Odds are, Americana artist Jason Isbell is riding pretty high right now. At the 2018 Grammy Awards on Jan. 28, Isbell came out two for two, winning both awards he was nominated for: Best American Roots Song, “If We Were Vampires,” and Best Americana Album, “The Nashville Sound.”
So things are bound to get a little crazy in Charm City when Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit descend upon the Lyric next week. Named for a psychiatric ward in Alabama, Isbell’s backing band comprises musicians from the Muscle Shoals area of the state, not far from Isbell’s native Green Hill.
But Isbell’s down-home pedigree doesn’t tell the whole story. Though he cut his teeth at the Grand Ole Opry (no, really), he eventually joined southern rock band Drive-By Truckers before finding his home in Americana. Since parting ways with the Truckers in 2007, Isbell has released six studio albums, three of which credit the 400 Unit. (He also went two-for-two in the same Americana/roots categories at the 2016 Grammy Awards.)
The Feb. 6 show at the Lyric will feature opener James McMurtry, a folk/Americana singer-songwriter on the scene since 1988. (And who, as a point of interest, is the son of famous Western novelist Larry McMurtry, author of “Lonesome Dove”).
For more on Isbell and the 400 Unit, click here.
