Jason Isbell’s plans for Charlotte shows? ‘To make something a little bit different’

Time seems so relative these days, but the last time Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit performed in Charlotte was in September 2018. And the last time they played Ovens Auditorium was on back-to-back nights in 2017, in support of the band’s Grammy Award-winning album “The Nashville Sound.”

Since then, Isbell has released only one album of original music: 2020’s “Reunions.” (Isbell released “Georgia Blue” this past October, making good on his promise to put out an album of cover songs by Georgia artists if Joe Biden won the state in the 2020 presidential election.)

But Isbell tells the Observer that when he and his ultra-talented band take the Ovens stage on Jan. 21 and 22, Charlotte concertgoers shouldn’t expect to hear the same acclaimed alt-country-rock songs as they did the last few times.

You see, just like many of his fans, when coming up with the set list for an upcoming show, Isbell checks setlist.fm to see what songs he played on his last few visits, to “try to make something a little bit different.” And with the release of his latest album, there’s plenty of new material (many would call it some of his best) for the band to perform.

While there are undoubtedly tunes the band will play on both nights here, songs from “Reunions” — like the reflective “Dreamsicle,” the edgy “What’ve I Done to Help,” the somber “Only Children,” the anthemic “Be Afraid,” the tender “Letting You Go,” and the candid “It Gets Easier” — should be more than enough to satisfy fans that have waited longer than they would have liked to hear Isbell in-person.

As Isbell puts it, even his most deep-rooted fans might consider attending both nights to hear some of the band’s “deep cuts that people haven’t heard in a while.”

In addition to the prodigious body of work Isbell has generated, listeners would be hard-pressed to miss the depth and significance of his latest album. According to Isbell, “there are a lot of ghosts on this album. Sometimes the songs are about the ghosts of people ... but they’re also about who I used to be.” “Reunions” is about “reconnecting with the person I was.”

He sings about what almost assuredly was his experience growing up in and around Green Hill, Ala., with many of the album’s songs reflecting a more complex version of the small-town experience in the deep South.

Perhaps more notably, some of Isbell’s latest songs revisit his well-documented battles with addiction and recovery.

They’re subjects he says that for a long time he shied away from or tried to block from his memory because he felt they were too dangerous to go near and might put his recovery at risk. But on “Reunions,” Isbell is as emotionally vulnerable as ever, drawing his listeners into the world he creates by using prescient lyrics and heartfelt vocals without turning the subjects of addiction and recovery into cliches.

Now married, and a little bit older, Isbell says he’s able to acknowledge there were good things about those times that he admittedly misses. In particular, he says he misses staying up until 2 a.m. with a bunch of people, playing songs for each other; he regrets that he will never fully be a part of that scene again.

Of course, he’s not missing out on as much of that as he might be otherwise, because of the pandemic — which Isbell describes as being “weird and complicated and everyone having a swab up their nose all day long.” (In fact, the singer recently announced on Twitter that he’d tested positive for a breakthrough case of Covid-19, forcing him to postpone a few concerts and cancel one in Asheville.)

Yet Isbell is enjoying being back on tour, and he says he’s seeing joy reflected back at him.

“It’s wild,” he says, “how excited people are to be at a show again.”

Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21, and Saturday, Jan. 22.

Where: Ovens Auditorium, 2700 E. Independence Blvd.

Tickets: $42.50 each, plus fees. www.ticketmaster.com; 704-335-3100.

Opening act: Adia Victoria, a Spartanburg-born singer who also happens to sing about ghosts in the South’s past.

Vaccination and face-mask requirements: All attendees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with the final dose having been received no later than Jan. 6. Acceptable forms of proof include your original card, a copy of your card, or a photo of your card. The name on your card must match the name on your ID. Face masks must be worn at all times, except when actively eating or drinking.

This story was originally published January 13, 2022 at 2:55 PM.