If you’ve followed Jason Isbell’s career for roughly the past two decades, you’ve by now likely realized that there are two sides to the gifted songwriter and guitarist. On the one side, there is the prodigal Alabama son who put in his years of hard living and harder rocking with the Drive-by Truckers while amassing a catalog of gritty Southern gothic-noir before ultimately going solo and finding redemption (and major success). On the other side, there is the social media-savvy, fashionable character who runs with celebrities, stars in Martin Scorsese films, and now dates a famous young artist following a fairly publicized, much-gossiped divorce from his longtime wife and bandmate Amanda Shires. Finding the balance between the duality of Isbell can be tricky for a longtime fan, but luckily, he has made it mostly easy by sticking to his guns and releasing one quality album after another. His latest, the all-acoustic Foxes in the Snow, seems to lean towards the latter of these identities while carrying enough authenticity to impress longtime fans. On Tuesday, May 20th, Isbell did a fine job of putting his full self on display when his band the 400 Unit came through Portland, Oregon for a polished performance at the Keller Auditorium.
While Isbell released several excellent albums before and after Southeastern, the 2013 LP catapulted him into the big time and still contains many of his most beloved songs. Taking the stage in Portland, he opened with “Stockholm” to immediately pull the crowd into his world. The big-hearted, organ-laced country rocker “When We Were Close” followed before he steered back to Southeastern with a version of “Traveling Alone” that featured Sadler Vaden’s impressive guitar twang and vibrant three-part harmonies. The first part of the set felt quieter and slower, perhaps a reaction to the entire audience being seated. Songs like the tender Americana “Strawberry Woman” saw Vaden and Derry deBorja layering in slide guitar and accordion to accentuate the poignancy, while “Crimson and Clay” soared with its double drumming and Chad Gamble throwing in a Phil Collins-like breakdown. “Children of Children” was a highlight of the performance, an expansive Western epic reworked in modern fashion that showcased some of the strongest guitar playing of the night as Isbell unleashed a massive slide guitar solo to match the sprawling depth of the song.
Seeing the new tune “Gravelweed” performed right before the Truckers-era classic “Decoration Day” offered a contrast between the Isbell’s artistic identities, with one bordering on cheesy and personal while the latter’s grandiose tale of ghosts and father-son relationships transformed into a vehicle for Isbell to lay down a bluesy guitar solo before the band fully rocked out. Other new songs, like “Bury Me,” fit right in with Isbell’s best-known songs as the band gave it a bluegrass country-folk treatment before going back into rock and roll mode with Southeastern favorite “24 Frames.” “Ride to Robert’s” was also a standout new tune that shimmered with Isbell and Vaden’s intimate acoustic dueling. The set closed with “If We Were Vampires,” which felt especially eerie and personal considering Isbell’s recent divorce, and a triumphant and swaggering “This Ain’t It” complete with Isbell and Vaden sparring it out with explosive guitar solos.
The Jason Isbell of 2025 is polished and professional with some showbiz pizazz, but just enough Alabama twang to remind you where he came from. Onstage in Portland, Isbell and his always-tight band, with Annie Clements joining on bass, presented the kind of clean rock and roll that hits all the right emotional notes for his audience. There was a sense of safeness to it, yet it is also refreshing to witness an artist be so consistently dialed in as a songwriter, guitarist, and charismatic performer. Isbell also still knows how to have a little fun with his fans, as he did with a lively and spot-on cover of Bruce Springsteen’s “Cover Me,” perhaps teasing them after omitting his most requested song, “Cover Me Up,” from the setlist. He followed it with the vivid alt-country opus “King of Oklahoma,” closing out a solid two hours that succeeded in capturing both sides of Isbell and everything in between.
All photos by Greg Homolka
