Jason Isbell always knew he wanted a life in music. “There’s not a better job in the world that I know of,” says the critically acclaimed singer-songwriter.
In a genre studded with fine writers, Isbell finds himself at the top of the Americana ranks with his personal and deeply poetic songs. A former member of the alt-country Southern rock band Drive-By Truckers, he’s built a solid solo career. His 2013 release “Southeastern” met with critical raves and boosted his career to new heights.
“Southeastern” was written after a drinking problem sent Isbell to rehab. Now happily married, he’s grateful for his new life and notes that “once you’re sober you have more time in the day to do anything, including work.”
Isbell and his backing band, the 400 Unit, play Symphony Center on Thursday. He called recently from his Nashville, Tenn., home to talk about songwriting and sobriety. This is an edited transcript.
Q: “Southeastern” raised your profile with a lot of folks who weren’t familiar with your previous work. What have been the biggest changes for you since the record was released?
A: I opened up a bit of a dialogue with myself and the outside world when I made that record. I figured out how to say what I meant. That came from keeping myself in the chair and doing the work. Some of the earlier records probably suffered in consistency because I wasn’t nearly as focused as I have been in the last couple of years. A lot of this has to do with quitting drinking, settling my life down and getting married.
Q: You went to rehab and got sober before you did “Southeastern.” That experience was part of the story around the record. Have you heard from people with addictions who’ve been inspired by your experience?
A: There have been a lot of those people and that’s a good thing. I’ve met people at shows who have reached out to me. I’m always happy about that. More than anything else, that’s the reason I’ve talked about it openly in the press. I do hope that somebody has that little bit of response that they need to realize it might be time to change some things.
Sobriety is a lot more than not imbibing. There’s a lot more to being clearheaded than just figuring out a way to not drink anymore. That was the thing that I didn’t understand going into the process of getting sober. I didn’t realize there was that much I needed to address. There were fears that I had. Once I turned around and looked them in the eye, they were gone or at least manageable. That was the thing that changed my day-to-day life — figuring out a way to be happy and not dull the world around me or romanticize it either.
Q: Your wife is the singer, songwriter and fiddle player Amanda Shires. She was your girlfriend when you got sober. Was she the one who led the push for you to go into rehab?
A: Yeah, she was the first person who wouldn’t put up with my bull—- any longer. That’s not to blame anybody else, because I have a lot of great friends and I’m close to my family. They were hanging in there with me. But Amanda was ready to bail and she made that clear to me. I didn’t think I’d be able to quit drinking on my own. After I said that a couple of times, she made a few phone calls to people she knew I respected and cared about. She told them (I needed to go) to rehab. Once she did that, I had to stick with it. It was not an easy thing for her to do — calling my manager and Ryan Adams and my mom, saying “OK, he’s going to rehab on Monday whether he likes it or not.” But I don’t think I would have gone if she hadn’t taken that kind of initiative.
Q: Is it easier for you being with a fellow singer-songwriter who understands the life of a working musician?
A: Yes. I’ve never had a whole lot of success with civilian relationships. Whether they are my closest friends or somebody in a romantic relationship, it’s always better for me if I’m around people who have some idea what my work actually involves. That was the thing that brought the two of us together in the first place. We were friends for many years before we started dating.
Q: Amanda has her own solo career and has also toured with you in your band. When you play here in Chicago, she’ll be in Texas doing her own gig. How do you handle the two careers?
A: We make it work. We have a rule that we don’t go longer than three weeks without spending time together. Her agent knows that and my agent knows that, so we work around those kinds of things. Maybe it’s good to miss each other sometimes, but not for too long.
Q: When you look at your past work, what song was a personal breakthrough in your evolution as a songwriter?
A: “Dress Blues” — on my first solo record — was a breakthrough for me. It was one of those songs where I felt like a conduit. I wrote it in the time it takes to write it down. The thing I really learned from writing that song was how to keep yourself from avoiding topics that might be heavier than what you’re used to. I wrote that song about a guy I’d gone to high school with. He was in the Marine Corps and he was killed overseas. I wrote my take on the experience a small town has when something like that happens. It was difficult to write, but not from a technical standpoint. It was difficult to make myself be that personal and open in a song.
Q: What are your plans for your next record?
A: I’ve written almost all of it now. I have 13 to 15 songs that are either finished or almost finished. I’ll be writing on the road in February too. We’ll record in Nashville in March for about three weeks, so hopefully we’ll have the album out by late summer. It doesn’t take long. I don’t believe in spending months (recording) a CD. We’ll go in and knock it out.
Q: You’re sober and happily married. Your career has risen to a new level. Is it easy to write sad songs?
A: It’s not easier at this point to write any particular kind of song. What I do is work. I’m really grateful I have a comfortable place to work, psychologically and physically. I have a lot of opportunities to sit down and write. It doesn’t get any easier, but it gets better.
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