SINCE quitting the demonbooze, Alabama singersongwriter Jason Isbellhas found his music hasreached new levels.With “fewer distractions”while making his fourth album,the former Drive-By Truckersguitarist has made an honestand heartfelt record that bareshis vulnerabilities and takeshim into new territory.Here he tells JACQUI SWIFThow he lost the urge to partyevery night and the effect thishas had on his life and music.Congratulations on your newalbum Southeastern. Why is ityour best record to date?Because I spent more time onthe writing. It all comes downto doing the work and I hadfewer distractions this time. Ididn’t feel the need to go outand raise hell every night.It follows a turbulent time in yourlife when you decided to quitdrinking and some of the songsare about getting sober. Doesthat make it hard to talk about?Trust me, songs are always alittle hard to talk about. Givingfolks some honesty, though, isthe best way to wind up with afanbase that is similar to you.They won’t ever turn their backon you if that’s the case.How has life changed since youquit drinking?Lots of reading. Lots of mov-ies. Very rarely do I feel physi-cally awful. If you wake upwith symptoms of a hangoverand hadn’t had any alcohol,you’d think you were dying.When you’re hungover, youthink you deserve it. That’s astrange thing to do to yourself.Was there a moment when youdecided you’d had enough?I saw rock bottom withoutnecessarily hitting it. There was

no big incident, just a gradualrealisation that I wasn’t havingany fun any more.Tell us what inspired Elephant, thefourth song on the album.Death and friendship. PeopleI know and people I imagined.Bars and hospitals.Tell us about Cover Me Up.It’s a song to my wife,Amanda. I wrote it for her.That can be an extremelydifficult thing to do, writing spe-cifically for someone you love.Amanda plays with you and

helped you quit. She seems ahuge inspiration to you. How is itplaying together with these songsbeing so personal and mirroringa difficult period in your life?It’s intense — as it should be.These songs are very importantto me and she realises that.She’s a very considerate musi-cian and partner. Ultimately,playing this material with her isa hell of a lot of fun.Tell us about the Alabama toolshop the album is named after?When I was a kid, I heard my

father’s workstories and imaginedhe spent every day in adungeon. I wanted to reclaimthat image for my ownpurposes. Southeastern hasmany meanings to me.You recently moved to Nashville.How has this inspired your work?I like the community in Nash-ville. Lots of great independentartists live there now. Also,we’re far enough away from theheart of town that I don’t feeltempted to participate in the

scene all the time, but theoption is always there. Also,there are hundreds of great stu-dios, producers, and engineersin town. That’s a huge plus.You’ve been touring with yourfriend Ryan Adams. Has heoffered help after going througha similar situation himself?He’s been supportive of thedecisions I ultimately made formyself. Folks who have dealtwith recovery themselvesusually help the most whenthey set good examples andRyan seems happy and free.Ryan was originally producingyour album. Why did he pull out?Things happen. It was for thebest. I think that’s clear whenyou hear the record.How important was winning SongOf The Year with Alabama Pinesat the 2012 Americana Awards?It’s nice people who voted onthat award liked my song. Ilike being part of that commu-nity, but my self-confidence

comes from myself.Tell us about the songtitled Yvette and is thecharacter real?Some aspects of the

story are real. Some-times, I make things up.It’s a song about theeffects of child sexualabuse. Not happy stuff,but important to anybodywho’s paying attention.What can we expect when

you return to the UK to tour inNovember?Lots of lyrics with just a fewchords. If you’re a fan of songsthat tell stories, I think you’lllike it. I like playing andtravelling in the UK and everytour there has been great.It’s just as important to me toconnect with listeners in theUK as it is anywhere else inthe world. I’m happy to playfor anyone, anywhere.

ByCHRIS

SWEENEY

ON

ES2W

ATC

H

VV Brown hasconquered the fashionworld — even landingher own high streetrange in Topshop.

Now she’s gettingstuck back into music— and is focusing onsome new sounds.

She has a new singlecalled The Apple and isdoing a intimate tourthis month toreintroduce herself.

The only Scots stop isat King Tut’s in Glasgowon October 19.

Get all the info atvvbrown.com

CALVIN HARRIS is in theform of his life.

And he’s showing nosigns of easing off anytime soon.

There doesn’t seem tobe a big name hehasn’t collborated with,and he’s back with yetanother new song,Under Control.

It has been done withpals Alesso and Hurtsfrontman TheoHutchcraft. It’s out onNovember 25. Keep aneye out for it — it’sanother banger fromthe big fella.

NEW MUSIC

MOYA made historylast week — now she’sgot a taste for it.The talented singer —real name EmilyAndrews — was the FIRSTperson on stage at thenew £125million Hydroin Glasgow, as Rod Stew-art’s support act.And now she wants tomake some more headlinesfor her music.She admitted: “There wasa lot pressure. Everymoment of the day, peoplewere coming up me togoing, “Are you nervous?”“I had to tell them, pleasestop bringing it up as Iwas trying not tothink about it — itwas the firstnight and I hadto do it justice.“And it wasincredible.“The crowd putme at ease, it waseverything I imag-ined.“What a pleasure toperform on the

first night. I did think I’mmaking a piece of historyhere, so I’m so glad it wentwell.”And it won’t be longbefore Scots punters canget another slice of Moya.She’s back up at CottiersTheatre in Glasgow onDecember 1 and the nextnight at Edinburgh’s Pleas-ance Theatre.Emily said: “During thefour nights at The Hydro, Ikept bumping into peoplewho’re coming to the gigs.“The reaction I got on myTwitter was huge, I thinkI’ll pull in some crowdsfrom the Rod shows.“I can’t wait to get backup.”

She has been allover Europe withRod this year —and his mentoringhas given her theconfidence tostand on her owntwo feet.Dorset girlEmily, 22, admit-ted: “I’ve learnt

so muchf r o m

how he commands the stageand works with the audi-ence. He is a complete proand it’s a fantastic opportu-nity for someone like me.“After touring with him,I’m ready to do this now.“At the beginning of theyear, I wasn’t quite sure ofmyself but after supportinghim — I’m ready to go anddo my own thing.

Whirlwind“It will be lovely to be onthe stage for more thanhalf an hour.“On your own headlinedates, you can do what youwant — I can show peoplethe kind of artist I am,rather them just guessingfrom a 30-minute set.”She brought out herdebut album Lost AndFound last year and hasgone from strength tostrength ever since.“It has been a whirlwindof a year and what a fantas-tic Christmas present to fin-ish it off with my ownheadline tour — I really feelI’ve arrived.”Q Get tour tickets at moyamusic.com

ONE2SEE

ONE2HEAR

By JIMGELLATLY

BLUE ROSE CODEWHO: Ross Wilson.WHERE: London.FOR FANS OF: Ryan Adams, KingCreosote, John Martyn.JIM SAYS: Ross Wilson, AKA BlueRose Code, may have moved to Lon-don in his early 20s, but the Edin-burgh singer-songwriter is unmistak-ably Scottish.The gentle lilt in his voice hooks

you straight in, and he’s a supremestoryteller. He said: “I’m a singer, firstand foremost. I only learnt to play theguitar because I was sick of singingother people’s stories.“In the 70s, Van Morrison had a

band named the Caledonian SoulOrchestra. The term stayed with meand as my music is not folk, it’s notAmericana, it’s not indie. The termseemed to sit well.”

IncredibleRoss’s talent hasn’t gone unno-

ticed. He said: “I got a call from theBBC explaining that I’d been selectedto go to Nashville with Bob Harris toperform at their BBC Introducingshowcase. The B-side from my singleJulie was a cover of a Gillian Welchsong and Bob Harris had played it onhis Sunday show.“Being interviewed by Bob and dis-

covering that he’s a fan of the albumwas incredible. I flew out and playedtwo unforgettable showcases in a weecity that I truly fell in love with.”The debut Blue Rose Code album

North Ten came out earlier this yearthrough Reveal Records (Joan AsPolicewoman, Eddi Reader, RoddyWoomble). It’s a very personal collec-tion of songs from a guy who hasn’thad his troubles to seek.He explained: “It’s full of my experi-

ence, strength and hope, my fairlywell-documented struggle with addic-tion and it’s an album of renewal. I’mnot a kid anymore. I spent most of mytwenties drunk. That’s not as much

fun as it sounds. It’s an album that I’mcomfortable putting my name nextto.”Playing double bass on North Ten

is Pentangle founder member DannyThompson, who has played withsome of the biggest names in musicincluding Roy Orbison, Rod Stewartand Kate Bush. Ross said “Workingwith one of my heroes was extraordi-nary. We’ve become big pals and Istill get a kick when my phone ringsand it’s his caller ID.”Blue Rose Code plays Edinburgh’s

Voodoo Rooms on November 17.MORE: bluerosecode.comQ Jim will be playing Blue Rose Code onIn:Demand Uncut this Sunday from 7pm onClyde 1, Forth One, Northsound 1, Radio Bor-ders, Tay FM, West FM & West Sound FM.indemandscotland.co.uk

Friday, October 11, 2013 551S