I watched the Isbell documentary and found it, in the immediate aftermath, quite bland. I expected it to be an incisive cut into Isbell's life and the inspiration behind his songwriting.
However, it's stuck with me precisely for the reasons you mentioned. It's made me imagine what it's like for my own wife being married to a self-questioning, perfectionistic artist (who may lack the grandeur and success but overloads on the bigness of personality). I resonated with that struggle. That regardless of what level you reach in the game, it isn't easy. And you never walk away thinking, "Yeah, I crushed it."
At one point, Isbell says that he feels no pressure once he's written the song. That in the studio there is no pressure because, to him, the song is done. And then Shires responds, essentially saying: "Yeah...that's not true." Sometimes even we mislead ourselves about how we approach and feel about our work.
I watched the Isbell documentary and found it, in the immediate aftermath, quite bland. I expected it to be an incisive cut into Isbell's life and the inspiration behind his songwriting.
However, it's stuck with me precisely for the reasons you mentioned. It's made me imagine what it's like for my own wife being married to a self-questioning, perfectionistic artist (who may lack the grandeur and success but overloads on the bigness of personality). I resonated with that struggle. That regardless of what level you reach in the game, it isn't easy. And you never walk away thinking, "Yeah, I crushed it."
At one point, Isbell says that he feels no pressure once he's written the song. That in the studio there is no pressure because, to him, the song is done. And then Shires responds, essentially saying: "Yeah...that's not true." Sometimes even we mislead ourselves about how we approach and feel about our work.