Next month, onetime Drive-By Trucker Jason Isbell, along with his 400 Unit, is releasing a self-titled album. We’re told the opening track “Seven-Mile Island” is “an oblique eulogy” to Alabama harmonica player Topper Price. It’s also a story about:

[A] failed father, a birthing mother, an island on which banished Native Americans congregated, a place where Jason and his dad used to go to collect arrowheads.

There’s much more than that — the story comes alive in the details, the concrete towers and airstream trailers — so pay attention.

• Jason Isbell – “Seven-Mile Island”Download

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit is out 2/17 via Lightning Rod. You can get additional sounds at Myspace and on the road:

02/12 – Birmingham, AL @ Workplay %
02/14 – Florence, AL @ Shoals Theater %
02/17 – Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre #
02/18 – Atlanta, GA @ The Earl #
02/20 – Raleigh, NC @ Lincoln Theatre #
02/21 – Richmond, VA @ The National #
02/22 – Harrisonburg, VA @ The Pub #
02/24 – Boston, MA @ TT the Bears $
02/26 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
02/27 – Philadelphia, PA @ World Café Live $
02/28 – Pittsburgh, PA @ Club Cafe $
03/01 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club $
03/02 – Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Ballroom $
03/04 – Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern $
03/05 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place $
03/06 – Columbus, OH @ The Rumba Café $
03/07 – Cincinnati, OH @ Southgate House $
03/08 – Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel # $
03/13 – Louisville, KY @ Headliner’s $
03/14 – Nashville, TN @ The Mercy Lounge $
03/18 – 22 Austin, TX @ SXSW
03/24 – Memphis, TN @ The Hi-Tone !
03/25 – Little Rock, AR @ Sticky Fingerz !
03/26 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Wormy Dog Saloon !
03/28 – Telluride, CO @ Sheridan Opera House !
03/30 – Flagstaff, AZ @ Green Room !
03/31 – Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress !
04/02 – Los Angeles, CA @ Spaceland !
04/03 – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent !
04/04 – Sacramento, CA @ Blue Lamp !
04/05 – Portland, OR @ Doug Fir !
04/06 – Seattle, WA @ Tractor Tavern !
04/08 – TBD
04/09 – Aspen, CO @ Belly Up !
04/10 – Vail, CO @ The Sand Bar !
04/11 – Denver, CO @ The Bluebird !
04/12 – Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads !
04/14 – Lincoln, NE @ Knickerbockers !
04/15 – St. Paul, MN @ The Turf Club !
04/16 – Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon !
04/17 – Chicago, IL @ Double Door !
04/24 – Auburn, AL @ Strutting Duck (Outdoors)
04/25 – Oxford, MS @ Double Decker Arts Festival (3:30PM)

% w/ Sons of Roswell
# w/ Benji Hughes
$ w/ Deer Tick
! w/ Justin Townes Earle

[Photo by Allison V. Smith]