Rolling Stone Australia - May 2016

ROCK&ROLL

28 | Rolling Stone | RollingStoneAus.com

Jason Isbell’s Ragged Glory

Backstagewiththesinger-

songwriter as he talks

sobriety and how to make

rootsrockswing

ON THE ROAD

N

inety minutes into a
sold-out theatre gig in Austin,
Jason Isbell dives into the dark-
est reaches of his catalogue. He
andhisband,the400Unit(whichincludes
his wife, Amanda Shires, on violin), launch
into “Danko/Manuel”, which Isbell wrote
morethanadecadeago,whenhewasa
memberoftheDrive-ByTruckers.
On record, it’s one of Isbell’s most har-
rowing songs, a shuling six-minute elegy
fortwodeeplytroubledmembersofthe
Band.Buttonightitbecomesatrium-
phant, 10-minute Southern-rock slow-
burner,asIsbell’sbandampsupthedy-
namics and stretches every beat, building
athunderouscatharsis.It’sanemotional
knockout – one that Isbell might not have
beencapableofhalfadecadeearlier.
“I hadn’t been onstage sober until about
four years ago,” Isbell says backstage be-
foretheshow.“Thattooksomegetting
usedto.ButwejustdidthreeweeksinEu-
rope,playedacruiseandstartedthistour
twodayslater.Ifthiswas10yearsago,I
wouldbeexhausted.”
Isbell got clean in 2012 and has been
ontheriseeversince.Hisaudience,once
acultwithintheTruckers’cult,explod-
ed with 2013’s solo LPSoutheasternand
grewevenmorewithlastyear’sSomething
More Than Free,whichearnedIsbellaslew
ofpraiseasasongwriterwithapenchant
for granular details – including ones about
hisdarkerdays.
Thingsjustgotevenbetterforthe
37-year-old:ThreenightsaftertheAus-
tingig,IsbellwillwinhisfirsttwoGram-
mys – one for Best Americana Album and
another for Best American Roots Song, for
“24Frames”.Isbellcreditsapost-booze
focusoncraftforhissuccess.“It’sadirect
result of spending more time working on
thesongsandnotbeingdraggedawayby
things that happen after dark,” he says.
InAustin,Isbellplayswiththeeasycon-
fidence of a man who knows his career’s
luckysecondactwillbebetterthanhis
already impressive first. His set works over
old tunes and shines up new ones. Vintage
Truckers songs (“Never Gonna Change”,
“Decoration Day”) turn into Allmans-wor-
thyguitarblowouts.Theballad“CoverMe
Up”retainsadelicateintimacy,justIsbell
andShiressharingtheirlove.

Isbell has found a crack band to han-

dlehisadventuroussets.“Iwastalkingto

Chris Stapleton last week about how hard

itistofindadrummerthatdoesn’tbeat

the shit out of everything all night or a bass

playerthatdoesn’twishhewasplayinggui-

tar,”Isbellsays.“ButIgrewupwithChad

[Gamble]andJimbo[Hart],andIthought

amoreclassicR&Bkindofrhythmsection

wouldworkreallywellwithasetthatgoes

from country tunes to rock songs – just

giveitalittlemoreswing.”

Isbell pauses. “It’s hard enough to dance

to Americana music,” he says. “Some

nights,whenthecrowdstartsclapping

along,Ihavetostopthemandbelike,

‘Come on, guys, let’s not kid ourselves.’”

Isbell and Shires brought their baby

daughter on tour (and Isbell’s mother for

sitting duties), and Isbell moves a baby

seat of a backstage couch before plopping

down.“Itwasreallyimportanttometoget

to this level,” he says. “Sleeping on people’s

floors when you’re 22 is fine. But when you

getyourlifeinorderandhaveafamilyyou

want to keep and a certain level of health,

touring bigger means you can keep going

for longer.” JOE GROSS

COLDPLAY PL

ASTADIUM

SPECTACLE

After staying of the road fo

than three years, Chris Mar

charged up for the band’sH

Full of Dreamstour, which h

the group rumoured to hit

Australia toward the end

of 2016. “I’m getting into

a rhythm,” he says. “I’ve cu

down on the doughnuts. A

I’ve done loads of exercise.

ut working your

“awesome”

red by Beyoncé

uring the band’s

d the bar”),

questioning how

oldplay forward.

py that we’ve

ogether. We’re

ed to tour and

t to be in this

bsolute dream

world for the

foreseeable

future.”

PATRICK DOYLE

TOUR NOTE

MORE THAN

FREEIsbell

backstage

in Austin

LAN

or more

tin is

Head

has

t

nd

You

can’t do these things withou

ass of.” Martinpromises an

production spectacle, inspi

and U2 shows he caught du

downtime (“Theyraise

when he wasq

to move Co

“I’mhapp

stuckt

excite

just

ab

w

f

f

Martin FROM TOP:

ROGER HO; GETTY IMAGES