Jason Isbell on how writing good songs helps you live a good life
During the lead-up to the release of Jason Isbell’s first-ever solo acoustic album, Foxes in the Snow, I interviewed the esteemed songwriter for Acoustic Guitar—a cover story now out in the May/June 2025 issue.
Isbell went deep talking about his approach to songwriting and guitar. Here’s one exchange that lingers in my mind, when we were talking about writing songs from personal experience vs. writing character-based songs.
All the songs on the album feel personal on some level, but “True Believer” hits particularly hard.
ISBELL Yeah, that’s a tough one. That’s a tough song to write, tough song to sing, but it’s real. I think I did a good job of expressing and recording how I feel, while at the same time working through those feelings in a way that eliminates bitterness or the need to be maudlin or self- referential.
I don’t know that anybody would agree with me on this, but I feel like the rules for writing a good song translate really well to just living a good life.
I remember in the Tom T. Hall book about how to write songs [The Songwriter’s Handbook], he talks about how to be angry without being bitter. I mean, I’ve gotten a lot out of anger—it has served me well—but bitterness has never really helped anybody. I feel like you can hear that in a song, just like you can see that in a person.
So sometimes, when I’m writing my way through my emotional life, like I did with “True Believer,” in the process of eliminating things that don’t help you write a better song, you also eliminate things that don’t help you live a better life. Hence the therapeutic abilities of art.
Find the full interview in the May/June 2025 print/digital edition of Acoustic Guitar. The issue also includes a transcription of “Foxes in the Snow” and a spotlight on the 1940 Martin 0-17 Isbell played on the Foxes in the Snow album.
