Jason Isbell doesn’t mind if his politics alienates some fans: “I don’t want people out there who are going to make it uncomfortable for the rest of my audience”
Jason Isbell is a left-wing musician, having thrown his support behind gun control, reproductive rights, policing reform and LGBTQ+ rights. It turns out that if that bothers his fans, he’s happy to take that on the chin.
Isbell performed at the Democratic National Convention, in which he played Something More Than Free, and is asked in a recent interview with the New York Times if he thought his performance could alienate fans who don’t share his views.
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“No, I don’t worry about that,” Isbell says. “I don’t really think [my fanbase] is split down the middle. I think the majority of people, just because of the fact that the music I have always made has been independent, and more of a boutique thing. If it grows, and it already has grown past the point I expected it to, but the people that we pick up along the way, usually the majority of those people are at the very least open to whatever I have to say politically. But at the same time, like, the ultimate goal for me is not to get as many fans as possible.”
He continues: “And for me, the ultimate goal is just to communicate my inner life and test the connection that I have with everybody else, with strangers. And in order to do that, you gotta tell the truth, and you gotta be honest about how you feel. And if it runs some people off – I’m going to tell you, this might not sound like the truth here, but it is – if it runs people off, I would like them to go.
“I don’t want people out there who are going to make it uncomfortable for the rest of my audience. And if you’re not open to hearing what I have to say, then you’re probably not going to be open to somebody standing by you who is different from you, and that’s not the kind of room I want to be in. I don’t care how big it is or how many tickets I’ve sold.”
Isabell even reveals he’s thought about running for office himself. “I may have that kind of patience at some point,” Isbell said, “but at this point in my life, I don’t yet have it.”
He goes on to comment on the current situation regarding the Democrats’ bid to stay in the White House, praising Joe Biden for stepping down from the race. “To set aside his own ego and pride and even just his work ethic and do what he did, it was a huge, huge moment,” Isbell said. “And it reinvigorated the party and the voting base but also made me sort of realise that we have an opportunity here to aim for something that’s not just mitigation.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
