JASON ISBELL & THE 400 UNIT

Biography

Jason Isbell was born in Green Hill, Alabama, to teenage parents — his mother was 17, his father 19 — and grew up on his grandparents' farm in the North Alabama region steeped in the Muscle Shoals sound. He began playing guitar around age 14-15, and his path into professional music came through a friendship with David Hood, the legendary session bassist who played on hundreds of FAME and Muscle Shoals Sound recordings. Hood introduced Isbell to his son Patterson Hood, co-founder of Drive-By Truckers, and in 2001 — at just 22 years old — Isbell joined the band after sitting in at an acoustic house party when a guitarist failed to show. Within two weeks of joining the tour, he wrote "Outfit" and "Decoration Day," two of the band's most celebrated songs.

After six years with Drive-By Truckers (2001–2007), Isbell departed and embarked on a solo career, initially struggling with addiction before achieving sobriety in 2012 — a turning point that transformed both his personal life and his songwriting. He formed Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, named after the colloquial term for the psychiatric ward at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence, Alabama. The band — featuring guitarist Sadler Vaden, keyboardist Derry DeBorja, drummer Chad Gamble, and bassist Jimbo Hart (who departed at the end of 2023, replaced by Anna Butterss) — is rooted in the Muscle Shoals region. His wife, fiddle player and singer-songwriter Amanda Shires, is also closely associated with the band. His 2013 breakthrough album Southeastern, recorded in sobriety, is widely regarded as one of the finest Americana records of its era.

Isbell has become one of the most critically acclaimed songwriters of his generation, winning six Grammy Awards across Americana and American Roots categories, including Best Americana Album for Something More Than Free (2015) and the Grammy-winning "If We Were Vampires" from The Nashville Sound (2017). He contributed the song "Maybe It's Time" to the 2018 film A Star Is Born and appeared on the late John Prine's final studio album The Tree of Forgiveness. His writing — unflinching, character-driven, and politically engaged — has cemented his reputation as a contemporary heir to the Southern storytelling tradition.

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Fun Facts

• The 400 Unit takes its name from the nickname for the psychiatric ward at Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence, Alabama — the ward was in a separate building, numbered 400, apart from the main hospital.
• Isbell joined Drive-By Truckers after showing up to an acoustic house party where another guitarist failed to appear — within two weeks on tour he had written 'Outfit' and 'Decoration Day,' two of the band's most beloved songs.
• Isbell has won six Grammy Awards, including Best American Roots Song for 'If We Were Vampires' (2017) and Best Americana Album for Something More Than Free (2015).
• He wrote and recorded 'Maybe It's Time' for the 2018 blockbuster film A Star Is Born, performed in the film by Bradley Cooper's character.

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Patterson Hood - Co-founder of Drive-By Truckers; recruited Isbell to the band in 2001 and provided the professional platform for his songwriting to develop [2001–2007]
• David Hood - Legendary Muscle Shoals session bassist and father of Patterson Hood; befriended and mentored the young Isbell locally in Florence, AL, facilitating his introduction to Drive-By Truckers [Late 1990s–2000s]

Key Collaborators

• Amanda Shires - Fiddle player, singer-songwriter, and Isbell's wife; closely associated with the 400 Unit and frequent creative partner [2013–present]
• Sadler Vaden - Lead guitarist of the 400 Unit [2009–present]
• Derry DeBorja - Keyboardist and accordionist of the 400 Unit [2009–present]
• Chad Gamble - Drummer of the 400 Unit [2009–present]
• John Prine - Isbell appeared on Prine's final studio album The Tree of Forgiveness (2018) (The Tree of Forgiveness)

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia