With personal songs, Jason Isbell brings intimacy to amphitheater – Omaha World-Herald

Jason Isbell wasnt afraid.

Not afraid to stand on stage and sing a raw love song about his wife as she stood by him. Not afraid to let the attention rest on his songs and therefore his most personal thoughts. Not afraid to bust into wildly flaring guitar solos, dueling with his bandmates. Not afraid to hit the big notes. Not afraid to reach deep into his catalog.

In front of 1,600 at SumTur Amphitheater on Wednesday, the country, rock and folk singer-songwriter worked through nearly two hours of music that featured the raw Cover Me Up, the blistering rock of Decoration Day or the empowerment of White Mans World.

Through his last three solo albums, Isbell has proved himself one of the best songwriters of a generation.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Amanda Shires performs with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats performs at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Amanda Shires performs with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats performs at SumTur Amphitheater.

Songs are about families and feuds, old cars and new guitars and breakups and bad nights. They contain parental advice, stories about sobering up, memories of finding your place in the world and tales of breaking promises, sometimes to yourself.

Its real life stuff, which is why its so good.

And its all presented with a smooth voiced tinged with a slight Southern twang and some fine players, most of them from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, which is home to the favorite recording studios of the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Isbells onetime band, the Drive-By Truckers.

Isbells set started with two songs from his latest album, The Nashville Sound, including the personal song Anxiety and then the rocking Hope the High Road, in which he says hes sick of singing about himself.

And thats Isbells catalog: Songs about his innermost thoughts and journey to get sober and be a good husband and father as well as stories about feuds, ruminations on the state of the world and stories about old cars.

Isbell played songs he wrote that were recorded by the Drive-By Truckers as well as a host of material from his latest three records.

Fans were glued to it all, but were especially appreciative of guitar jams such as Flying Over Water, Stockholm, Codeine and a cover of the Allman Brothers Whipping Post.

Isbell was joined by his band, the 400 Unit, which on Wednesday included his wife, vocalist and fiddler Amanda Shires. Isbell and Shires shared a lot of looks during the set, especially on songs explicitly about their relationship.

Shires stood next to Isbell as he strummed his signature song, Cover Me Up. About their budding relationship and his sobriety, the song saw the otherwise noisy amphitheater crowd grow silent as Isbells aching, powerful voice rang out into the night.

Eventually, Shires fiddle joined him to hold the sound until the entire band joined in to finish out the beautiful song.

Fans stood and cheered afterward, causing Isbell to stop for a moment and address them.

What a great bunch of people you are. Thank you so much for treating us so well, he said. What a great place. This is a wonderful spot for a show. Isbell went on to talk about his love of Omaha in particular.

This is a really great music town, he said. Its always exciting for us to come play music here. A lot of really wonderful songwriters and musicians have come from this part of the country, and we got a lot of friends here. Thank yall so much for being so kick-ass.

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With personal songs, Jason Isbell brings intimacy to amphitheater - Omaha World-Herald