Add one more title to the list of upcoming June releases by my favorite artists. I just learned that Jason Isbell, accompanied by his band the 400 Unit, will release an album titled Weathervanes on June 9.
Isbell first grabbed my attention with 2017’s The Nashville Sound, after which I quickly gobbled up the rest of his catalog. He delivers a rich blend of folk, Americana, and southern rock filtered through his fierce intellect and eagerness for merciless self-reflection. I discovered him around the same time I first heard Brandi Carlile and I think of them as flip sides of the same brilliant coin.
It’s been three years since Isbell’s last album of originals, 2020’s excellent Reunions. He did release an album of covers in the meantime, one beautifully in line with his refreshingly progressive politics.
Isbell pledged to record an album of covers by Georgia artists if Joe Biden won the state in the 2020 election. He kept his promise and delivered Georgia Blue, a collection that contains his versions of songs by R.E.M. and Indigo Girls, among others.
I didn’t know that album existed until reading up on Weathervanes, so now I have two new Isbell releases to enjoy.
Don’t drink and drive, you’ll spill it
Don’t ask too many questions or you’ll never get to sleep
There’s a hole inside you, fill it
Shower up and shave
Put flowers on the grave
And ask the Lord to save his soul although you know it’s too late
Was it 27 times
Or was it 29
I heard the blade broke off inside the man
And he took a while to die
How did he get so low
Seems like just a week ago
We were 10 and 12 years old
He was sweet and soft
Shied away from the inside fastballs
And died doing life without parolе
Don’t wash the cast iron skillet
That dog bites my kid, I’ll kill it
Don’t walk whеre you can’t see your feet
Don’t ask questions, just believe it
Jamie found a boyfriend
With smiling eyes and dark skin
And her daddy never spoke another word to her again
The old man at the Quickstop
Lying to the county cops
And laughing like his soul was without sin
How did he get so low
Seems like just a week ago
She was sitting on your shoulders watching fireworks in the sky
He treats her like a queen
But you don’t know cause you ain’t seen
It’s hard to go through life without your daddy by your side
Don’t wash the cast iron skillet
This town won’t get no better, will it
She found love and it was simple as a weathervane
But her own family tried to kill it
Don’t wash the cast iron skillet
Don’t wash the cast iron skillet
Don’t wash the cast iron
Meet Me In Montauk 
I might have to check out that covers album myself!
You have made me an instant fan! Fierce intellect and merciless self-reflection? What more could a person hope for?