A biography for Jason Isbellhasn’t been written yet.
“Any narrative, whether it's fiction or not, you have to approach it as though it really happened to you. I think that's the only way to get inside the characters and make the narrative work. It's a storytelling tradition, and I think to come off as genuine then you have to really approach it that way.”
“It occurred to me the thing that broke my heart the most was when I grew up and realized everything wasn't an adventure. I got to a certain age and realized I couldn't be Indiana Jones.”
“Physical labor, manual labor - if you can stay close to those folks, there's always plenty to write about, 'cause their issues are real issues.”
“When I joined the Truckers, I was 21 and riding in the van with guys who were a generation older than me.”
“Good sounds, they just make you feel good.”
“I don't have certain kinds of fatigue. My focus stays strong - I can work on a song for six or seven hours in one day and not get bored or tired of it.”
“When somebody asks me what a song or a line is about, I feel like I'm not done writing it yet.”
“As you get up in your thirties, the van touring is not a possibility anymore. We can't all be Mike Watt.”
“If you're somebody who writes songs or writes fiction, a writer that people pay for your opinion in any way, you shouldn't be the least bit uncomfortable giving it to them. People want songwriters to tell them how they think and how they feel. That's what a song is. That's what I want to hear in a song.”
“I don't remember a lot of the good times from my days with the Truckers.”
“I like to play pool. When the ball goes in the pocket, you win.”
“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.”
“I think politics are a very personal thing.”
“I'd rather have 1000 of our fans than 10,000 Kid Rock fans!”
“When I was still drinking, I thought I was kind of in control of everything in my life and other people's lives and realized at some point that that just wasn't the case at all.”
“There are definitely some nights where the show is over, and you're on the bus or a hotel room, and it's sort of a shock to go from being in the atmosphere of a club or a theater and be at your own show to being by yourself in a hotel room.”
“Early on, I had to structure my ideas of success around things like, 'Can I go back and listen to the record months or years after I made it and still get some enjoyment out of it?' Or 'Have I said what I wanted to say on this album? Did it connect with people on a personal level, even if it's a small number of people?'”
“The good thing about songwriting is you don't have to delineate between what's true and what's fiction; records aren't put on the shelf that way. Books are, movies are, but records aren't.”
“I just try to keep making good records, try to write songs the best way I can and take my job seriously. Like most people take their jobs.”
“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.”