s Gangstabilly but until this year had not become an official lineup addition. The band also announced that no less than Will “Spooner” Oldham (Neil Young) would join them throughout 2007 on keyboards. Isbell’s ex-wife, Shonna Tucker, remains the group’s bassist.

As for Isbell, he’s untethered and seems to be enjoying his new direction. A solo album we’ve been hearing about for a while,Sirens of the Ditch, finally drops from New West on July 10, and he will also kick off a tour with a new group, the 400 Unit, the day before. The group, which includes Isbell’s Muscle Shoals pals Jimbo Hart, Ryan Tillery, and Browan Lollar, will hit major U.S. markets through the end of August, wrapping up in Chattanooga on August 31.

Recording the songs that comprise Sirens was a priority for Isbell long before he left the Truckers, as evidenced by the fact that most of his former band-mates, including Hood (who co-produced), Neff, Tucker, and drummer Brad Morgan all appear. The setting was FAME recording studios in Muscle Shoals, a temple whose legend is what people refer to when they speak of the Aretha, Otis, Allman, and the gallery of other classics that were cut there. Both Oldham and Patterson’s father, David Hood, also appear on Isbell’s album.

Sirens gets under your skin, deeper and deeper with repeat listens, and better still if you go it as best you can without the sound of Isbell’s Truckers output in your head. It’s way less country and Southern gothic than a pensive, rockier flavor you might
expect with Neil Young, or alt-country staple Richard Buckner, or even recent Ryan Adams. Moving balladry and swamp rock dominate.

Glide caught up with Isbell the week before he was scheduled to head back out on the road.

Like in many of his songs, Isbell is an economist with words–garrulity doesn’t seem to suit him. He said nothing to suggest that the split with his former bandmates either was or wasn’t what Hood described as “amicable,” but it’s clear he’s looking forward.

When did you know it was time to leave the Drive-By Truckers?

Exactly the time I did, I guess. But I still don’t know if that was the right time or not.

Whether it was or not, what was it that led you to the decision?

Well, I had my own record coming out for one. But I can give you the same answer I give everyone. Those guys just don’t want to tour as much anymore—they all have families and kids to look after, and I suppose if I had that I probably wouldn’t want to be on the road 250 nights a year, either. But I like being on tour.

 

What about playing with both the Truckers and with your own band?

We did discuss that last year. It would be impossible to do either of them justice.

How did Sirens of the Ditch begin its development?

Well, it’s been about two and a half years, I think. I didn’t get to do it all at once because we were doing so much with the Truckers, and I worked on it between Truckers tours. Shonna, Brad, and Patterson all play on it. Mike Dillon plays on it—I’ve done some solo shows with him–and many others.

And your bandmates in the 400 Unit? They’re all old friends of yours, right?

They’re all from here yes, and have been in many different bands. I’ve known Jimbo since we were 15 years old, and we actually live together. He and Ryan played with Gary Nichols for a while. I think they’re all into it.

You were writing a lot of the material on Sirens while still with the Truckers. What was it about these particular songs that told you they didn’t belong on a Truckers album, but rather something different?

I was in a different frame of mind when I wrote these, thinking about different things that weren’t the subjects the Truckers usually deal with. There’s not a lot of Southern mythology—heroes, villains, and all that—in these songs, though there’s plenty of
South on them. It’s like when you come home after work and you turn your music on, you decide how loud you want it before it’s just right. That’s about as scientific as I can get with this, I think.

Is there a particular song on Sirens to which you would direct someone if that person wanted a song that captured what you and the 400 Unit sound like?

It depends on the person, I guess. If it were someone pretty similar to me, I’d give him “Try” or “Dress Blues.” They’re both songs really like playing, and “Try,” at least is a rocker. “Dress Blues”for someone who likes more country songwriting.

I know “Dress Blues” and “Chicago Promenade” in particular have very personal meaning for you.

They all do. But “Dress Blues” is about a guy I went to high school with. He was in the Marine Corps and he was killed in Iraq. He was about to turn 22 and had a baby on the way, and he didn’t get to come back to see that. We weren’t close friends, but I knew his family. The song is really about the way those circumstances affect small town life, rather than specifically about my political views on the war, though that’s a part of it, too.

And “Chicago Promenade” is about your grandfather?

It is, yes. He was sick for a while. I didn’t get to be home for his funeral, so I was upset on the road and dealing with it. We were in Chicago around that time—the gig was at Schubas—and I wrote it there and it was just about what was on my mind at the time.

One of the first opportunities fans had to see you with the 400 Unit was earlier this year, when you were out on the road with Son Volt. Any particularly memorable nights? What do you take away from that tour?

Most nights were exceptional, and people seemed to show up early to see us most of the time. I was really happy to get this band into those rooms so soon off the bat. The Son Volt guys were great, and we’re actually going to take [keyboardist] Derry [De Borja] on the road to play with us in July.

I’m sure you get asked often about your hometown, given its storied musical legacy. How different, I wonder, is the perspective from a musician from Muscle Shoals versus all the rest of us who know it from legend or all the artists that have traveled to make music there?

I’m sure it is different. But what was much more important for me was the way we were treated by the people—Spooner Oldham, everybody—who have made so much music there. I don’t want to say they took us under their wing, but they definitely encouraged us as young musicians. It was really important for me to get to know them as people.

Your chosen openers for the tour are Justin Townes Earle and Centro-matic. What do you like most about them?

I think few people know who Justin is besides that Steve is his dad. But he’s a great songwriter and he connects with the crowd pretty well. And Centro-matic are one of my favorite bands in the world. They’ve been out with the Truckers a bunch of times.

Do you have any plans for the rest of the year? Will you look toward another album at all?

I do want to do another album, and I’m thinking about it, but I don’t have a timeframe. We’ll be going back out in the fall after taking a couple of weeks off, and do some fall festivals, too. We need to get a full cycle of touring done first.

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