Fans of Jason Isbell's work over the years are by now well aware of his departure last spring from the band Drive-By Truckers and subsequent formation of his group, the 400 Unit. Coming from a situation where he was one of three strong singer/songwriters with the Truckers, it's easy to imagine, and understandable, that Isbell might have saved some plum songs for his solo moment, but Isbell's album "Sirens Of The Ditch" was actually under construction before he left that band -- and with their help.

"I didn't really hold anything for it," said Isbell, speaking from Birmingham, Ala. "I went in, in two- or three-day bursts in the studio when I was home, and if the Truckers weren't working on a record or touring I would go in and spend some time working on this. A lot of the Truckers, they helped me with the album."

You could call "Sirens" a Southern Rock album, if that's the tag that guitars-and-a-Southern-accent prompts, but that only means that Isbell is in good company with folks like Ryan Adams and Steve Earle. With this record, he sank into the long-sought task of deciding how stylistically to approach each of his 11 songs.

"I tried really hard to, on a song-by-song basis, record them in a way that would turn out the best. I think that's pretty much all we ever tried to do when we were with the Truckers. It's just, sometimes when you're recording somebody else's song, they got to decide how that happened. On this one they were all mine, so I got to decide how that happened."

Isbell and the members of the 400 Unit (named after the psych ward of a rehabilitation hospital in north Alabama) had known each other for years after living in the same area, and had played together at various times, but the past year has given all of them the time and the concert stages to gel as a permanent band. Word of mouth has been drawing crowds to their shows on the strength of the solid "Sirens", but Isbell readily acknowledges that Truckers fans have also been turning out to see their redirected old friend.

"I think quite a bit of them, yeah," said Isbell.  "I also think there's some people who might pick up on this that haven't really gotten into the Truckers thing. I've seen a pretty good number of folks who, this is the first thing they've heard of me doing, which is kind of nice."

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit with Mozely Roze

When:    Friday, 6/20 at 6:30

Where:   Friday Cheers at Brown's Island; main entrance at 7th and Tredegar streets

Cost:      Free

Details:   www.venturerichmond.com or 788-6466