Quotes by Jason Isbell

“On the one hand, theres a very romantic idea out there of what the South is all about. On the other, you have a history of people like Gov. George Wallace, who was not only very close-minded and racist but very loud about it. He ruined the party for the rest of us.”

“Luckily, were the sort of people who get along. And we have a great respect for each others work.”

“Its important for us to make hopeful creations - because Lord knows weve done enough of the other kind. Were just trying to give both sides of the story.”

Whatever needed to be done, I need to know how to do it just as well as my wife. You know, for us to be able to really balance the parenting. It was very humbling, and it was also, um - terrifying. Because, you know, giving a baby a bath for the first time is one of the scariest things you can do on this whole earth.

The idea of growing up in the South and being a man is an interesting thing; theres a lot masculinity involved, with hunting, fishing, and playing sports that rural people take pride in, but at the same time, I grew up really not wanting to hate anybody.

I dont think Id be happy if I were satisfied. I enjoy challenge, and I wouldnt say that Im an ambitious person career-wise or financially, really. I would like to travel more comfortably, but thats really about all I need.

The good thing about songwriting is you dont have to delineate between whats true and whats fiction; records arent put on the shelf that way. Books are, movies are, but records arent.

I didnt know what to expect when we first started touring behind Southeastern because you dont want to lull anybody to sleep or lose their attention. But its really been incredible how the crowds seem to be just as excited for the slow, sad songs as they are for the old rockers.

If I could write rock & roll songs on purpose, Id do it all the time. But most of what I write comes out slow and sad because thats most of what I listen to.

When I hear somebody like Hayes Carll write a song thats touching and poignant and sad and funny all at the same time, it motivates me to step my game up and try to figure out a way to get more different emotions into one line or one song.

The world changes fast, and a lot of the old country folks have a hard time keeping up with it, and it makes them sad.

My wife is so very important to me that its made my mom more important to me. Its made every woman I know more important to me.

My wife and I both grew up with parents who were very young. Her mom was, I think, 17 or 18 when she was born; my mom was 15 when I was born. So, as we got older, we started thinking a lot about that - about the time that those people missed because we came along when we did and because they devoted so much of their lives to taking care of us.

Ive spent a lot of time in a rock n roll band trying to fight off the fact that I was old enough to rent a car. And its all sort of rushed in at once now. And I like it.

As my life changes, it gives me new things to write about.

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.