Thread by @emilylhauser, First: This is a wonderful, wonderful piece of writing, an excellent journalistic [...]

First: This is a wonderful, wonderful piece of writing, an excellent journalistic endeavor, & full of great photography. Read it, buy you a copy.

And/but second: Someone really needs to hire a woman to profile Jason Isbell. It could be me (really, it could be @GQMagazine hmu)
1/ https://twitter.com/GQMagazine/status/1253687400460582913">https://twitter.com/GQMagazin...

https://twitter.com/GQMagazine/status/1253687400460582913

but as much as I will hold as a goal being paid to write about an artist whose work has straight up changed my life until I get to, the point is less ME & more A WOMAN.

Isbell has a near-singular capacity to write women who sound like women (Prine did too), a near-singular
2/

capacity to write women not as Objects but as Subjects, as rational actors, as fully rounded characters. Not as goals, prizes, or motivators but, you know: People.

I have not only listened to all 6 1/3 solo albums hundreds of times now, I have combed & studied the lyrics.
3/

I& #39;ve written about them in two separate essays, once finding a theme that runs through nearly everything he& #39;s ever written - a theme I& #39;ve never seen anyone else notice, ever - & one looking at his evolution away from White Knight Syndrome. For fun! Cause I wanted to!
4/

There& #39;s a piece in my head about the women in Isbell& #39;s songs, but I haven& #39;t written it yet, bc if I have a hard (= thus far impossible) time selling myself as a Human Writer Writing About Your Fave Americana Artist, imagine how much harder it& #39;d be if I pointed out my vagina?
5/

But the truth is that there are things in those lyrics, & in Isbell& #39;s lifestory, that men who have written about him so far either don& #39;t see or are incurious about. Things that would, I believe, be interesting to anyone & everyone interested in his work, regardless of gender.
6/

The GQ piece notes that there are no questions that Isbell won& #39;t answer - well, I have a couple of questions that I& #39;d like to ask that I& #39;m certain he& #39;d answer, but which are not necessarily the most comfortable questions to pose. I& #39;m not going to state them here because truly:
7/

One of my great professional goals is to, someday, be paid to profile him. I ain& #39;t giving away nothing.

With the reiterated understanding the GQ piece at the top of this thread is EXCELLENT, here are a few things that I believe would not have happened, had a woman written it:
8/

First of all: Women are talked about. Isbell& #39;s wife Amanda, the women hurt by his ex-friend Ryan Adams, Traci his manager, Lady Gaga, his daughter. Not a single one is given a single quote.

Isbell himself is a FLAMING feminist. He credits women & boosts women ALL THE TIME
9/

He is even quoted in this piece referring to "people aren& #39;t playing you on the radio because you have a vagina" (an issue which you may recall is of rather great interest to me, as well!) - but he& #39;s one dude. If the people around him don& #39;t pick up what he& #39;s laying down...?
10/

Second, this sentence: "Shires had been on the road, so he& #39;d been looking after their daughter." Nope, he& #39;d been looking after their daughter ON HIS OWN. Typically, it& #39;s a joint task!

Isbell has talked about not framing fathers as babysitters - but the world still does.
11/

So. Here are my two points:

1) Read & enjoy that piece - it& #39;s a damn fine one. (Make sure to enjoy the shot of a man holding a chicken in a $3,890 jacket!)

2) Hire women to write about music and musicians. We& #39;re in there already, & your readers will get a lot out of it.

12/12

PS If you& #39;d like read what I& #39;ve already written about Isbell& #39;s work, here you go. Go ahead - they& #39;re good. I& #39;m a good writer.

Jason Isbell& #39;s Road: https://medium.com/@emily.hauser/jason-isbells-road-2b91e5902aaf

From">https://medium.com/@emily.ha... White Knight Syndrome to “White Man’s World”: The Evolution of Jason Isbell: https://medium.com/@emily.hauser/from-white-knight-syndrome-to-white-mans-world-the-evolution-of-jason-isbell-1718e3dae13a">https://medium.com/@emily.ha...

From White Knight Syndrome to “White Man’s World”: The Evolution of Jason Isbell

Want to listen along as you read? Click here for the playlist on Spotify.

https://medium.com/@emily.hauser/jason-isbells-road-2b91e5902aaf

Hell, you know what I have up here on the narrow folding table serving as my desk in isolation? This. The printed lyrics to every single one of his songs, including some you don& #39;t even know he wrote. Because I wrote that second essay up here.

(PPS The highlighter in those pictures is from the research process behind writing the first thing. Not an amateur, baby!)

More than a WEEK after hitting "publish" on my review of #Reunions, it finally occurred to me to add it to this thread (my Writer hat is always on; my Publisher hat occasionally falls off my head!) https://medium.com/@emily.hauser/review-reunions-jason-isbell-and-the-400-unit-64c9a2ce4927">https://medium.com/@emily.ha...

Review: REUNIONS — Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

One day, five months into the presidency that threatens even now to undo the American experiment, I heard someone on the radio sing “there…

https://medium.com/@emily.hauser/review-reunions-jason-isbell-and-the-400-unit-64c9a2ce4927

Latest Threads Unrolled: