Jason Isbell doesn’t do mystique. He doesn’t hide behind clever hats, ironic stage personas, or the carefully curated chaos of rock-star legend. What you see is almost what you get. Perched on the edge of a backless chair in his light-filled Nashville kitchen, peering into his iPhone Zoom propped up on a counter, like it was the Magic Mirror from Snow White. Fifteen years sober, a set of rules to keep him on course, a marriage ended, a second chance at love, and an album called Foxes in the Snow—although he’s racked up six Grammys, he is not like your typical rock star. In person, he’s funny, clear-eyed, slightly dangerous, like someone who’s survived his own songs and come out on the other side still willing to speak the truth. Even to a reporter!