Jason Isbell Quotes
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An incredible number of people have raised children who aren't too screwed up. Surely, I won't be the worst at it.
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If you're going to write, you're going to have to force yourself to really study the world.
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I think I affiliate with somebody like Ben Howard. He's quite a bit younger than I am, but I think what he's doing is in a very similar tradition.
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It's nice to feel like you have more in common with people rather than more differences.
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My favorite thing about going to concerts has always been looking around and thinking that there's a lot of people in here that are very much like me, a lot of people in here I could have a full conversation with.
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Most of the people that I spend my time around are people who listen to a whole lot of different kinds of music.
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I have a lot of reactions to the outside world that I don't feel like would be appropriate for songs: things I'm not interested in writing about, things I don't want to think about any longer than 15 or 20 seconds.
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People love to be listened to and represented, and they love it when they feel like you have some of the same problems that they do. Everybody deals with things like romantic difficulties in relationships and death and cancer and abuse.
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I always think that's neat, when you can hear a story told from different points of view, different perspectives.
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I didn't know what to expect when we first started touring behind 'Southeastern' because you don't want to lull anybody to sleep or lose their attention. But it's really been incredible how the crowds seem to be just as excited for the slow, sad songs as they are for the old rockers.
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I've always known that there are conflicting issues going on where I'm from. It's always been that way.
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Sometimes I leave an encounter or a conversation hoping that I didn't come off as above my raisin' - hoping that I didn't make somebody feel bad for not having as much as we're fortunate to have.
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I've always wanted to pull off 'No One is to Blame' by Howard Jones. I've done that a couple times in solo shows, but I can't figure out how to do that with a full band and make it work.
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What having a child - and especially a daughter - has done is lifted more of the veil for me: allowed me to see things on another level compared to how I used to see them.
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I know it's financially lucrative to go out on my own, but I don't like it. It's really hard work, just the performance aspect. I like people who look like they've been together for too long and sound like they've been together too long. I like rock n' roll bands.
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As far as being satisfied, I just don't think you should work towards being satisfied. If everybody were satisfied, we'd never get anything done.
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For any writer, a red pen is such a trigger.
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I think great songs appeal to people at any age. Kids love the Beatles, too. Kids love Tom T. Hall. Of course, Tom T. wrote some things that were specifically for kids. But I think kids recognize quality more than they get credit for sometimes.
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I don't think I'm a country artist, really. I'm a country person, but I don't think I'm necessarily a country singer or musician.
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Rehab is like a divorce.
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You always have a lot of time on the road, and you have to fill that time up with something.
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I've tried to be open to what's going on and paying close attention, not letting things that inspire me to pass me by.
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As you get up in your thirties, the van touring is not a possibility anymore. We can't all be Mike Watt.
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Terrible things happen all of the time, and they can happen in a second. The best thing is to be prepared to react. If you try to control every little thing, you're going to end up miserable - and you're going to fail.