Iowan wrote:

Clams wrote:

Iowan wrote:and these were the thoughts I posted on another board:

What?!? Are you cheating on us, Iowan?

It's a sports board with a lively music discussion.

Besides, you're all a bunch of dirty whores (said in Frank Reynolds fashion)

lively discussion about a lot of things...

4th&Five

Zip City wrote:

Iowan wrote:

Zip City wrote:Cumberland Gap = straight Ryan Adams influence. Could fit right in on Ryan's S/T record
Tupelo - Do I hear a little Lucinda influence?

I don't hear any of this.

Cumberland Gap is basically Gimme Something Good part 2

And Gimme Something Good was Go It Alone part 2

ford911 wrote:

Iowan wrote:
It's a sports board with a lively music discussion.

Besides, you're all a bunch of dirty whores (said in Frank Reynolds fashion)

lively discussion about a lot of things...

4th&Five

I think you know my call sign.

Good to connect the dots.

Nashville Sound is really growing on me. This is much better than SMTF.

Smitty wrote:"Chaos and Clothes" sounds like something off Love is Hell, and I think that's intentional.

"Cumberland Gap" sounds vaguely Springsteenish, but nothing at all like DRA; maybe it sounds like DRA what is shooting short of in his Springsteen phase.

I think you're dead on with the Chaos and Clothes being about DRA thing. Love Is Hell is referenced in it.

Iowan wrote:

Smitty wrote:"Chaos and Clothes" sounds like something off Love is Hell, and I think that's intentional.

"Cumberland Gap" sounds vaguely Springsteenish, but nothing at all like DRA; maybe it sounds like DRA what is shooting short of in his Springsteen phase.

I think you're dead on with the Chaos and Clothes being about DRA thing. Love Is Hell is referenced in it.

But to write a song about Mandy Moore leaving him? Ehhhhhhh, kinda weird

Zip City wrote:

Iowan wrote:

Smitty wrote:"Chaos and Clothes" sounds like something off Love is Hell, and I think that's intentional.

"Cumberland Gap" sounds vaguely Springsteenish, but nothing at all like DRA; maybe it sounds like DRA what is shooting short of in his Springsteen phase.

I think you're dead on with the Chaos and Clothes being about DRA thing. Love Is Hell is referenced in it.

But to write a song about Mandy Moore leaving him? Ehhhhhhh, kinda weird

I'm not commenting on the merits of it, just saying I agree with Smitty's theory.

Iowan wrote:

Smitty wrote:"Chaos and Clothes" sounds like something off Love is Hell, and I think that's intentional.

"Cumberland Gap" sounds vaguely Springsteenish, but nothing at all like DRA; maybe it sounds like DRA what is shooting short of in his Springsteen phase.

I think you're dead on with the Chaos and Clothes being about DRA thing. Love Is Hell is referenced in it.

Can someone give me the five-second summary of "DRA"=Ryan Adams? I'm a casual Ryan Adams fan, I guess, and hadn't seen that before. I mean, I assume the "RA" stands for "Ryan Adams," but my googling just led to a shitload of posts on tobeyoung.com that don't really clarify where this came from.

Mundane Mayhem wrote:

Iowan wrote:

Smitty wrote:"Chaos and Clothes" sounds like something off Love is Hell, and I think that's intentional.

"Cumberland Gap" sounds vaguely Springsteenish, but nothing at all like DRA; maybe it sounds like DRA what is shooting short of in his Springsteen phase.

I think you're dead on with the Chaos and Clothes being about DRA thing. Love Is Hell is referenced in it.

Can someone give me the five-second summary of "DRA"=Ryan Adams? I'm a casual Ryan Adams fan, I guess, and hadn't seen that before. I mean, I assume the "RA" stands for "Ryan Adams," but my googling just led to a shitload of posts on tobeyoung.com that don't really clarify where this came from.

His given name is David Ryan Adams

Zip City wrote: His given name is David Ryan Adams

Thanks. Easy enough.

After giving this several listens, I think I'm gonna like it much better than SMTF, which I didn't care for at all. It's not great, but I don't expect great albums from him anymore. After seeing him back in April in Richmond, KY, I told a buddy that was also there: "I know I'll probably never see a bad Isbell show, but I also know I'll probably never see a transcendent one either". I kinda feel the same about his albums at this point. Here's my top 3 at the moment:

Last of My Kind
Cumberland Gap
Something To Love

Zip City wrote:I know Jason named this album as an ironic jab at the country music industry, but it's doubly ironic considering that there are a few tubes here that would fit comfortably in a mainstream country radio format.

From an interview in the latest issue of Garden & Gun:

What was the thinking behind calling the album The Nashville Sound?

The title of the album refers to a few things, one thing being [recording it in] RCA Studio A, what they call the home of the Nashville Sound. But then I started thinking about it in the context of what we’re doing. It’s important to me for people outside of Nashville to understand that there’s a whole lot more happening here now than popular country music. I wanted to claim that. I think I’ve earned the right, because I think I have as much to do with the way Nashville music sounds now as any of the pop country acts do. I think Sturgill [Simpson] does too. I think Miranda Lambert rides that line. She makes some really popular music, but there’s also substance in a lot of those songs. I like that what we used to call outlaw music was also really invented at the RCA Studio. Waylon and those guys wanted to make records there rather than where their label told them they had to make records, and I can see why. That room is beautiful and it’s huge and it sounds great, and you feel like you’re making a real Nashville album when you’re in there. So I wanted to be respectful of the town, the history of the music here, and at the same time, I wanted to say, “All right, it’s ours now.”

rlipps wrote:After giving this several listens, I think I'm gonna like it much better than SMTF, which I didn't care for at all. It's not great, but I don't expect great albums from him anymore. After seeing him back in April in Richmond, KY, I told a buddy that was also there: "I know I'll probably never see a bad Isbell show, but I also know I'll probably never see a transcendent one either". I kinda feel the same about his albums at this point. Here's my top 3 at the moment:

Last of My Kind
Cumberland Gap
Something To Love

I'm pretty much with you here. I don't love this record but I think those days are past for me regarding Jason's output. That said I really hated SMTF and I don't hate this. There are a few really good songs and the rest are inoffensive. I still listen to Sirens, S/T and the live record fairly frequently but I really never listen to any of the others. The flipside to this is that I'm really happy for him and his success, ditto Jimbo, Derry and the other guys. They're good dudes and deserve success even if they don't really make records for my tastes anymore.

I try to view Jason through the lens of "would I give a shit about this music if I wasn't a long time fan?"

I think I would still enjoy it, but I definitely wouldn't be evangelical about it.

gadgets and six hundred dollar sneakers

I like this record. And a big part of whyI wasnt let down by SMTF and liked this with the first listen is something y'all hit on here.

Just as I came to realize the Truckers aren't going to make anything like SRO-TDS again, I finally realized some time after Southeastern but before SMTF, Jason isn't going to make a record that just floorboards me. At least probably not. He's going to make pretty good records and every so often he's going to have a song that absolutely blows me away. I can live with that. It's reasonable and far more realistic than what I kept waiting for from him for a while.

Same deal with the Truckers. I've enjoyed the last the last two a lot and they always put on a stellar live show. They most likely ain't gonna be coming out with a record that compares with any of those three. And that's fine. Not many bands have a run like that. Not many have one record like any of those three. Comparison is the thief of joy.

Cole Younger wrote:I like this record. And a big part of whyI wasnt let down by SMTF and liked this with the first listen is something y'all hit on here.

Just as I came to realize the Truckers aren't going to make anything like SRO-TDS again, I finally realized some time after Southeastern but before SMTF, Jason isn't going to make a record that just floorboards me. At least probably not. He's going to make pretty good records and every so often he's going to have a song that absolutely blows me away. I can live with that. It's reasonable and far more realistic than what I kept waiting for from him for a while.

Same deal with the Truckers. I've enjoyed the last the last two a lot and they always put on a stellar live show. They most likely ain't gonna be coming out with a record that compares with any of those three. And that's fine. Not many bands have a run like that. Not many have one record like any of those three. Comparison is the thief of joy.

Yup. And the "glory days" of Jason in DBT doesn't even add up to a full album full of songs (unless you include TVA and Dress Blues).

Perfection is the enemy of Good, as they say

Cole Younger wrote: Comparison is the thief of joy.

It's up on NPR
http://www.npr.org/2017/06/12/530277867 ... ille-sound

This might be my favorite of his solo efforts, or at least the one I can see myself listening to most frequently in the coming years. I'm not sure it's a better record than Southeastern, but I think I'll find myself in the mood for it more often.

SMTF only has four songs I ever really return to: "If It Takes a Lifetime," "Children of Children," "Speed Trap Town," and "To a Band That I Loved." I think this one will top that pretty easily.

The only song I think I'll routinely skip is "Hope The High Road." I like the sentiment, but it just doesn't do much for me.

Cole Younger wrote: Jason isn't going to make a record that just floorboards me. At least probably not. He's going to make pretty good records and every so often he's going to have a song that absolutely blows me away. I can live with that. It's reasonable and far more realistic than what I kept waiting for from him for a while.

I pretty much agree...with the exception that Southeastern DID floorboard me. I pretty much have the same reaction to this one as I had with SMTF. On the plus side, the rare times I return to SMTF, I always seem to like it more than I remember.

Southeastern floored me, but didn't stick real hard as a whole.

Iowan wrote:Southeastern floored me, but didn't stick real hard as a whole.

It hasn't worn well for me at all and I'm not sure why that is to be honest. Elephant remains the best song he's ever written though.

Southeastern is my favorite album-that-I-rarely-play.

This tidbit below from http://www.savingcountrymusic.com/album ... g-bad-luv/ sums up my issues with a lot of Isbell's stuff.

One of the problems with stellar songwriting is that just like a joke, it’s never going to hit you harder than the first time you hear it, unless there’s something to unravel. But a groove is longer lasting, and can even grow over time.

From a songwriting standpoint, Isbell completely knocked it out of the park on Southeastern. It blows me away every time I listen to it. But then I don't care to hear it again for another four months.

Songs with more going on musically such as Children of Children and Go It Alone keep me coming back. I like Elephant and Live Oak better than those two songs, just not as often.

Tequila Cowboy wrote:

Iowan wrote:Southeastern floored me, but didn't stick real hard as a whole.

It hasn't worn well for me at all and I'm not sure why that is to be honest. Elephant remains the best song he's ever written though.

I think it's the sameness to a lot of the music. It's Jason's voice, melodies, and the stories that really knocked me over with Southeastern. There wasn't much in the arrangements that really moved and kept me interested. And honestly, about half of the songs weren't terribly exciting. The impact lessened over time, and I haven't reached for it a ton in the past few years.

SMTF has about 4 songs I enjoy, and I think that instrumentally it's brittle. That's where Nashville Sound has pulled me back in some. I find the current arrangement far more interesting (at this stage in the game) than the past few.

Insightful interview on Salon.

http://www.salon.com/2017/06/12/jason-i ... listening/

He seems to live up in his head now, and his songs now are more interesting ideas than emotionally evocative songs coming from the heart or gut.

I liked when he could channel emotions more into his music, but as often as not his solo shows seemed pretty sloppy because he was too drunk to care much, though he'd often hit some high points when he hit a groove and could channel some of what was going on inside him. Now his shows are polished and steady, with some high notes where his talent shines through.

I'd like to hear him play some of his older music besides the 2-4 truckers-era songs he plays, but maybe he can't go there anymore, can't tap into that, or maybe he can but just doesn't want to relive it, or is just someone who's always only really going to want to play the stuff he wrote recently. When I look back at setlists from touring behind his first three albums, even then he pretty much focused mostly on his then-current songs, it just wasn't as glaring since there wasn't much of a back catalogue.

The most exciting Jason show I ever saw was when he was still partying. He didn't come off as too fucked up that night, but I only saw him once in those days. Might have gotten lucky.

He always puts on a good show now, but as someone else here said, I doubt I'll ever see a transcendent one. Especially when I know what songs I'm going to hear when I get there.

Iowan wrote:The most exciting Jason show I ever saw was when he was still partying. He didn't come off as too fucked up that night, but I only saw him once in those days. Might have gotten lucky.

He always puts on a good show now, but as someone else here said, I doubt I'll ever see a transcendent one. Especially when I know what songs I'm going to hear when I get there.

The lack of mixing up setlists grates on me - it's old school and not in a good way.

I saw him a couple dozen times between leaving DBT and getting sober and appreciated the different phases there were even then, even enjoying Psycho Killer every once in a while (though mostly getting beer). I liked how Jason and Browan would play off each other. There was a period right after Browan's departure that Jason stepped up and played a lot of guitar and although I missed some of the depth of having a 2nd guitarist, I really like Jason's guitar playing when he's focused on it and so I really appreciated that period even though he was sometimes morose on stage in his interactions with the audience (or lack thereof). And toward the end of the Here We Rest era, I thought the shows were often pretty fun and uplifting - Amanda brought a new energy and everyone seemed to be more upbeat I thought in the shows I saw, and that set of songs lent itself to it. I really enjoyed the last one, the Richmond on high night, even though Jason was drunk and a bit of an asshole on stage, and even though the evening itself ended pretty disastrously. But the show was good, fun, and something I miss even though I wouldn't wish that life back on him for anything especially now that there's a child in the mix. When I saw him open solo acoustic for Ryan Adams in New Zealand right after rehab, only a little over a month later, I could tell it was a new direction and going forward probably wouldn't involve going back. He didn't have his Southeastern songs yet, but he had already changed over to the acoustic singer-songwriter folk-based style that has been his calling card since.

Rocky wrote:Insightful interview on Salon.

http://www.salon.com/2017/06/12/jason-i ... listening/

I liked this interview too, and I didn't realize until after I read it that the interviewer was Kentucky author Silas House. He grew up about 20 miles from me in a neighboring town.