During his years with Georgia alt-country torchbearers Drive-By Truckers and in several solo outings, Jason Isbell has taken the notion of being a “son of the South” literally. His songs are portraits of legacies passed down by taciturn Southern fathers: “Outfit” remembers rules to live by; “Decoration Day” spits the venom of a multigenerational family feud; “TVA” marks the passing from agriculture to industry facilitated by the New Deal. Where his fathers are hardened and set, Isbell’s narrators seem set adrift by life lessons that don’t apply to the modern world. They find themselves in war zones and barrooms, drifting through back roads and motel rooms. His latest, Live From Alabama, offers a potential glimpse of the live show he’ll bring to Philly when he plays downstairs at World Cafe Live on Monday — a set peppered with covers of Neil Young and Candi Staton.
Mon., Dec. 10, 8 p.m., with Communist Daughter, $15-$24, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.
