Jason Isbell capped his Red Butte set (pre-encore) Thursday night with one of his old standards — “Never Gonna Change” — a song he recorded way back in 2004 with the Drive-by Truckers’ debut album “The Dirty South.”
The first time I saw a Jason Isbell play solo was back in 2008, a free show up at Snowbird. Back then he as a pudgy 29-year-old, a renowned songwriter already, fresh from a split with the Truckers with a penchant for Jack Daniels.
In the ensuing years, I’ve seen him play 10 times, and each time it seems he has added a new weapon: His guitar work is even more pristine, the turns of phrase more clever and profound, the whole act more dialed-in each time.