It's All About the Journey

I’ve told part of the story, but I can’t leave any story untold. I guess it started way back on the original Isbell fan page. Someone would post about the meaning of a song or a personal analysis of a lyric and since that was sort of my first love, I almost always join in to add my take. Sometimes I feel like I hit it pretty square and sometimes I learn all sorts of new things. Well, a few people seemed to like what I wrote, and one thing led to another, and I eventually shared my blog on the page with all of those people. It’s hard to open up something so personal to strangers from the internet, but these people already felt more like friends than most of the people I’d known my whole life. I shared the link to a music review. Then I shared the link to this. It was   very personal, very raw post. But I went bravely ahead. And I got a response. One I never anticipated. From a guy on the fan page. He wrot e “I really appreciate your candor in this. I saw you mention your blog ...

One year ago today, my whole world changed. One year ago today, I left work early on Friday, slapped on a little makeup and drove to Nashville. I posted a Facebook update when I got into town to see who was around and if anyone wanted to meet up. That was back in a time when I couldn’t group message a whole bunch of people “Where are you fuckers?” I knew a few people well enough. I was sharing an Air BnB with a guy I’d met in person all of once, Eric. Was I worried? Not about this guy. I never doubted for a moment that he was one of us. To this day, I know he’s absolutely safe and always an ally. A really good man. And ferocious about it. We were all in town for the same thing: to see our favorite band in a sold out six-night residency at the Ryman Auditorium. Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, live in the Mother Church for six nights. It was like a family reunion of people who hadn’t met yet. It really did feel like meeting the siblings you never knew you had because you were adop...