Jason Isbell tour: Musician brings 'The Nashville Sound' to Phoenix

Ed Masley | The Republic | azcentral.com

Jason Isbell picked up two more Grammys earlier this year, including Best Americana Album for "The Nashville Sound," his second effort in a row to win that honor.

Isbell's sixth release since parting ways with Drive-By Truckers also earned the celebrated singer-songwriter – whose music couldn't sound much less like what's become of mainstream country – the first nomination he's ever received from the Country Music Association Awards.

He didn't win that one, but he was happy to be nominated.

"I think that happened because a lot of the people who nominate artists and albums are songwriters," he says. "And I think they appreciate someone who works really hard on songs."

Then, with a laugh, he adds, "They know there’s probably not a whole lot of money in it so they don’t try to duplicate it very often. But it was flattering."

He couldn't make it to the CMA Awards. So Isbell's wife, Amanda Shires, put in an appearance, creating a buzz with a T-shirt that featured a line from a song on Isbell's album – "Mama wants to change that Nashville sound."

As Isbell recalls with a laugh, "There was one publication that said she was the best-dressed. And then, I believe it was E Online that said she was the worst. So she was pretty proud of that."

Shires is a celebrated artist in her own right, a singer-songwriter who's opening her husband's current tour in addition to playing fiddle and singing as part of the 400 Unit, Isbell's band.

The couple live in Nashville with their daughter, Mercy Rose, a 2-year-old who inspired the writing of at least two standouts on her father's latest Grammy-winning effort.

Isbell moved to Nashville in 2011. But he's an Alabama native, born and raised in an area that may be best known in the music world for its proximity to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio.

Before joining Patterson Hood in Drive-By Truckers, Isbell would sit in at restaurant gigs, while still a teen, with members of the Muscle Shoals community, including session bassist David Hood, his future bandmate's dad.

Aretha Franklin and Muscle Shoals

When Isbell checks in from the road, the music world is still in mourning from the previous day's news that Aretha Frankin, whose breakthrough hit, "I Never Loved A Man (the Way I Love You)," was recorded at that studio, had died.

Isbell responded with a heartfelt tribute via Twitter: "Largely due to the work Aretha did at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals," he tweeted, "I’ve always been proud to tell people where I grew up. We’re all lucky we lived at the same time she did."

Largely due to the work Aretha did at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, I’ve always been proud to tell people where I grew up. We’re all lucky we lived at the same time she did. — Jasoñ Isbell (@JasonIsbell) August 16, 2018

That seemed as good a way as any to begin the conversation.

Q: That was a really sweet tribute to Aretha. Is the musical heritage of that area something you were aware of growing up or something you discovered later?

A: I think everybody around that area was aware of it. I wasn’t really ready for that music until I got older because there’s a lot of stuff in the R&B of the '60s, especially, that you don’t really understand until you’re grown up. That’s one of the beautiful things about it, is that it keeps opening itself up to new meaning the older you get and the more you learn about the time that they were living in.

I knew about the studios when I was a kid, partly because I grew up in a musical family. Then, when I got in my teens and started playing out, a lot of the people who played on those records were still working.

And we didn’t have much of a live music scene, so they were playing in restaurants and places where I could go hang out when I was 15 or 16 and listen to them play what I thought were covers. But a lot of those songs were things that they had originally played on – David Hood and Spooner Oldham. So we got lucky that way for sure.

Q: It sounds like those experiences much have played a role in shaping your own musical identity.

A: For sure. I mean, I realized at a pretty early age that I was not gonna be capable of singing that type of music. Or writing that type of music, really. I wouldn’t want to attempt to make music that sounded like Otis Redding just because I’m not qualified. But I try to keep a lot of those principles in mind when I’m writing a song or performing one.

Q: What drew you more toward the Americana sound?

A: I was a big fan of certain types of country music growing up. I probably listened to more rock and pop than I did country music but I always liked Merle Haggard, George Jones and Hank Williams.

Later on, when the Uncle Tupelo split happened and then there was Wilco and Son Volt, that was right around the time I started college and I really fell in love with those albums. Then, when I joined the Drive-By Truckers, we were in a lot of the same circles as a lot of those bands, making a similar type of music.

So I think in a way I just fell into that more than anything else, based on the types of instruments I liked to play and the fact that I had grown up learning gospel music and old-time music from my grandfather and aunts and uncles and the people in my family.

The outward-looking 'Nashville Sound'

Q: You open the album with “Last of My Kind.” And I know it’s a character sketch but do you see any part of yourself in that character’s longing for the way things used to be?

The person narrating that story is not me by any stretch of the imagination. But there’s always gonna be a part of me in my songs. The only way I think I’m able to get those songs right, when I do, is by putting a lot of myself in there. But the part of myself in there would not be the one that wants to go back to a simpler time. It’s the one that doesn’t necessarily understand what everyone is laughing at (laughs).

Q: This album is more outward-looking than the albums that preceded it. Did something in particular inspire you to move in that direction?

A: Well, I didn’t have thematic concerns going into the songwriting process. I was just trying to write the best songs possible, one song at a time. There could’ve been an unconscious part of my mind that was more concerned with the state of the world than with my own personal happiness and satisfaction.

I think when you get older, if you’re doing it right, some of your problems get solved or at least you learn how to live with them. You see that a lot in songwriters.

They start off writing a lot about themselves and then their scope widens. With the exception of Bob Dylan. He started out writing about big cultural and social themes and then wound up writing about himself. But most of us go the other way around just because if you’re working hard on being a better person, it seems kind of pointless at 35, 36, 37 years old to still be talking about getting your heart broken on every song.

Responding to the Trump election

Q: I know “White Man’s World” was written in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election, but it feels like several songs on this release address the sort of feelings that led a lot of voters to embrace Make America Great Again. Are these songs an attempt to reach those people?

A: You know, I’m just trying to say my piece so I can sleep at night. There might be a few people out there who are open-minded enough yet still on that side of the fence, but it seems like most of the folks who are still supporting Trump at this point are beyond reason, obviously.

But I need to be able to tell my kids and grandkids what I did and how I didn’t keep my mouth shut. So that was important to me. When the election happened, I was at home with my daughter. And I was really glad that I didn’t have to explain it to my daughter because she was an infant, but I knew that someday I would have to.

Getting America back on the high road

Q: You also sing "I hope the high road leads you home again." Are you optimistic that America can get back to a higher road?

A: If we don’t get blown up first, yes. I know it seems like now we’re at the lowest point we could be as far as communicating with each other and racial issues and social issues, but that’s simply not the case.

It’s not as bad as it’s been. But we’re gonna have to stay alive long enough and keep our resources available long enough to learn how to get along with each other again. That’s quite a challenge and I’m a little afraid that somebody’s gonna blow us up. I think Trump might be just barely functional enough to get us all killed. My hope is that he’s too stupid for anybody to pay much attention to him in global leadership. But I don’t know. Somebody might be listening enough to get pissed off. I have to tell myself that even the most evil despot in the world probably looks at Donald Trump and thinks “This guy’s a buffoon.”

And that’s why we’re still walking around breathing. It’s a sad type of optimism to have.

Q: You end the album with a song for your daughter, telling her “I hope you find something to love / Something to do when you feel like giving up.” I assume music is the thing you turn to when you feel like giving up?

A: Definitely. I mean, it’s a job, too, but it’s definitely still the thing that gets me through and helps me either distract myself from my problems or sort through them. I’ve tried really hard to keep the business aspect of all of it from diluting that joy. And I think I’ve done a good job. I don’t necessarily get as much time to play as I did when I was a teenager but I still enjoy it just as much, if not more.

Red means stop! Green means go! Orange means give it the gas! #whoops pic.twitter.com/XPQTtgfz6d — Jasoñ Isbell (@JasonIsbell) July 23, 2018

Isbell on Nashville and country

Q: You recorded "The Nashville Sound" at the home of the Nashville Sound, RCA Studio A. Was that a big deal for you?

A: Yeah it was. For historical reasons but also because a good friend of ours, Aubrey Preston, put together a group of investors and saved the place from being demolished and turned into condos.

And they put Dave Cobb in charge, so it felt like I was working with my friends and being a part of a resurgence of that particular studio that I think was necessary for Music Row and a really good thing for Nashville in general.

Plus, you know, a lot of really great records have been made in there. Amanda made hers there. Chris Stapleton has made his last couple albums there. Just a ton of really good work. So I’m happy to be part of that.

Q: You mentioned Stapleton. Are you a fan?

A: Yeah. I like Chris. We hang out with him when we’re all home. I’ve known Chris for not a terribly long time. But before he was the biggest country star in the world, he opened for us at the Ryman and we’ve done a few shows together since then. I like what Chris does. I think he’s a great singer, an incredibly powerful singer and a really skilled songwriter too.

Q: It gives me hope that a guy that sounds like that gets airplay.

A: Totally. Yeah, when that record blew up, “Traveller,” man, we were all jumping for joy because it was like “Well, (expletive), people still want to hear this.”

Q: Have you thought at all about your next new studio release?

A: You know, I’ve been writing some and taking a lot of notes. I haven’t thought about it more than that. At this stage, I sort of go in phases, and the phase I’m in now, I’m just trying to gather information and bring as much into my brain as possible because I feel like a lot of good input makes for good output, eventually. It’s about interacting with the world and other people so far.

Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28.

Where: Symphony Hall, 75 N. 2nd St. Phoenix.

Admission: $38.50-$59.

Details: 877-840-0457, phoenix.ticketforce.com.

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