Here We Rest

From his time with the Drive-by Truckers, it was obvious Jason Isbell possessed some special talents. They're in full effect on his latest, Here We Rest, a combination of sharply defined character studies and rugged roots rock that more than a few have declared one of the best albums of 2011.

Isbell and his band, the 400 Unit, invade the Parish Saturday night. Here’s part of a recent telephone conversation I had with him, discussing Alabama pride and the politics of bad decisions.

Geezerville: The album has been getting some very positive reviews. How do you react to them?

Jason Isbell: I’m happy when I get good reviews. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t care at all. I’ve gotten really good at ignoring the bad ones. But it’s never something I’ve had to deal with a whole lot. It depends a lot on where it comes from though. There are a lot of people who I trust more than … Pitchfork, let’s say.

G: One of the things I find attractive about the new disc is its variety of styles. “Codeine” may be as country as you’ve ever gotten. Was there a conscious effect to branch out a little with this one?

JI: It wasn’t something that we started out to do. I feel like I always start out to make a rock & roll record that’s really loud fast and fun and it never ever happens that way. I grew up with my family playing gospel and traditional country songs. I feel like I’ve never really embraced my roots that way. But it wasn’t on purpose. I just wrote a bunch of songs and anything as far as themes or production really went to serving the song. It pisses me off when someone writes what should be a country song and turns it into something totally different. So we just went with it.

G: The new songs are populated with the downtrodden, folks affected by the recent recession who can’t seem to get back on track. What attracted you to them as subjects for your songs?

JI: There are a lot of different levels for being out of control for those folks. It starts out when they lose a job or a relationship that’s been important to them for a long time and it continues from there. It eventually snowballs into them making really bad decisions, but sometimes I think that the only thing a working class person in Alabama has control over right now is bad decisions. That’s a terrible situation. I noticed that and it bothered me a lot.

G: Is there such a thing as Alabama pride? I mean, Texas has it going off the charts, but I was listening to the song “Alabama Pines” and wondering if people there are proud of the state, it’s different parts and what it represents.

JI: There definitely is, particularly in the part of Alabama where I’m from, the Muscle Shoals area, Northern Alabama. Especially the musicians, the people who make soul music or rock & roll music. Right now it’s really great because we’ve got a lot of different acts coming out of that area that are doing really well. There’s John Paul White of the Civil Wars and the Secret Sisters who are making a name for themselves and we’re all really proud of where we’re from.