It’s been a curious ride for Jason Isbell. In some ways, the Alabama native is a throwback to a different era, a singer-songwriter intent on getting to the truth through words both simple and uncommonly illustrative. His voice is matter-of-fact in a way that somehow heightens the so-called authenticity of his songs. He’s not trying to be something he isn’t. He’s also cool working within a tradition — using the power of song to get past his demons and work out this thing called life.
Isbell’s latest collection of songs, Foxes in the Snow — his first solo effort in 10 years without the backing of the 400 Unit — follows the 2024 dissolution of his marriage to Amanda Shires. It makes sense that it’s just Jason and his acoustic guitar this time out on 11 songs that don’t shy away from messy personal matters. “Eileen” sounds as if Isbell is talking directly to Shires: “Eileen, you should have seen this coming sooner/Do I mean to be alone for all my days?/Eileen, you thought the truth was just a rumor/But that’s just your way.” And moments later, “My own behavior was a shock to me/I never thought I’d have the nerve.” He’s done her wrong, and now it’s a song.
“When you’re being this open and this vulnerable, there’s something about doing it alone,” Isbell said in a recent interview with Spin. “Even though you know that the results are going to get broadcast to everybody, there’s something about sitting with a guitar and singing a song that makes sense to me when it’s this personal.”
“Good While It Lasted” again seems drawn directly from Isbell’s own experience when he says, “Went so deep, a lucky young man’s dream/And the last time I tried this sober, I was 17.” And then, “I feel like a boy who got caught bein’ bad/And it was good while it lasted.”
There are two ways to see that last bit: Being bad was good while it lasted? Or is he referring to the previous relationship? It doesn’t really matter in the end — these universal songs transcend the specific circumstances of their inspiration.
Jason Isbell plays the Andrew J Brady Music Center on June 21 and 22 at 8 p.m. More info: bradymusiccenter.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s June 11 print edition.
This article appears in Jun 11-24, 2025.