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Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit will headline the new Palomino Festival alongside Kacey Musgraves, Willie Nelson & Family, and others.
Sharing His Voice
Jason Isbell to headline 1st Palomino Festival with Kacey Musgraves rammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Jason Isbell says he’s excited for his upcoming performance at Goldenvoice’s first Palomino Festival on Saturday, July 9. Isbell, who has won Grammys for Best Americana Album and Best American Roots Song, and the 400 Unit will headline the new alt-country festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, alongside Kacey Musgraves and Willie Nelson & Family. “I’m feeling good. I think it’s a great lineup, and I’m looking forward to it,” the Alabama native says. “We haven’t played in Pasadena a whole lot, and this gives us a good opportunity to get out there and play with other artists that are really good.” The Palomino Festival, backed by the team behind Stagecoach, adds to Southern California’s already eclectic music festival scene. It seeks to appeal to longtime country fans, brand-new Americana lovers, and everyone in between. Fused with sounds of country, folk, pop and bluegrass, the lineup features industry talents like Orville Peck, Turnpike Troubadours, Old Crow Medicine Show and Charley Crockett. Isbell, having built a reputation for his introspective and nuanced songwriting, says he prefers to refrain from pigeonholing his band’s musical style. “I get distracted when I start trying to (define) the type of music I make,” he says. “I’m a singer-songwriter, and the most important thing to me is writing songs. I think that is something I have in common with Kacey and Willie, and most of the other people on the bill. We focus on the songs first, and everything else sort of follows.” Longtime fans of Isbell, named Artist of the Year in 2015 by the Americana Music Association, might be pleasantly surprised by the band’s Pasadena gig, the singer and guitarist says. “I think the audience might be surprised. It’s much more of a rock ’n’ roll feel we put on,” Isbell says. “Our albums are a lot of writing. Somebody who hasn’t listened to my whole catalog — it’s soft, quiet music.”
Isbell and the 400 Unit are promoting their 2021 album “Georgia Blue,” which honors artists from Georgia. Isbell during the 2020 presidential campaign pledged that if Joe Biden triumphed the Peach State’s election, he would record an album of songs by his favorite artists from there. A share of the proceeds would also be donated to nonprofit progressive organizations. The star-studded covers album is a 13-song set comprised of Southern rock jams, R&B classics, folk sounds and college rock hits. It includes tunes made famous by R.E.M., Otis Redding, the Black Crowes, James Brown, Cat Power, the Allman Brothers Band and others. Artists Brandi Carlile, Béla Fleck, John Paul White of the Civil Wars, and Adia Victoria are also featured guests on the LP. But “Georgia Blue” isn’t the only album Isbell and the 400 Unit are celebrating. “Reunions,” produced by Dave Cobb and including contributions from David Crosby and Rival Sons singer Jay Buchanan, was first released in independent record stores in May 2020. The album aimed at helping small businesses amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Isbell says. “I put ‘Reunions’ out right in the middle of lockdown, so we couldn’t tour behind that,” he adds. “Now, I feel like the touring we are doing is really the initial tour for the album because we spent so much time in the house, either playing to screens or doing those kinds of shows like Zoom and a few socially distanced shows.” A “more production-savvy set that mixed introspective personal numbers with songs addressing larger political and social concerns,” “Reunions” is the fourth album Isbell has written and recorded since getting sober. At least one theme is prevalent throughout the album, according to Isbell. “A lot of the songs, I didn’t really set out with a goal other than just to write a set of good songs. Once I got started, I started to see some themes continued on page 12
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit/Submitted
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By Jordan Houston
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