Person in a Band You Don't Know is No Longer in Said Band

This is Jason Isbell. Doesn't he look happy? This apparently was taken shortly after he was told he was no longer in the Drive-By Truckers. For those of you who have never heard of the Drive-By Truckers (DBT for short), they are one of, if not, my favorite band. One thing that makes (or made) them unique was that they had 3 guitar player/singer/songwriters. Jason was one of the 3. He is probably younger than the other 2 by maybe 10 years.

Jason is coming out with a solo album, but that's not necessarily why he is no longer with the band. In fact, it appears that nobody knows why he is no longer in the band, that is, except for the band. While I guess I can get by not knowing, I would just like some closure. Patterson Hood, the patriarch of the band, put up an "important announcement" on the band's website, stating, "The split, which I consider extremely amicable is the result of a period of personal and artistic growth from all sides which has left us with differing dreams and goals."

Maybe on Tuesday, after 4 days of thinking about it, Jason thinks it's amicable. Looking at that picture, which was posted on his myspace webpage late Friday night after the news went out doesn't look like it so much. Looks like Jason was caught a little off guard. Or maybe that's just coincidental that he's holding up an announcement of his solo album and looking all defiant with the middle finger and cigarette dangle. Right.

I've only seen DBT once, almost a year ago in Chicago. They played pretty much everything I wanted them to. Not a lot of filler, in my opinion. The thing that I enjoyed the most was the backing vocals Jason provided. I actually think there was some harmonizing going on in "Zip City," one of my top 3 favorite songs by them. So, yeah, I kind of will miss some of those minor nuances that Jason provided.

I don't mean to stir shit up, but I just would prefer some closure. That standard Patterson prattle about "roads and dreams" sounds like bullshit to me. Yes, I will still like Jason's stuff and DBT stuff. To be honest, Jason had some great songs, but then, all three have great songs.

I just want to know a basic reason why this happened, and I'll never know. Somehow, if it ever does wash out, it will more than likely be the stupidest reason for letting somebody go. Something, that given time and some perspective, could have prevented this split.