Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images
I think the best way to understand the music of Jason Isbell is to know his origin story. Because the story of Jason Isbell’s music is not possible without knowing where he came from. And, through that, we come to know the hundreds of characters that populate his four-minute, deeply moving stories.
The 40-year-old Jason Isbell is from unincorporated Lauderdale County (go Tigers), and grew up just few miles from the Tennessee line in the Green Hill community. He’s the child of a teen mother and a broken home. Like several of the musicians that have appeared on our Things list, Isbell came from a musical family and took a shine to music at an early age.