A plug for my friends at Spirits in Alexandria:
On Friday night, they will be hosting Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, whose latest record has received rave reviews from Spin, Rolling Stone, and the Austin-American Statesman. Suffice it to say, this will be a great opportunity to hear an acclaimed, up-and-coming band in little ol’ Alexandria (Sort of “up-and-coming,” I suppose, considering Mr. Isbell is a member of the Drive-By Truckers). From Spin:
Southern rock is a minefield of rebel flags, drinking songs, and dudes yelling “Free Bird!” With Drive-By Truckers, singer-guitarist Jason Isbell learned to embrace some of those clichés; on his gritty, vibrant second solo album, he begins to transcend them. “However Long” personalizes working-class disaffection into a defiant anthem; stormy rocker “Soldiers Get Strange” is almost certainly the best tune ever written about post-traumatic stress disorder; and multiple tales of warm, lonely barrooms and the warm, lonely relationships they breed uncover new truths while traversing well-trod emotional terrain.
CenLamar 