PHOTOS: Jason Isbell and Kevin Morby acoustic at F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, 12/19/19
Americana singer/songwriter Jason Isbell returned to the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Dec. 19, but this time, he left his band back home and just stripped things down to the essentials.
Only his guitarist in the 400 Unit, Sadler Vaden, joined the Alabama native on stage in front of the plain blue curtain for a straightforward but heartfelt concert where the emotions and personal messages in his music were really able to shine.
The 90-minute set covered most of his acclaimed career, from his early days in Drive-By Truckers to his Grammy Award-winning album “Something More Than Free” and everything in between. He sometimes paused to tell stories about the songs, including what it was like having his song “Maybe It’s Time” featured in the 2018 movie “A Star Is Born” starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.
Recorded during six sold-out nights in Nashville, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s latest record, “Live from the Ryman,” was released in 2018, a live album that Rolling Stone called “easily among the finest of the past decade, in any genre.”
Indie folk singer/songwriter Kevin Morby opened the show with his own 30-minute acoustic set.
Jason Isbell setlist, Dec. 19, 2019, F.M. Kirby Center, Wilkes-Barre:
24 Frames
Different Days
Hope the High Road
Goddamn Lonely Love
Maybe It’s Time
Stockholm
Live Oak
Alabama Pines
Elephant
Overseas
Tour of Duty
If We Were Vampires
Relatively Easy
Last of My Kind
Encore:
Speed Trap Town
Cover Me Up
