Live from Alabama

Drive-By Truckers have given us not just great songs but also great solo careers from its members, both former and present. Jason Isbell has left the band and established a well-respected solo career. His \"Alabama Pines\" won Song of the Year at the 2012 Americana Music Awards, and this full-length live album—recorded at sold-out shows in August 2012 at Workplay Theater in Birmingham and Crossroads in Huntsville, Ala.—features \"Pines\" and tunes from his entire career. \"Decoration Day\" (the title track to Drive-By Truckers\' 2003 studio album), the heart-wrenching \"Danko/Manuel\" (which appeared on 2004\'s *The Dirty South*), and \"In a Razor Town\" (from his first solo album, 2007\'s *Sirens of the Ditch*) feature inspired vocals and guitar work that combine to great and direct effect. A three-piece horn section further colors several tunes, while the backing trio of keyboardist Derry Deborja, bassist Jimbo Hart, and drummer Chad Gamble provides smart, economical playing until they all let loose for Neil Young\'s \"Like a Hurricane.\"

Just four years later, Isbell has delivered another live disc, Live from Alabama, a full-length album culled from a pair of August 2012 concerts, and if one wonders why Isbell seems so keen to record his live sets, one listen will tell you why: Isbell and his band are at their best in front of an audience, and Live from Alabama demonstrates Isbell's impressive gifts as a singer, guitarist, songwriter, and frontman.