Music Review: “Speed Trap Town” by Jason Isbell


TRACK 8

“Speed Trap Town”

From Jason Isbell’s Something More Than Free

Southeastern Records

Liner notes: Isbell embodies bedraggled resilience on an aching acoustic ballad about a toxic home, singing, “It never did occur to me to leave before tonight.”

Behind the music: The Alabama-born singer was only the third songwriting option in Drive-By Truckers, after Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley, but has blossomed as a solo artist.

Check it out if you like: Underdog champions (Steve Earle, John Mellencamp).

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And the essential ingredient that makes all this possible? Readers like you.

It’s reader support that enables Mother Jones to devote the time and resources to report the facts that are too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient for other news outlets to uncover. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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