The Outlier: Why Jason Isbell Won't Stop Speaking His Mind

At this year's Grammys, where he was up for several awards, Jason Isbell didn't exactly tear the place up. "We weren't on the televised part of the show, so we didn't get the good seats," he says with a good-natured laugh. "We wound up eating chicken fingers from the concession stand."
His closest celebrity encounter was the moment he shared an elevator with Tony Bennett. Still, the night proved momentous: Isbell went back to his New York hotel with statues for best Americana album (for last yea