“No, where’d you hear it?”

“Oh, they’re playing a few tracks on Outlaw Country on Sirius.  There’s one song with a line that goes something like ‘I’m taking it home to go it alone again.’”  Then he said a lot of other shit while I scrambled to look up the phone number of the only available place to shop in this little town, the sub-par conglomerate that I won’t even name.  They had two copies, so I snagged them both.  One for him (to rub it in, see?) and one for me to keep in the wrapper and fondle, while I “tested” the gift copy.  Cover art by Browan Lollar.  Birds, this time.  Beautiful, as always.

Opening Track:  ”Alabama Pines” – perfect!  5 stars.

2nd Track:  ”Go It Alone” – Every bit as appropriate and touching as promised.  Love this song.

3rd Track:  ”We’ve Met” – Very convincing.  Very Jason.  So good.

4th Track:  ”Codeine” –  “One of her friends has taken her in and given her Codeine.” That’s the refrain, but let me give you a sample line from one of the later verses:

“If there’s one thing I can’t take,
it’s the sound a woman makes,
about five seconds after her heart begins to break.
That’s one thing I can’t take.”

Can this man write or what?  And his voice sounds as sweet and real as ever.  And the band sounds better than ever.

Don’t miss this album.  I almost did.  I was so pissed about not hearing of it first I went straight out and bought the whole SiriusXM car thingy and fancy home speaker unit, too.

So, thank you, Jason Isbell for HERE WE REST.  I’m resting here with a depleted checking account, thanks to you, but I love your songs, man.

You all know by now my penchant for owning the physical disc.  Even when times are hard.  I’d love to tell you it’s because my high morals won’t allow me to copy OPD’s (other people’s discs) but, well, I just really like to peel off the wrappers and pop out the pretty inserts and stuff. 

And, I do like to cuss the postal system when it’s late, cuss the state of our society because there are no independent music stores – you know, get myself a little worked up.  Then, when I finally get my hands on the actual item, I run my fingers over the lyrics booklet, read the dedication and thank yous and all before I listen from track one to the very end.

From the moment I sussed out the info that Steve Earle was releasing "Townes", I knew I’d have to have that one.  It’s a forever keeper.  And, Guy Clark’s "Sometimes the Song Writes You" was getting multiple rave reviews before I’d ever heard of it, so I internet-ordered that.  Kris Kristofferson’s "Closer to the Bone" kept me camped out by the mailbox for a while.  Well worth the frostbite, though. 

Guy’s song "The Guitar" gets my vote for song of the year.  I’ve played it for everyone I know.  I ordered the double-disc-deal of Kristofferson.  I knew I’d beat myself up if I didn’t and sure enough, the live bonus disc was a delightful trip through an Ireland concert and Silver Tongued Devil tripped me all the way back to the seventies.  And Kris commented (I love to hear him talk) that his very young son had told him that was NOT a good song.  "Why?"  "You’re just blaming your problems on somebody else!"  Brilliant kid!  Yes, that IS what the 70′s were all about!

Digress?  No, details are important.  Ask Simone Felice.  Keep an eye on those Felice boys.  I think they’re up to something.  Check out The Duke and The King’s "Nothing Gold Can Stay."  Then find the backstory on that.  Simone was one sad mofo when he wrote some of these songs.  The other Felice Brothers put out "Yonder is the Clock" this year.  I like every album they’ve released and this one was no exception.  It’s fantastic.  I picked up a copy for a friend.  If you miss the opportunity to see this band live, you might die with an incomplete musical education.  Kinda like the live George Thorogood show, only not.  Not at all.  Just go see them.  Then all the songs make sense.

Hey, that Roseanne Cash chick is serious!  What a voice!  “The List” is a gently put together album of oldies that her daddy said should be saved.  She saved them.  Really nicely.  And, her harmony singers are no slouches, either.

Ah, what else?  Them Truckers!  On Austin City Limits!  What about that, huh?  And the release of The Fine Print was a delight.  Finally!  Beautiful!  And Wes Freed’s artwork rocks.  Read the reviews of The Fine Print on this site and a hundred others and you won’t find anything but praise for this perfectly lined-up collection of DBT songs old and new – funny (Mrs. Klaus’ Kimono-Patterson) and sad (Uncle Frank-Cooley) and touching (Thank God for the TVA-Jason Isbell). 

And speaking of which, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s self-titled, self-artworked CD/Album deal at the first of this year was a super standard-setter for all that followed.  What a pretty piece of work this is! 

2009 also brought the previously threatened Murdering Oscar by Patterson Hood..  He puts his all into all he does and does it with a devilish, literate sweetness that you just don’t accidently acquire.  Nobody had to teach Patterson how to don the rock star attitude.  He throws himself into the songs like real rock is his to save and his alone.  He’s up on that stage championing his cause more nights of the year than not and still knocks you upside the head with one brilliant song after another that he somehow finds time to scribble between his entertaining updates on the websites (alabamaasswhuppin.com and ninebullets.org) and all the worthy causes he supports..  (see Nuci’s Space).

Okay, what else?  The Gourds "Haymaker!.  And don’t miss Ryan Bingham’s Roadhouse Sun or anything that Gordy Quist and his Band of Heathens put out.  Oh, yeah, and Todd Snider’s new "Excitement Plan".  He should really be our national ambassador of good sense.  Him and McMurtry.

Y’all keep rockin’ on for another year.  I hear Deer Tick’s puttin’ out something good.  And Slobberbone is apt to make an appearance….somewhere…
I’m going to put on this new Drive By Truckers on Austin City Limits in 2009 CD and tell myself "it’s good to be alive", even though the economy sucks and we’re all eating Ramen way too often.  

The new self-titled album is a beautiful work of art. No, really, I bought the package deal from their website and got the album and an autographed CD. My record spinner is out of commission right now, but I had to have that big ol’ album, just for the cover art. Browan Lollar did it. Talk about multi-talented, this band’s got that wrapped. Jason’s just a wizard at everything.

The 400 Unit is Browan Lollar, Derry deBorge, Jimbo Hart and Matt Pence. They’re no slouches. Look them up, if you haven’t. Those of you who like to cherry-pick songs (which I still find kinda weird) try "Sunstroke" first. If you love it, try "Good" too. If you don’t think you love either of ‘em and you just wanna drink beer and get in touch with your inner cowboy, give a listen to "Cigarettes and Wine". If that don’t get ya, I’ll cry in my beer for you.

It’s not ‘Sirens’ and it’s not the live show, but it sure is full of truth and wisdom, beautifully delivered. It’s an easy album to listen to all the way through and just get lost in. Layered. Nice.

Nice work, Jason. It was a pleasure to meet you at the Larimer Lounge and chat with (I’m convinced) the nicest guy in rock n’ roll today.

Can’t wait to see you in Denver! Rock the fuck out of the Bluebird!

Gracey

Steve Earle and Allison Moorer are in love and in New York City. Washington Square Serenade. What can I say that hasn’t been said already? I absolutely love this album. It’s a beautiful collection of individual songs, but it’s a cohesive piece of art, too. I think it probably is my very favorite this year. It’s one of several Steve Earle albums that will be thrown in the ‘tote that will tote only the essential CDs to that deserted island’ when it comes time to go.

Tommy Womack released There, I Said It! early in 2007. It’s a wonderful, heartwarming gift from the perpetually tormented Tommy. It’s what passes for happy in his world. And I understand that. The year’s early releases tend to be overlooked sometimes. If you liked Circus Town or Positively Na Na, you’ll love this album. Some of the songs, like “Alpha Male and the Canine Mystery Blood” and “Nice Day” show a dangerously-close-to-grown-up version of this ‘40 something’ manchild. But, I’ve always thought he was a genius on the verge of either self-destruction or sweet success. So cool to see when it manifests itself as the latter.

Definitely my #1 pick of the year.

You remember the drummer for The Band? (who sang The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down?) Well, he’s older now. Levon Helm, who hadn’t crossed my mind in years, nearly blew said mind with his beautiful CD release, Dirt Farmer. Who’d ‘a thunk? It’s old-timey. It’s twangy. It has beautiful harmonies contributed by his daughter, Amy Helm and Teresa Williams. It’s Arkansassy…….It has a Carter family cut and a Buddy and Julie Miller cut. He says he’s just playing some of those old ‘back porch’ tunes. So sit yourself in an old rocking chair and listen to this one. What are you waiting for? This may be your best bet of the year…..

Jason Isbell. Well, yeah! He’s out on his own and has broken the mold. I don’t know what genre this music is. He opened for Cracker on their last tour. He held up his fair share of Drive By Truckers for several years and can throw down that rockin’, southern, fist-pumping shit with the best of them. But his recently released Sirens Of The Ditch is something apart and something very special. It could easily be the best album you will find this year. I would have to have this CD on that deserted island, for sure. Don’t take my word for it. Go to your my-space-tube-dot-com thingy and check out “Dress Blues”. If you aren’t totally sold, well, there’s no hope and Santa doesn’t love you.

Bettye LaVette released Scene of the Crime this year. The title refers to her return to Muscle Shoals and the studio that did not release her album many, many years ago. She got by with a little help from her friend, David Barbe this time. “Before The Money Came”, the song that explains that whole story, was penned by Patterson Hood of the Drive By Truckers for Bettye, with help by Bettye. When asked, she swore that she was not a song writer, but an interpreter of songs. So some of the expressions she used during their conversations in the studio are liberally sprinkled over this song, giving her co-writer street-cred.

She has a lot to say. She knows how to pick a song that works for her. She works for her songs. “Somebody Pick Up My Pieces” put me in a puddle of tears on the floor. I just want to listen to it again. It could be my favorite CD ever.

Gracey

He took charge of the stage and his band, the 400 Unit, and put on quite a show from the very beginning. By the second song, I had forgotten that he had ever consorted with any Truckers at all. Starting out his performance with "Down in a Hole" (which I always thought was called “Trouble” before I bought the album) was brilliant and surprising. Then he jumped right into "Try". ("You can’t make a woman sleep alone, but you try don’t you? You can’t make her stay her ass at home.")

The band seemed to really enjoy themselves with a rockin’ "Brand New Kind of Actress"and a couple more from his Sirens of the Ditch album released earlier this year. Then he reached back in the DBT archives for one. Surprise! I couldn’t believe it when he whipped out "Decoration Day". What an unexpected treat!

And "Outfit"! Everybody’s favorite. "Outfit "is the song I quote to answer the “Who in the hell is Jason Isbell and where do you find these guys?” question that I get a lot from my country-music-listening friends. C’mon, you know, Drive By Truckers? Jason wrote “Don’t Call What You’re Wearin’ an Outfit, Call Home on Your Sister’s Birthday”. It’s one of those good songs that’s just good, I don’t care who you are. (Like Guy Clark’s Stuff That Works)

I know I digress – but I’m tired and still excited about this show. Jason’s band is wonderful and so is he and the only way that performance could have been better is if he’d been headlining and we could have gotten more, more, more. He opened for Cracker. Next time he comes through, he’ll be headlining, I betcha.
Cracker was sounding pretty damned good, too, but then I got really drunk and fell down and got hauled out of there by security. I still love the Fox. It’s just the greatest place to see a show. But if you fall down, get up really quick!