#sadler vaden

[thebowerypresents]

Jason Isbell Lets His Music Do the Talking at a Sold-Out Radio City Music Hall on Saturday

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit – Radio City – February 24, 2024

There are a lot of big names making music at the intersection of country, folk and rock, and one of the biggest these days is Jason Isbell. And when you’re the big time, you play the big rooms, and in New York City, that means a stop at Radio City Music Hall. Isbell, performing with his longtime backing band, the 400 Unit, was right at home in the historic theater, at times turning it into a big arena-rock venue and at others a cozy campfire sing-along. Of course, when you’re a big enough name, even your openers are big time, and the Saturday night show opened with a strong set from veteran songwriter Aimee Mann, who was equally at home at Radio City, dazzling the early audience with selections from across her catalog.

The 400 Unit took the stage to Joe Walsh’s “Turn to Stone,” perhaps sending a message with the lyrics “Everywhere you look, we’re fighting / Hear the call,” Isbell announcing, “Thank you for coming to our celebration” before opening with “When We Were Close,” off last year’s Weathervanes release. Three of the first four were from the new record, including the gritty Southern rock of “King of Oklahoma,” with its accompanying yellow-sun-on-blue-sky lighting and the one-upping guitar solos, first from Isbell and then from lead guitarist Sadler Vaden. The following “Strawberry Woman” brought things down a bit, allowing the crowd to savor Isbell’s songwriting, keyboardist Derry deBorja moving to accordion, Vaden impressively mixing the slide and wah pedal. 

Only a few songs in, the audience was ready to join, everyone softly singing along to “Last of My Kind,” adding a hushed ambience as dappled white lights illuminated Radio City’s curved interior. While Isbell is well-known for being outspoken, he mostly let his music do the talking to the sold-out crowd, brief intros accompanied some tunes, like “White Beretta” (about his first two cars, both Berettas) or setting up a miniset of songs from 2013’s Southeastern album.

Late in the show, a couple of not-quite covers pushed the Southern rock over the top, first Vaden singing Drivin N Cryin’s “Honeysuckle Blue,” the whole band building to a raucous peak, and then Isbell going back to his early days with Drive-By Truckers, playing “Decoration Day.” The set ended on a quieter note, Isbell singing the love song “If We Were Vampires,” the packed house singing along rapt, another big moment in the big room, the big time for band and audience alike.  —A. Stein | @Neddyo  

(Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit play Roadrunner in Boston on 6/25.)  

Photos courtesy of Marc Millman | www.marcmillmanphotos.com

[sinceileftyoublog]

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit, Shemekia Copeland Live Show Review: 9/22, The Salt Shed, Chicago

BY JORDAN MAINZER

“You don’t open with this one!!!” screamed a fan as Jason Isbell sang the words, “This is how you make yourself vanish into nothing,” the opening lines to Something More Than Free classic “24 Frames”. He had a point. Isbell’s songs are often so emotional that audience members seeing him live feel like they need to be primed into the devastation, instead slowly taking in the chops of his backing band The 400 Unit (guitarist Sadler Vaden, bassist Jimbo Hart, keyboardist Derry deBorja, drummer Chad Gamble). But continuing from his best songs with Drive-By Truckers, Isbell’s last four records (not counting his 2021 covers album Georgia Blue) effectively combine tales of personal triumph with pleas for sociopolitical empathy, and launching right into his most Springsteenian song is straight up fitting at this point.

Best, the instrumentation Thursday at the Salt Shed was still dynamic. Isbell himself is a terrific guitarist, able to rip a blues solo with the best of them on “Something More Than Free” and the Truckers’ “Decoration Day”. Vaden’s electric playing sounded infinitely expansive on “Last of My Kind”, gentle and limber on a self-described “hillbilly style” version of “Tour of Duty”. Gamble swayed between similarly subtle on “Overseas”, thumping and forceful on “Super 8″. deBorja added stadium-sized depth to Southeastern’s biggest tearjerkers, “Cover Me Up” and “Elephant”. Hart, rather than Gamble, was the true backbone, buoying the band when they blasted out from already rollicking song structures on “Hope The High Road” and a Vaden-led cover of Drivin N Cryin’s “Honeysuckle Blue”.

Ultimately, though, Isbell’s most timely tune--and his most explicit foray into heartland rock--is “Be Afraid”, a song that grapples with the importance of country artists specifically speaking out against inequality and other social ills. “We won’t shut up and sing,” he declares, referencing the country music industry and conservative media backlash over The Chicks’ Natalie Maines speaking out against George W. Bush and the Iraq War. The song also harked back a mere hour, to the night’s opener Shemekia Copeland. Before launching into “Pink Turns to Red”, a pro-gun control song from her new album Done Come Too Far (Alligator), Copeland said, “When shit is messed up, we talk about it...At this age, I don’t stray from controversy.” 

Copeland and Isbell are collaborators, the latter playing on the former’s most recent album, but they’re also similar in their ethos. Copeland still writes some songs like popular infidelity pre-revenge tale “It’s 2 A.M.”, but on Done Come Too Far, she continues the spirit of 2018′s America’s Child, prayers for a better world. There are modern day Civil Rights anthems, searing laments about conversations Black parents have with their kids about growing up Black in a world of police racism and brutality, and the continuing struggles for liberty. A song like her new album’s title track fits right alongside Copeland stalwarts like “Ghetto Child”. While the studio version highlights a duet with Cedric Burnside, it didn’t lose it’s slinky wah wahs live, Ken ‘Willie’ Scandlyn busting out yearning solo after solo. Copeland also revealed that Done Come Too Far came out the same day her mom passed away, and she appropriately played “Nobody But You”, a song written by her father Johnny about her mother. Best, though, was “Barefoot in Heaven”, a song she does “cuz it makes me feel good.” A relaxed gospel strut, it sees Copeland imagining--yes--walking through heaven barefoot, rubbing elbows with Sister Rosetta Tharpe, taking it all in. For all of her struggles, that scene is, truly, something more than free.

[americanahighways]

REVIEW: Cole Gallagher “The Confluence”

Cole Gallagher – The Confluence Cole Gallagher has a new EP produced, engineered and mixed by Vance Powell, The Confluence. Assistant engineer for the project was Michael Fahey with some additional engineering by William Burke.  Cole’s band for the album includes Sadler Vaden, Jimbo Hart and Chad Gamble of the 400 Unit.   “Lines in the Sky”  “you know I drew them for you” is an expansive,…

[awomanindeniall]

Annie Clements sings 'Take It To The Limit' with Holly Audrey Williams, Chris Coleman, Ty Smith and Sadler Vaden. (City Winery, Nashville, 8th Sept 2019)

...and Niall approves!

🎸🦅

[imusicin]

Anybody out There? - Sadler Vaden

Anybody out There? – Sadler Vaden

Next to You Don’t Worry Golden Child Anybody out There? Curtain Call Modern Times Peace + Harmony Good Man Be Here, Right Now Tried and True SONG LIST TIME Next to You 3:33 Don’t Worry 5:37 Golden Child 2:38

[mce-photography]

Sadler Vaden 3.1.12 Drivin n Cryin - Hattiesburg, MS 

[amp-mod]

Honeysuckle Blue by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit feat. Sadler Vaden

[krispyweiss]

Song Review: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - “Honeysuckle Blue” (Live)

Sadler Vaden and the 400 Unit is not a band - Jason Isbell is the titular leader of that group. But when Isbell temporarily cedes control to second guitarist Vaden, things can get downright uplifting.

As he did on Georgia Blue, Isbell hands off the mic to Vader on the 400 Unit’s cover of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’s “Honeysuckle Blue” in a new pro-shot performance video. And, as on the LP, Vaden proves himself as proficient a bandleader as Isbell is a magnanimous one.

Outfitted with an irresistible stop-start, double-guitar hook and an insistent arrangement, “Honeysuckle Blue” represents the 400 Unit as its ramshackle apex, putting the rock in country-rock and the rollin’ in Drivin’ N’ Cryin’.

Grade card: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - “Honeysuckle Blue” (Live) - B

11/29/21

[kowalskishish]

Musical Advent Calendar Day 9.

Songs I've enjoyed from this year in no particular order.

[rustbeltroadwarrior]

Jason Isbell's new album "The Nashville Sound" being released June 16th

Jason Isbell’s new album “The Nashville Sound” being released June 16th

  Singer-songwriter Jason Isbell has announced plans to release his new album The Nashville Sound June 16th via Southeastern Records and Thirty Tigers. It will also feature his band, the 400 Unit and this will be their first release since 2011’s Here We Rest. The 400 Unit features Derry deBorja (keyboards), Chad Gamble (drums), Jimbo Hart (bass), Amanda Shires (fiddle) and Sadler Vaden (guitar).…

[ellie-and-jay]

Song Thoughts

So I have a lot of thoughts about songs and lyrics and music and feelings. Like, A LOT. So I figured instead of brooding about them in the shower, I could post them here. Feel free to ignore them (they’re not that profound, I promise) but I thought it might be one of those ways that you can see how I think.

Anyhoo- today’s songpost! Greta, by Sadler Vaden (don’t worry, it’s coming to you in a playlist soon)(just what you always wanted!)(note the sarcasm...)

So the song is kinda vague (in the best way possible), but it’s about this childhood friend of the singer’s (supposedly, I suppose it could be entirely fictional, but I’m betting not). She’s abused and they’re young and he doesn’t know how to handle it, but he loves her (in that super pure, kid way) so he does the best he can. There are a few lines that really get me.

1. “Me and Greta like to sit and waste our time here, imagining snowflakes in June” This one isn’t so much for the emotional value as much as just WOW, what a great way to describe an idea with imagery and cram so much info into a few words. “Imagining snowflakes in June” not only tells the listener that Greta wears long sleeves and too much clothing to hide the signs of her abuse, it also tells about how she and the singer deal with it: by creating their own little world together, and pretending that their choice of clothing is just because they’re pretending the weather is cold.

2. “I never wanted her to feel alone” The biggest feels of the whole song for me. The way he sings it, you can just see him as this young kid in over his head who doesn’t know how to fix things for this person he loves, but above all, he doesn’t want her to feel isolated. They do everything together, just so that she knows she has someone on her team. And the truly heartbreaking part is that she is alone. He can’t save her from any abuse, and he isn’t experiencing it himself. It will always be a gulf between them, but he can’t stand the thought of that and so he tries to fight it as hard as he can by making sure she knows he’s there for her.

3. “People like to laugh at us together- summertime in sweaters just ain’t right. But if they only knew the wounds she was dressing, they’d understand why we dressed alike” This builds on the previous paragraphs, but again, what a great turn of phrase (the wounds she was dressing/why we dressed alike). It’s a perfect example of the “I never wanted her to feel alone”- if she has to wear sweaters in summer, he’s damn well gonna do it too, just to protect her from the stares and questions.

Then in the song, something happens and she’s gone and he never sees her again (did she run away? Did she die? Did she move off? Who knows?), and we get this verse:

4. “From time to time, I make up my own ending/She’d come back and never leave again/We’d move out to a place with every season/And never have a reason to pretend” This verse gets me so hard. It’s all the could-have-been’s, all the I-hope-she’s-ok’s wrapped into one and it shows this life that he wishes he could have given her- one without pain and secrets and lies. 

This was initially just gonna be a short post on the line “I never wanted her to feel alone,” but it grew...

[americanahighways]

Video Premiere: Cole Gallagher "Lines in the Sky"

Video Premiere: Cole Gallagher "Lines in the Sky" @colegallaghermusic #americanahighways #theconfluence #linesinthesky #sadlervaden #jimbohart

Americana Highways is hosting this video premiere of Cole Gallagher’s song “Lines in the Sky” from his forthcoming EP The Confluence. The EP was produced, engineered and mixed by Vance Powell, with assistant engineer Michael Fahey and additional engineering by William Burke. Musicians on “Lines in the Sky” are Cole Gallagher on vocals and acoustic guitar; Chad Gamble on drums; Sadler Vaden on…

[musiconspotify]

Sadler Vaden

Anybody Out There? (2020) … carving out his own space …

#SadlerVaden

[scottishmusicnetwork]

Sadler Vaden Announces New Full-Length ‘Anybody Out There?’

Sadler Vaden Announces New Full-Length ‘Anybody Out There?’

Out March 6th Via Dirty Mag Records / Thirty Tigers

 Billboard Shares Lead Single ‘Next To You’

Nashville Album Release Show at Mercy Lounge on March 7th

Sadler Vaden is set to return with Anybody Out There? on March 6th, 2020 via Dirty Mag Records / Thirty Tigers. The highly anticipated follow-up to his 2016 self-titled debut, Anybody Out There? was self-produced by Vaden, engineered by longtime…

[thebowerypresents]

Father John Misty and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit in Prospect Park

Father John Misty and Jason Isbell have a lot in common. They both left an established band—Fleet Foxes and Drive-By Truckers, respectively—to launch highly acclaimed solo careers, with each of them becoming known for elevated, intelligent songwriting and riveting, rousing live performances. What’s more, both musicians put out an acclaimed album last year: FJM’s Pure Comedy (stream it here)—“dark pronouncements, set to luscious, ’70s-style orchestration, update the idea of the confessional singer-songwriter for the post-truth era,” per the Guardian—and Isbell’s Live from the Ryman (stream it here)—“What’s here is terrific with invigorated versions of Isbell’s best tunes given a crackling edge,” according to American Songwriter. And now the two like-minded artists have teamed up for a monthlong tour that brings them to BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival at Prospect Park Bandshell on Wednesday night. English singer-songwriter Jade Bird opens the show.

[crank11news-blog]

Latest update from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Latest update from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

19-Oct-2018: ‘Live from the Ryman’, album by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Label: Southeastern Records.

The eighth album by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit is titled ‘Live from the Ryman’ and was just released on label Southeastern Records and is now available on Spotify. The album has no rating on Last.FM, indicating it is not all that popular or needs some time to get played.

(more…)