In what will be their first announced appearance together in more than 18 years, Drive-By Truckers will perform with former member Jason Isbell Dec. 2 on CBS’ The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. The pairing comes in support of tomorrow’s release of The Definitive Decoration Day, a four-LP boxed set celebrating the Truckers’ 2003 album of the same name.
“Although we have always remained friends with Jason, and honestly he and I are closer now than ever, this is our first ‘announced’ appearance together in nearly 20 years,” says lead Trucker Patterson Hood. “I consider Decoration Day to be our masterpiece, and he 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.”
Isbell, who left the Truckers in the spring of 2007 and has thrived as a solo artist ever since, has joined his former bandmates onstage for a few impromptu meetups over the years. The most recent was at the 2021 edition of Isbell’s Shoalsfest in Florence, Al., when he sang two songs with the group during their set.
Decoration Day was the follow-up to 2001’s Southern Rock Opera. As SPIN wrote in a contemporary review, on that album, “these Alabama ass whuppers made fiery peace with lingering rebel ghosts.” But on Decoration Day, Hood, Isbell and core member Mike Cooley took on “more personal demons. From the false bravado of Hood’s ‘Heathens’ to the bittersweet father’s lament in Isbell’s ‘Outfit,’ the three guitarist/songwriters deliver blistering tales of child abuse, tour-strained relationships, farm foreclosure and the elusiveness of ‘home.’It’s a raging, ragged Behind the Music — 15 coal-black odes to the casualties that art leaves behind and that life can’t avoid.”
The Truckers are off the road for the time being, but Hood is in the midst of a solo tour with the Hold Steady’s Craig Finn through Nov. 22 in Austin. As for the hard-touring Isbell, he’ll embark on an extensive 2026 tour on Jan. 14 in Durham, N.C.