Jason Isbell on the Making of ‘Weathervanes,’ Acting for Martin Scorsese, His Candid Documentary and the Role of Empathy in Music
variety.comChris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Jason Isbell has a new album out, “Weathervanes,” and he says, “I’m happy to be talking about it.
You know, I’ve been talking about a lot of other stuff lately, and it’s nice to actually discuss the job that I chose for myself.” Nothing against the Other Stuff on his part, mind you.
He’s proud of the much-heralded HBO Max documentary that director Sam Jones made about him, “Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed,” even if it did open him and his wife, Amanda Shires, up to a huge amount amount of personal scrutiny.
And he’ll sure be spending an even bigger part of the year than he is now talking about his dramatic role in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which he now feels confident did not leave him in the position of “be(ing) the one guy that screws up this $200 million movie.” His latest conversation with Variety inevitably got around to those topics, too — but the chief matter at hand is the latest in a superb series of solo albums that Isbell has put out over the last 16 years, since leaving Drive-By Truckers to strike out on his own. “Solo” might not be the right word; his ensemble the 400 Unit is co-credited on “Weathervanes,” as it is on most of his records.
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