Jason Isbell Reunites with Ghosts of His Past

Out May 15 via Southeastern Records/Thirty Tigers, Reunions is Jason Isbell’s seventh full-length studio album and fourth with his band the 400 Unit: Derry deBorgia (keys), Chad Gamble (drums), Jimbo Hart (percussion), Sadler Vaden (guitars) and Amanda Shires (fiddle). Produced in Nashville by the superhuman Dave Cobb, it assembles 10 new original songs by Isbell, and features background vocals from David Crosby and Rival Sons’ Jay Buchannan.

“There are a lot of ghosts on this album,” offers Isbell. “Sometimes the songs are about the ghosts of people who aren’t around anymore, but they’re also about who I used to be, the ghost of myself. I found myself writing songs that I wanted to write fifteen years ago, but in those days, I hadn’t written enough songs to know how to do it yet. Just now I have been able to pull it off to my satisfaction. In that sense it’s a reunion with the me I was back then.”

The band’s touring cycle is current set to kick off in late May, with two nights at Atlanta’s Roxy scheduled for June 11 and 12.

Photo by Alysse Gafkjen.