SPEND time in Jason Isbell’s company and one thing becomes abundantly clear — comfort zones are NOT for him.
It helps explain why this driven soul has become one of the most respected songwriters of his generation.
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And why the Alabama-born artist made his latest album with only an old acoustic guitar for company.
The stripped-back, exquisitely realised Foxes In The Snow is the latest addition to the fine body of work he began assembling after leaving Southern rockers Drive-By Truckers in 2007.
Followers of Isbell will know that much of his recent recorded output has been honed in the company of his ace band, The 400 Unit (named after a hospital psychiatric ward, as you do).
They backed him on his previous album, 2023’s self-produced Weathervanes, which landed to widespread acclaim.
But now, rather than repeat the process, he has pushed himself into uncharted territory.
“This is the first time I’ve done an album with just me and a guitar,” he says in his engaging Southern drawl.
“Creatively, I’m always trying to find ways of not getting stale. So the goal was to do something I hadn’t done before — and that was tough.
“I’m 46. I’ve made a bunch of records. The easiest thing would have been to maintain the status quo but I wanted to face the fear of failing.”
‘I decided to go it alone . . . no hiding’
I’m meeting Isbell in the discreet surroundings of one of London’s most refined hotels, not far from the bustle of Oxford Street.
Tall with greying hair and dressed in jeans, black shirt and black jacket, he cuts a distinguished looking figure.
It’s the morning after his captivating solo acoustic show at the Barbican and, over flat whites, we get stuck into his latest project.
He says that 2013’s intimate Southeastern, (which ranks among Rolling Stone magazine’s top 500 albums of all time), is the closest he has come to Foxes In The Snow.
The last year’s been tough, I got a divorce [from singer Amanda Shires]. I moved house and had to negotiate seeing our kid.
“But there were other things happening on that album,” stresses the singer who has made Nashville, aka Music City, his home. “This time, I decided to go it alone. There was no hiding.”
That meant five days at New York’s fabled Electric Lady Studios with a 1940 all-mahogany Martin 0-17 and a bunch of heartfelt songs that dive headlong into life’s big issues — most notably love and loss.
“The last year’s been tough,” he admits. “I got a divorce [from singer Amanda Shires]. I moved house and had to negotiate seeing our kid.
“It’s been very difficult but luckily I could see that train coming from very far away and I knew what to do. I was able to talk to someone about how I felt — and the work has helped me, too.”
Isbell’s comments give a clue to the album title, of which he says: “I like to use part of a song for the title if I can and Foxes In The Snow felt like something beautiful but threatening.
“This era of my life could be considered beautiful, certainly career wise and creatively, but it’s also got teeth. If I don’t watch out, I’ll get bitten.”
Right from the stark a cappella opening bars of first track Bury Me, there’s a rawness and vulnerability about the eleven tracks on Foxes In The Snow.
When I mention this to Isbell, he says: “I’m trying to be honest and, yeah, there are things on this record that make me very uncomfortable. As soon as I got done with it, I called my best friend and said, ‘Am I crazy?’
“And he replied, ‘No, you’re just doing your job, just like you have done from the beginning’.
“I wanted to make something very human that had flaws but, at the same time, I want whoever is listening to realise that I gave it a lot of time and attention.”
Perhaps the most soul-baring new composition is True Believer, a tear-stained break-up song which he chose to close his London show with.
“It was tough the first time I did it live, a few weeks ago in Mexico City,” reflects Isbell. “But I’ve had a lot of practice playing heavy songs.”
He adds: “There’s joy even in the saddest song. The act of singing about these things is like a celebration of surviving.”
This prompts him to consider the challenges faced by 21st Century songwriters, following in the footsteps of masters of their craft.
He says: “You listen to the greats like Joni Mitchell, Randy Newman or Leonard Cohen and realise they’ve covered pretty much everything.
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“But their lives and my life and your life are extremely different, so the more open you are with the details, the better chance you have of doing something that hasn’t been done before.
“If I’m trying to write something that just sounds like a Jason Isbell song, that ain’t getting me anywhere!”
For Isbell, his songwriting journey has benefited from life experience and all the bumps in the road that come with it.
He says: “When you’re 18, 19, 20 years old, your personal life is not necessarily complicated. Mine wasn’t but it is now.
“I can look at it with some wisdom and write songs that are earnest, open and vulnerable but not bitter or maudlin or wallowing in self-pity.”
‘I’ve been a fan of Charli XCX for years’
Though Foxes In The Snow serves as a showcase for his dazzling guitar skills and growing prowess as a singer, there’s another crucial factor to its success.
It’s loaded with the kind of hooks you’d find on a pop record.
I’ve been a Charli XCX fan for years, I ran into her in a hotel basement gym when she was working on Brat. I talked to her for a while — we did push-ups next to each other — and I was just fanning out!
For this, he gives credit to a special person in his life. “My daughter’s nine and when I was taking her to school in the morning, she’d want to hear all the pop hits,” he explains.
“So, I put on all the Apple Music pop songs. After I dropped her off, I would leave it on because I was thinking, ‘This makes me feel pretty good’.”
Isbell smiles when he recalls how it used to be. “Normally, before she came along, I’d drive around listening to Townes Van Zandt in the morning — it’s a great option but not the happiest way to start the day.”
The late, great Texan songwriter Van Zandt was a master of the heartbreak song. Check out None But The Rain, For The Sake Of The Song or Loretta and you’ll get the drift.
I ask Isbell which pop artists he admires. “I’ve been a Charli XCX fan for years,” he replies “I ran into her in a hotel basement gym when she was working on Brat. I talked to her for a while — we did push-ups next to each other — and I was just fanning out!”
He continues: “I love Chappell Roan. I caught on to that one early because Justin Tranter and Dan Nigro, the songwriters with her on Good Luck Babe! and other songs, are really, really great.
“I’ve also been listening to Lola Young for a year and a half and now she’s finally got a hit. She’s really creative and smart.”
I suggest to Isbell that his new effort Eileen is rich in lyrical and instrumental hooks.
“All that stuff was informed by my daughter’s penchant for pop music,” he affirms.
“Those artists put a lot of work into hooks — that is where the meat of the song lives. And if you take something like that and plug it into a folk song, it can be really interesting.”
Also key to the creation of Foxes In The Snow was his disciplined approach, which meant sticking with the Martin acoustic guitar throughout.
“I’ve got a lot of really fun guitars now but I can’t play them if I’m trying to write a song,” says Isbell.
“I won’t even try to write on a 1959 Les Paul because I’m just going to sit there and play Led Zeppelin riffs all day.
‘I get to do this every day. Amazing’
“I immediately go back to being a 14-year-old and I don’t get any work done at all. I need to play a small, inexpensive, not really fun guitar.
“I wouldn’t call it discipline now — it’s more like a deal that I have struck with myself.”
Talk of his teenage self prompts Isbell to pay tribute to his parents who “were always there for me”.
At his London show, he recounted the hilarious story of a member of the audience who told his father, without knowing who he was, that he was “Jason Isbell’s biggest fan”.
His dad replied: “But you didn’t get to wipe has ass, did you?”
Isbell says: “My dad was 19 when I was born and my mom was 17. So, they were kids. They didn’t get everything right but they showed up, every day.
“Dad’s a worrier, still is. When I was growing up, he’d say, ‘This music thing is tough, you need something to fall back on’. He didn’t want me to be a house painter, which is what he was.
“But there came a point in my twenties when dad called me to say, ‘Don’t worry about the fall back any more’.
“That gave me the confidence to keep making music — and I thought I might as well be doing it the way I wanted to.
‘Every single person around me had been struggling. Every morning, they had nothing to look forward to. They got up to work at a factory or a gas station.
“And I get to do this every day of my life. It’s amazing!”
It was in 2001 that Isbell was invited to join Drive-By Truckers, who, he says, were making “Southern music with a punk ethos”.
When I first got sober, a desire to drink would creep right up on me before I realised it. It would come out from behind a corner and be staring me in the face but, as time has gone on, I’ve learned how to spot it from farther away.
“Nobody from that region had done anything like it before. We existed and travelled as a punk band.”
During that period and beyond into his early solo years, Isbell was drinking heavily.
He remembers doing one particular interview with a hangover which he “f***ed up so badly, they killed it”.
But, around the time of his Southeastern album in 2013, he knew his future career prospects depended on him giving up alcohol.
“My first challenge was to get to the point where I could hear myself on stage, travel comfortably, get the gear I needed and eat pretty healthy food.
“The second challenge was to stop abusing myself, get sober, have a story to tell that resonated with people, and have the time and energy to do the work.”
As the years have passed, he’s developed coping mechanisms but says: “When I first got sober, a desire to drink would creep right up on me before I realised it.
“It would come out from behind a corner and be staring me in the face but, as time has gone on, I’ve learned how to spot it from farther away.
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“Now I can see there’s a train ten miles down the track and it’s my addiction and, if I don’t do anything about it, it’s going to get to me eventually.
“All I have to do is step off the track.”
In 2025, Jason Isbell’s career is right ON track, meeting his own exacting standards.
Aside from the breathtaking Foxes In The Snow, he’s also getting more movie roles.
Following his appearance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon, he’s taken a part in One Spoon Of Chocolate, written by rapper RZA, and starring Shameik Moore and Paris Jackson.
“I’m a travelling salesman who has a guitar and sings — and I do a lot of cocaine,” he confesses.
“It was like the old days except I think it was baby formula!”
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