Jason Isbell

To say the least, Jason Isbell is the preeminent singer/songwriter of our time. Almost lost in the superb songwriting and flawless singing — is Jason Isbell’s world class guitar playing. If you get the opportunity to watch a Jason Isbell play live — you’ll be schooled on a multitude of guitar styles at once: flat-picking, finger-style, country, and blues. Even as his side-man guitarist, Sadler Vaden, takes the bulk of the lead guitar duties.

Pancho & Lefty is the most enduring and well-known song written by country music artist, Townes Van Zandt. Isbell’s guitar line is a beautiful, finger-style masterpiece. He gave it the full whimsical James Taylor treatment.

I really love playing this piece, and I hope to post more of Jason Isbell’s music in the future.

How to play Pancho & Lefty by Jason Isbell and Elizabeth Cook

The guitar tab for Pancho & Lefty is beautifully written across two pages. I’m essentially playing one long passage, 4 times through.

The finger-style is a little tricky, so I’ve but divisions in the TAB where necessary to make it easier to read. Additionally, I’ve given you the name of the chord shape above the TAB so you can get into position more efficiently.

Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

**Jason Isbell: Pancho & Lefty (guitar line)

Pancho and Lefty is played in standard tuning with a capo on the 3rd fret.