Full Circle Solo
After almost a year (361 days), a joyful opportunity to see Jason Isbell play solo again
What a difference (almost) a year makes.
One year ago today, I was in Mexico City with my wife Jill and 300 Jason Isbell fans, listening to the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter perform a solo show in a small, intimate venue.
This past Thursday, I photographed another Isbell solo show, this time at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas, Virginia, for the Americana Highways website.
The concert, combined with spending two evenings in a darkened theater photographing 16 teenage dancers and another day spent shooting 170 headshots for a school program, has kept me busier than usual in what typically is a dead January. Also in the mix was a second trip in three weeks — this past Friday through Sunday — to see family in North Carolina.
And to think, last January I was just happy not to be dead.
Flashback
Flashback to January 16, 2025: Six weeks after I was hospitalized with a life-threatening bout of pneumonia and sepsis, Jill and I left on a four-day trip to see Isbell in Mexico City. She had surprised me with the trip for my 60th birthday during our annual Thanksmas celebration, then I got sick and spent five days in the hospital.
Fortunately, I was cleared by my doctor to take the trip, which included a Q&A and meet and greet with Isbell — on my birthday, no less — as well as two concerts and other excursions. It was a memorable experience, and it kicked off what proved to be one of the best years I’ve had in some time.
The solo show on January 19 was the last event in Mexico City and included the live debut of two songs from Isbell’s then-forthcoming album, Foxes in the Snow. The intimate solo acoustic set, which has been nominated for three Grammys, was his first since his divorce from Amanda Shires.
Isbell was engaged throughout the event and a consummate professional, but Jill and I noted that he seemed tired (we all were) by the end of the show. We both wondered if he had been a little nervous playing the live debuts of “Bury Me” and “True Believer” — one of several with ties to the breakup — from the new album.
Flash Forward
When the opportunity to photograph Isbell’s solo show in Manassas came up, I couldn’t pass up the chance, even though we were scheduled to leave the next day for North Carolina to see our son, daughter-in-law, and grandson as well as Jill’s brother and sister-in-law. The 361 days between concerts is the longest I’ve gone in almost a decade without seeing and/or photographing one of my favorite singer-songwriters.
And Isbell didn’t disappoint. Engaged and energetic from the moment he took the stage, he played almost two dozen songs over two hours, including five from the new album, three from his days with the Drive-By Truckers, and the rest from across his deep catalogue.
Telling stories throughout, he also played two covers — a spontaneous “Storm Windows” that followed a story about John Prine, and a tribute to Todd Snider (“Play a Train Song”)
I looked at it as an early birthday present.
Here are some more photos from the show:
Here are two stories I wrote based on the Q&A with Isbell at last year’s Mexico City event:
Note: “Another 52 Weeks” did not appear this past Saturday because of the time crunch at the end of the week. A combined edition for weeks 3 and 4 will run on January 24.
Sounds like it was a great show! 💗
Great photos! Happy birthday (plus a few days). Are you seeing Isbell in Feb?