Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit played the Paramount Theater Friday evening, his first visit to Washington State since the summer of 2024. Isbell released his 10th post Drive By Truckers album in 2025, ‘Foxes in the Snow’. The release is his first solo acoustic album and it has been nominated for 3 Grammy awards, including Best Folk Album.
This is probably the moment to acknowledge the fact that I am a fairly avid fan of both Isbell and the Drive By Tuckers, having seen both acts more than a handful of times. Isbell, born and raised in the Muscle Shoals region of Alabama, was a member of the Truckers from 2001 to 2007, his time with the band coming to an unhappy conclusion when he was asked to leave over concerns for his then struggles with addiction to alcohol and drugs. The singer/songwriter/guitarist began treatment for his illness in 2012 and has been candid about his journey toward sobriety, referencing both his struggles and successes in his music. Over the last few years he has mended his relationship with his ex bandmates in the Drive By Truckers, appearing with them onstage, including a recent televised performance on the Stephen Colbert show.
Isbell’s performance Friday evening was an intriguing and satisfying collection of songs drawn from his lengthy solo career with a handful of numbers he wrote and recorded with the Drive By Truckers. The show opened on a strong note with a full band version of one of the highlights of ‘Foxes in the Snow’, the seemingly autobiographical ‘Crimson and Clay’:
“guess the city didn’t kill me after all, the thing that nearly took me out was loneliness and alcohol, so I just put it down and walked away, and went back to the crimson and the clay”
Isbell’s band, the 400 Unit, is a road honed collection of stellar musicians, with special consideration going to his exceptional lead guitarist, Sadler Vaden (formerly of the much loved southern combo ‘Drivin and Cryin’). Vaden shone throughout the evening on electric and acoustic guitars and on mandolin. Both he and Isbell are formidable players and frequently square off for long and thrilling solo ‘battles’, seemingly relishing the opportunity to collaboratively improvise and create. They had many such opportunities to lock horns Friday night and the audience responded enthusiastically after each engagement.
One can’t help but notice and appreciate Isbell and the 400 Unit’s dexterity with and fondness for dense Southern Rock meets Crazy Horse style guitar centric jams. The connection was made abundantly clear Friday when the band launched the last of 3 rapturously received encore numbers, Neil Young’s ‘Like a Hurricane’. It was the perfect finale to an evening of thoughtfully conceived and well delivered rock & roll.
