Drive-By Truckers announces new album + reunion performance with Jason Isbell
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The classic Southern rock band with deep ties to Alabama + the Shoals area will soon reunite with its former guitarist and songwriter Jason Isbell.
The Drive-By Truckers announced it will take the stage with Isbell, a former band member, to play on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. The performance is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 2
“I consider Decoration Day to be our masterpiece, and (Jason Isbell) was such an integral part of that album that it’s wonderful that he’s able to join us in celebrating this release. Colbert has always been our favorite, so we are really psyched to be on his show again, with our previous appearance being the week of the election in 2016. This is a rare treat for us (and you).”
Patterson Hood, Drive-By Truckers
The Definitive Decoration Day
The announcement comes at the same time as the band’s re-release of the album Decoration Day—the first album recorded with Isbell in the band. He is credited for writing the title track and Outfit.
The new album, which is titled The Definitive Decoration Day + is available now, features remastered tracks along with a recorded live set from an Athens bar in 2002.
The previously unreleased songs are a stripped-down, acoustic performance from the band’s hometown, recorded a year before Decoration Day’s release. It includes the band performing several of these songs for the first time ever.
“We decided that it would be fun to go play an acoustic late-night show at the tiny Flicker Bar, less than a block away from our beloved 40 Watt Club. We ended up playing a set that included all but one song off of our new, but still unfinished album. I didn’t even know until recently that there was an existing tape of the show. This is a beautiful document of our band at a very crucial and joyous moment in time. I’m so happy that it exists.”
Patterson Hood
Jason Isbell
While the Truckers have made plenty of new music and tour without Isbell, they have remained close. Hood and Isbell have played shows together along with fellow DBT member Mike Cooley. Most recently, Hood made an appearance with Isbell at ShoalsFest 2025.
“The legacy of the band has definitely grown and there’s a new appreciation for the Truckers and especially for that era of Decoration Day. Without them you wouldn’t have the kind of work being done by MJ Lenderman and Wednesday and Waxahatchee and a bunch of other acts. I can hear the Truckers in all that music.”
Jason Isbell
However, Isbell has not had an official appearance with the Drive-By Truckers since Isbell 2007 when he was forced out of the band due to excessive drinking + drug use.
Since then, Isbell has had a stellar solo career which includes several personal songs about his journey to sobriety. His most recent album, Foxes in the Snow, was recently nominated for three Grammys.
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