For one night, Jason Isbell was a Drive-By Trucker again. Isbell joined the band in 2001 and left to go solo in 2007, and he’s existed on a parallel path with his old band ever since then. Isbell and DBT have always had a warm relationship, and there have been a few surprise one-off reunions over the years. As previously reported, the Drive-By Truckers and Jason Isbell just gave their first announced performance togetherr in 18 years, and they did it on TV.
The Drive-By Truckers just released a four-LP box set version of 2003’s Decoration Day, maybe their best album, and they let the world know that Jason Isbell would get back together with the band to perform on Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. It happened on Tuesday night. I expected them to do one of the songs that Isbell wrote and sang on Decoration Day. He only has two numbers on that LP, but they’re both absolute heaters, “Outfit” and the title track. In his solo shows, Isbell still plays both of those songs. That’s not what they did, though. Instead, they performed “Hell No, I Ain’t Happy,” one of many great songs written and sung by longtime DBT co-leader Patterson Hood.
Now that I think about it, this was the right call. “Hell No, I Ain’t Happy” is a classic life-on-the-road song about missing your home but soldiering on because it’s all you know. That has been the reality for everyone on that Colbert stage since before Decoration Day. Isbell has spent plenty of time in TV in recent years, but the Drive-By Truckers haven’t, and it was cool to see them bring their gravitas to a prominent stage. I also liked seeing Isbell back in a supporting role, playing guitar and singing backup. He does get in one triumphant solo, though. Watch it all happen below.
The Definitive Decoration Day is out now on New West.
