The Drive-By Truckers had a special guest last night at the Ryman Auditorium. The band is on tour supporting their hard-rocking, politically-charged new album, American Band, and were in Nashville, where former DBTs guitarist (2001-2007) Jason Isbell happens to live with his wife, singer/songwriter Amanda Shires. Isbell just started work on a new album on January 16, recording in Nashville with producer Dave Cobb and the band, and doesn’t have any live dates on the books until next month. So he was free to jump onstage and join his former bandmates for “Heathens” from Decoration Day, Isbell’s first album with the band. Isbell Tweeted about it after the show.
Great job tonight @TheRyman by my old friends @drivebytruckers. An honor and a pleasure to join them for a song.
— Jason Isbell (@JasonIsbell) January 27, 2017
A fan caught the performance on video and uploaded it after the show. The affection between the former band members is clear. Patterson Hood sidled up to Isbell during a guitar solo, and Hood was all smiled when he stepped up to the mic and said, “Who is that masked man?” Isbell shared hugs and handshakes with the entire band after the song.