WUMB Album Of The Month: Jason Isbell, Something More Than Free

Here at WUMB we have started a new tradition of a monthly Album of The Month on-air giveaway. This month we are giving away copies of Jason Isbell's forthcoming album, Something More Than Free. 

Something More Than Free is Isbell's fifth solo album(Isbell is a former member of Drive-By Truckers) and second released on his own label Southeastern Records. The record was produced by Dave Cobb who also produced Isbell's previous release, Southeastern. Something More Than Free with a full band at The South Emporium in Nashville Tennessee and features the themes of anticipation and celebration for the upcoming birth of his and his wife Amanda Shires' first child, due in September.

He is currently on tour through February of 2016 and recently played the Boston Calling Music Festival right here at our very own City Hall Plaza.

Something More Than Free drops on Friday, July 17th. We will be giving away copies all next week, the week of July 13th. Tune in to 91.9 in and around Boston or stream us online at WUMB.org for your chance to win!

More information on Jason Isbell can be found at http://www.jasonisbell.com/.

-Kendall Stewart

Jason Isbell at Boston Calling--May 24, 2015

Wow. Jason Isbell seems to be EVERYWHERE these days. He'll be down in Texas for Austin City Limits in a few weeks, Newport Folk in July, four dates at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium in October that are already sold out, and this past weekend he was right here in town at City Hall for fifth incarnation of the bi-annual The Boston Calling Music Festival.

It was one of the hottest days of the year so far when Jason Isbell took to the Boston Calling Jet Blue Stage. He and The 400 Unit (Chad Gamble, Saler Vaden, Derry DeBorja, Jimbo Hart) played to a medium-sized crowd, but a loyal crowd singing along and keeping a beach ball afloat over their heads. Out of the corner of my eye I couldn't help but notice a cluster of four college kids. At the start of the set they had their backs to the stage and were having their own conversation, but by the end they were transfixed and swaying just like everyone else.

Isbell's set--opening with "Stockholm" off of 2013's Southeastern--was a steady blend of his solo material as well as tunes from the six years he spent with The Drive-By Truckers.  One such track was "Decoration Day" the title song from the Truckers record from 2003.The song tells the story of a generations-long feud between two families, and Isbell wrote it three days after joining the band. He was only twenty-two. Songs from his solo repertoire included "Travelling Alone", "Flying Over Water", and "Cover Me Up" among others. Of course he sprinkled some new songs in the set as well including "24 Frames" and "Speed Trap Town" from  Something More Than Free, due out July 17th.
he closed out the set, though, with The Drive-By Truckers' "Never Gonna Change" which he graciously thanked the crowd for loving.

-Kendall Stewart

Albums you may have missed in 2011

I love it when people tell me that there’s “no good new music”. What a crock. That statement literally makes me laugh because there’s tons of it, you just have to dig a little bit. I think 2011 was an amazing year for new music…we were lucky to get great releases from established artists as well a plethora of brand new artists. In no particular order, here are some of the albums that blew me away for 2011 and should make some great listening if you missed them.

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit Here We Rest. Jason is a guitar player, singer, and songwriter formerly in The Drive By Truckers. This is his 3^rd album with his band The 400 Unit.

Sarah Jarosz Follow Me Down. The second album from this amazingly young and talented artist. How do you follow up a stunning debut? You top it with songs featuring players like Bela Fleck, Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan Dan Tyminski and Shawn Colvin.

Gillian Welch The Harrow & The Harvest. Always the perfectionist, Gillian took eight years to craft this beautiful and haunting album.

Mount Moriah self titled. A group that was new to me from North Carolina blending traditional and indie folk sounds. Great stuff.

Tinariwen Tassili The story behind this band is as good as their music. The members came together in the southern Sahara, and were forced into involuntary military service under Ghadaffi.

Laura Marling A Creature I Don’t Know. The third album from this (again) very young and talented singer songwriter. Her confidence soars on this album.

Ryan Adams Ashes & Fire. Ryan returns to his classic singer-songwriter with a touch of country vibe.

Robert Ellis Photographs. Robert is 23 years old and already a veteran of the Houston music scene. His new album is a concept piece…the first half of the album is more singer-songwriter/folk based while side two is his ode to the classic country he grew up with.

The Civil Wars Barton Hollow. Joy Williams and John Paul White’s stunning debut.

The Head & The Heart self titled. Another great debut by a young band from Seattle infusing folk with up tempo elements.

There were so many other great releases from bands and artists that you just knew were going to be good….Red Molly, The Jayhawks, John Hiatt and many more. These were the albums that really floored me, so if you missed them…give them a listen! Feel free to leave a message about the albums that really wowed you too!

Happy New Year, and here’s to hoping 2012 is as good as 2011 (at least in terms of music!).

- Jay Moberg