A Late Night Chat with Jason Isbell

In the past I've talked about a wide variety of subjects related to the arts and creativity.  More recently I have been delighted to see the rising star of a singer-songwriter who I have long believed to be one of the best in America - and that's Jason Isbell.  Jason's most recent Cd "Southeastern" has been gaining rave reviews and we have seen him on shows like David Letterman, and heard him on NPR's Fresh Air, among other places.  Jason is also now married to another of my favorite songwriters Amanda Shires, who will have a new CD out in August.  Good fortune has it that I met Jason twice, and I thought it might be fun to tell the story of those encounters.

Sometime around 2003 a friend gave me a CD by an Alabama band called the Drive by Truckers.  There were good songs all throughout the CD, but one stood out strongly and that was the now legendary song "Outfit."  This was one of Jason Isbell's breakthrough tunes with the band, and he went on to pen other knockout songs like "The Day John Henry Died", "Danko/ Manuel", "Goddamn Lonely Love" and "Never Gonna Change."

Not too long after he went solo, I was happy to hear that he and his band were going to play Club Congress in downtown Tucson.  I made plans to go and even took Jason a small gift - a laminated bookmark made out of the actual autograph of the author Chuck Palahniuk.  I remember seeing Jason stepping into the club and at some point pulled him aside, said hello, etc and asked him if I had heard correctly that he was a big fan of Chuck Palahniuk.  He said yes - and I gave him the autographed bookmark, and let him carry on getting ready for the show.  He was gracious, mellow, and very thoughtful.  When he got on stage he put on a killer good show and we talked once more before we left.  By that time I had a few beers in me and was feeling chipper - but I still remember what I told him when I left him that particular time - I told him "You are a poet.  Like Townes Van Zandt or Ray La Montagne.  Keep up what you are doing."  

The second time Jason and his band played Club Congress I made plans to be there, and again Jason put on a helluva show.  I remember he had a cold or sore throat and was coughing pretty hard - not just a smoker's cough, but a sick man's cough.  Poor guy was pretty sick it seemed, but then he jumped on stage and threw down again and it was a great show.  You'd think his vocals would have suffered but you couldn't tell a lick of difference.  I guess after those years of hard living and traveling with the Drive by Truckers he had gotten a good taste of what it meant to carry on and be a road warrior.  Sick. Well.  Hungover, or anything else.

After that show it was very, very late and I was gonna say hello to Jason but he had disappeared outside the backstage door at Club Congress.  It was a chilly night out - an odd night for Tucson for sure, quite cold.  On my way out I decided to walk around the side of the building and could see a group of people by the backstage door.  Jason was among them and I walked up to them, stuck my hand out and said "Hey Jason - I'm the artist Neil Myers.  Just wanted to say a quick hello."  And he said "Oh yeah.  I remember you.  I think I've seen some of your work online."  People were starting to dissipate and go home and he said "How's the art business?"  And I told him a little about how things were going.  He listened intently, smoking his cigarette and coughing hard from time to time - still suffering his sore throat.  At times I can be a bit of a talker, so we leaned against the rails and I talked about art and songwriting and he mostly listened.  It's hard to describe the vibe of Mr Isbell.  But perhaps the best way to say it is the feeling that he is absorbing stories - yours and other people's.  Behind the glow of his ever present cigarette, there in the dark were two keen eyes paying close attention.  He wasn't shy.  Not in the slightest.  But he listened to even small talk with a sense of acute attention.

For the next twenty or thirty minutes the survivors of the late night show came and went, some said hi to him and asked him about the meanings of some of his songs.  I remember someone asking him about "Chicago Promenade" and he didn't really seem to feel he could explain what it meant.  He just sort of gently brushed the issue aside and was very sweet to the person who asked it.  He always thanked people who came to the show, and those who popped around back of the club to wish him well.  We stood for a while and chatted with Jimbo Hart - and Jason introduced me to Browan Lollar, his guitarist who is also an artist and a friend I still chat with here and there.  We talked about songwriters and the Dillinger gang, who were caught all those years ago right there at club congress.  And at one point there was nobody left out there behind the club.  It was getting bitterly cold and though Jason gave every indication he was happy to chat all night - I remember telling him that he better get back inside before the cold made his throat worse.  I didn't want to be the reason his throat went to hell for the next few shows.  We shook hands and parted very amicably - and I remember telling him as he went in the door "Oh, I forgot to ask you - do you know the songs of Justin Rutledge?"  He said he didn't and I told him to check him out if he got a chance.  He said "Justin Rutledge", to make a mental note and we parted ways.

I drove home still shivering from the freezing cold desert air.  But I had that great satisfaction of having had an enjoyable talk with someone who I knew was very special.  And in turn, when critics and so many others now find themselves getting on the long train of Isbell appreciators - I am almost amused at how long many of us had been following his work before his latest CD.  And how many of us knew that this songwriter was unique.

Jason if you read this, I want to congratulate you on your sobriety, your continually beautiful and meaningful songs - and for that cold night by the railroad tracks at 1am talking about songs and life.  You have proved yourself the poet I always thought you were, and we thank you for sharing your talent with the rest of us.

Neil



www.jasonisbell.com 


www.amandashiresmusic.com



www.neilmyersart.com

Creativity Blog # 1, Singer-Songwriter Joanna Smith

Creativity.  It means a lot of different things to different people.  I have begun to realize, the longer I have been an artist, that creativity is really what most interests me - above and beyond the technical capabilities of being able to paint a hand perfectly, or play a scale on guitar, or write a coherent paragraph - or act out those compelling lines.  At some point it occurred to me; since I have been fortunate enough to have some personal contacts with highly creative people in various fields - ie, the arts, music, etc, I thought it might be interesting to write up a set of questions on creativity and ask those same questions to different people.  So we could see the variations in their creative processes and how they view the act of being creative.

This is the first profile in what I hope will be an extended series of blogs on creativity!
 
This week's Q and A is with RCA Nashville recording artist Joanna Smith.  A few years back I stumbled onto several tracks by her on myspace.  I remember the first song I heard by her was a tune called "Let me Kiss You Again" and immediately I was hooked.  It was delicate, sweet, beautiful and crafty - and I found that she had an entire group of wonderful songs.  Perhaps my ultimate compliment to her is this - I am NOT a big country music fan.  I grew up in the south but was always a rock and 'southern rock' kind of guy.  But this girl had me hooked.  I always wanted to hear more.  And sure, she IS country - but she didn't hide behind any of the cliches of country music.  In fact she reinforced the fact that country, as a genre, is very wide and has room for all kinds of artists working under that stylistic umbrella.  She is an original.  When I first heard her I realized that, despite her being young in years, she was a very mature as a songwriter, and a very well polished performer.  And I have to say this too, she is an absolutely lovely person.  That matters a lot.  I met her at a show in Phoenix in 2011 and saw she was a charismatic performer, as well as being a natural with people one on one.  As a true artist herself, she was kind enough to answer my Q and A for our first blog on creativity...

Joanna Smith
Singer-Songwriter

Official website is: http://www.joannasmithofficial.com/us (This link has a direct link to her latest video, which is a must see, called "We Can't Be Friends".  Do check it out!)

Her music is also available on itunes!



1) What personal habits do you have that you feel make you more creative?
Caffeine!!!!  I love to have my morning cup of coffee and dig into a song idea I may have previously written down.  I get my brain going by first writing in my diary.

2) Who are the creative artists, in any field, that inspire you the most?

Springsteen, hands down.  Steinbeck.

3) What do you do when you are not feeling creative?  Or - how to you get yourself back to a point where you are feeling creative?

I hate that feeling!  I stress about it!  I feel like I'll never feel creative again, and surely it's the end of the world.  But then I remind myself.... it always comes back.

4) What are some creative outlets that you enjoy outside your own respective creative field? 

Studying others' creativity.  I love art of all kinds and it inspires me to make my own.

5) For someone who has talent in a creative field, how would you suggest they go about converting that talent into something original - something that stands out from the crowd?

Always, always be you.  Be open to the journey.  You may start by imitating others' work, then have what you do be criticized at which point make necessary changes as you see fit.  Be open to criticism but listen to your gut.  This is the most natural thing,  it takes time and years of experience to be better at it.  "It" being just being yourself.

Links and info:

Check out Joanna's latest release, the EP "Be What it Wants to Be" available on iTunes


Look for Joanna on tour with Maranda Lambert this spring!  Visit http://www.joannasmithofficial.com/us/home




Here is Joanna Smith's latest music video "We Can't be Friends"








www.neilmyersart.com