Ravinia 2024 Issue 6

at the time. So it was a big decision, for sure—a really hard decision, because I wanted to be part of something more. “Although Drivin N Cryin is still a great band and still drawing audiences, they kinda took the ride already. I hadn’t taken the ride yet. I was 27, and Jason was 34 or something. I was closer to his age, and I just thought, ‘This is a group that seems like it’s heading upward.’ Kevin [Kinney, from Drivin N Cryin] gave me his blessing. He said, ‘If you get the opportunity to play with a songwrit- er of that caliber, you should do it.’ ” The 400 Unit was prepping to tour in support of Southeastern , an acous- tic-heavy record. “He’s more than capable of handling the guitar duties,” Vaden notes, “but I think Jason figured he’d need someone to play acoustic and electric to bring this record across live.” Vaden’s instincts about being “part of something more” proved more accurate than he’d even imagined. “I got South- eastern and I liked it,” he remembers, “but I didn’t think, ‘Oh my god, this is going to change everything.’ For me, it was like, ‘These are some really good songs, and I see what I can bring to the table.’ But then we started playing the shows, and I’m watching the crowds grow, little by little. As months went on, you could see it taking off in real time. It wasn’t Beatlemania, or like The Wonders in That Thing You Do —we were still set- ting up our own gear, you know?—but you could feel the excitement, and every show was packed.” The ride never really stopped. One year later, right after their own concert dates overseas, The 400 Unit opened for headliners Willie Nelson and Alison Krauss on that duo’s national tour, which brought them to Ravinia. “That was an amazing experience,” Vaden says with a fond chuckle. “That was one of our first tours with a bus taking us straight to the venues. We were all jacked up, like: We’re playing in front of some legends, so we’ve got to step up!” In 2021, Vaden got to experience a full-circle moment that connected his 400 Unit era with his earlier days. The year prior, in the run-up to the presi- dential election, Isbell tweeted, “If Biden wins Georgia, I’m gonna make a charity Jason Isbell in 2014 covers album of my favorite Georgia songs … And damn is that gonna be fun.” The 13-track charity album—the proceeds were donated to three orgs: Black Voters Matter, Fair Fight, and Georgia Stand Up—featured Isbell and guest stars such as Brandi Carlile, Béla Fleck, and Chris Thile, all covere- ing songs originally recorded by the Peach State’s musical all-stars, including R.E.M., the Indigo Girls, Gladys Knight & the Pips, James Brown, Otis Redding, and The Black Crowes. As part of the Georgia Blue album, The 400 Unit recorded “Honeysuckle Blue,” a Drivin N Cryin song. “And I got to sing it,” Vaden says. Better still, “It’s become part of our set these last couple years. That was really fun, and it’s a nice homage to Kevin.” And now there’s Weathervanes , which the band recorded the summer after Georgia Blue . This marked anoth- er evolution for The 400 Unit because Isbell decided to produce it himself. “ Weathervanes was a big change, man. It really does feel more like a band record,” Vaden says. “I feel like everyone was having a good time. We were all adding our own personality to it. I’m not sure if we’d ever really captured that before [in studio]. I think a big thing for Jason was trying to bring across what we do live onto the record—actual guitar jams happening on the record. That was a huge change, and we all have great memories of recording it.” Native Chicagoan Web Behrens has spent most of his journalism career covering arts and culture. His work has appeared in the pages of the Chicago Tribune , Time Out Chicago , Crain’s Chicago Business , and The Advocate and Chicago magazines. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2 – SEPTEMBER 15, 2024 12 ERICENGLAND