Jason Isbell Quotes
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When I stopped drinking... there were so many things I had to face that I didn't even realize were part of my makeup before. When you do that and have any changes that severe, you lose a lot of things, both good and bad.
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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 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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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 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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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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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 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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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 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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For any writer, a red pen is such a trigger.
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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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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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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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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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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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Rehab is like a divorce.
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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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I find the ones that have the most emotional weight, the heaviest songs. For some reason, for me, they're usually the ones I write the quickest. I put more work into uplifting material, I think, sometimes.
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Right when I started touring, there was this wariness I had of the world outside of my small town. But I'm not that person anymore, and I was never completely that person.