![]() ![]() “Because I'm supposed to keep hope,” he continues. “I feel guilty for feeling the way I have. In a separate call, Shires says, “It sounds tougher to me than it does pessimistic.” It’s certainly tougher on its characters, from the scorching “Death Wish,” through the sunshine guitars and nightmare lyrics of “Middle of the Morning,” and the mournful recollections of “White Beretta.” Even the sweetest song on the album, “Strawberry Woman,” ends seeing the title character “with your back to me.” Where did this come from? What changed for Isbell? Now, the narrators don’t seem to expect things to get better. Even the self-indictment of the opening track, “What Have I Done to Help?”, was rooted in the idea that help is possible, growth is possible. His previous album, 2020’s Reunions, glowed with a quiet optimism. But when the conversation turns to our cloudy present, he locks on the phone, eyes drilling into mine. When he’s recalling a memory or geeking out about gear, he tends to look just past the camera, as if conjuring the stories out of the air. “And I think a lot of people feel that way.” “I feel like I'm constantly pushing against a brick wall,” he says. All the public tragedies – the school shootings (“Save the World”), the insidious racism (“Cast Iron Skillet”), the medical establishments that profit off addiction (“King of Oklahoma”) – are inflection points in his characters’ journeys. He dives into many of these issues on Weathervanes, though he writes about characters first. The severity of those problems has changed, but most of them have gotten more dire.” “We have the same problems that we had 10 years ago, and I think that's a really bad sign. “There's not a whole awful lot of positives out there,” he tells me over Zoom. ![]() These days, it’s our communal demons that won’t let him be. He’s also banished many a personal demon, something well-documented in his songs. More precious than all that gear, he has a ferociously talented partner and wife in Amanda Shires a beloved daughter and despite an antagonistic relationship with country radio, Isbell’s trophy case continues filling up. In the process, he’s also turned his personal life into a private sanctuary. Isbell is on the kind of torrid run that would have fans talking about Cleveland in the same tones that others might mention heaven.įrom his early days as Drive-By Truckers' hard-charging prodigy through a solo career the formation of his electrifying band the 400 Unit the creation of his own label, Southeastern and now, with Weathervanes, eight original albums to his name, Jason Isbell has built his audience one fan at a time, lick by searing guitar lick. ![]() This gear has deep connections to the beginning of rock music, with enough decades of history between them to fill out an exhibit in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. “If people saw this, they would lose their mind,” he says, more to himself than me. One of the first 10 Marshall Bluesbreakers ever crafted by Jim Marshall himself. He’s humming away at an e-cigarette in front of a lineup of home amplifiers that he happily calls “disgusting.” A 1961 Vox AC-15. White vapor curls out of Jason Isbell’s mouth and plays in the bristles of his mustache. ![]()
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