Making my case for Jason Isbell.

Jason Isbell is one of the most exciting people on the rock/alt-country/Americana scene right now. I first became aware of Isbell as I began to really 'discover' the Drive-by Truckers, his former band. As I did so, I realized that he wrote and sung all of the the tunes that stuck out to me. It doesn't take much more than a sit down with 'The Day John Henry Died' and 'Never Gonna Change' to realize that this is a special voice in American rock and roll. And then he leaves.

I was very concerned with this news. Singer/songwriters who leave popular bands, in my opinion, tend to follow two routes: that of Paul McCartney and that of Paul Simon. Thankfully it seems that Isbell followed the latter. Both of his solo albums are absolutely rock-solid, and totally interesting to music fans from all sides of the field. "Natural" is probably the first word I would use to describe Isbell's music. In an era where people sing like George Jones and then speak like Bruce Springsteen - hey there Bon Jovi - Isbell is refreshingly authentic. The song above, "In a Razor Town," is my favorite cut of his first album. Enjoy.