[UPDATE]: HBO has given audiences their first look at Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed, the next installment of the network’s Music Box documentary series.
Available April 7th, the film from director Sam Jones (Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Fall Off) chronicles the making of Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit‘s 2020 album, Reunions. In the clip shared on Wednesday, viewers get an intimate look at not only Isbell’s creative process but how the pursuit of his art affects his relationship with his wife and occasional 400 Unit bandmate Amanda Shires. As Isbell points out, “Most people don’t go to work with their wife.”
Behind the scenes, the making of Reunions was a tumultuous time for Isbell and Shires. As Amanda revealed in a CBS Mornings interview last fall, she actually moved out of their house for ten days while Isbell recorded the album.
“It was just a war in the studio. It was like a war he was having with himself and with me,” she recalled. “Suddenly in our house, he lived in his own invisible house and there was no windows and no doors and you couldn’t get to him. Like he was there, but he was just impenetrable.”
Running With Our Eyes Closed appears to focus on Isbell’s all-consuming commitment to his craft. As his former Drive-By Truckers bandmate Patterson Hood says out in the trailer, “Jason is extremely hard on himself and it can be painful for everyone around him.” In his wilder youth, those frustrations manifested themselves in substance abuse and other dangerous behavior. Now, with over a decade of sobriety, a wife, and a 7-year-old daughter, Isbell is still figuring out how to navigate those same issues and impulses while also communicating his art in new and honest ways.
Check out the trailer for Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed from HBO’s Music Box series. The film will premiere tomorrow, March 23rd, at The Grammy Museum in L.A., followed by a Q&A with Isbell and Jones and a performance by Jason and Amanda.
Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed | Official Trailer | HBO
[3/17/23]: Jason Isbell will serve as the subject of the latest installment of the HBO Music Box series with the documentary Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed. The latest installment from the series behind last year’s Woodstock 1999: Peace, Love, And Rage is set to premiere next week at The Grammy Museum with a special event featuring a concert and conversation with Isbell.
Just as previous Music Box films on artists like DMX and Alanis Morrissette examined a pivotal moment in an artist’s career, Running With Our Eyes Closed will chronicle the time surrounding Isbell’s 2020 album with his band The 400 Unit, Reunions.
A synopsis of the film reads,
In his own words, renowned singer and songwriter Jason Isbell takes us on an unexpected journey through his musical evolution and creative process as he goes into the studio to record his new album “Reunions” with his band The 400 Unit. With striking candor and honesty, Isbell lays bare his difficult childhood, his struggles with addiction and relationships, funneling all his pain and private battles into his music. When the COVID-19 pandemic arrives and forces him and his family into lockdown, Isbell must confront the self-doubt and fears that isolation brings to a recovering addict and artist, even as the album releases to rave reviews.
In an interview last summer on CBS Mornings to promote her own album Take It Like A Man, Isbell’s wife and occasional 400 Unit collaborator Amanda Shires opened up about the tumultuous period chronicled in Running With Our Eyes Closed. In 2019 as Isbell began piecing together what would become Reunions, the couple grew distant as Jason withdrew into his music.
“It was just a war in the studio. It was like a war he was having with himself and with me,” she recalled. “Suddenly in our house, he lived in his own invisible house and there was no windows and no doors and you couldn’t get to him. Like he was there, but he was just impenetrable.”
Things reached a boiling point during the recording of the album when Shires moved out of their Nashville home for ten days. As of last August, things were resolved in the home they share with their 7-year-old daughter Mercy Rose Isbell.
“I think we’re in a good place, and we’re happy,” Shires said. “I think we’re still in love.”
Reunions landed on shelves and streaming services on May 15th, 2020, around the time that it became clear the COVID pandemic—and its universal impact on nearly every facet of life—was not about to go away. As the virus sent everyone indoors, Isbell and Shires welcomed fans into their home with their I So Lounging streams. When the lockdown veil began to lift, Isbell helped lead the charge of socially distant and COVID-friendly concerts, with he and Shires playing the inaugural shows at the above-ground The Caverns Amphitheater in Pelham, TN.
Now, with touring life back to normal, Isbell is preparing to release another album with The 400 Unit, Weathervanes. Out on June 9th via Isbell’s Southeastern Records, Jason previewed the album last month with the lead single “Death Wish” and a slick promo video narrated by ESPN‘s Wright Thompson.
“There is something about boundaries on this record,” Isbell said. “As you mature, you still attempt to keep the ability to love somebody fully and completely while you’re growing into an adult and learning how to love yourself.”
Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed was directed and produced by Sam Jones (Tony Hawk: Until The Wheels Fall Off). Emmy-winning duo Mark and Jay Duplass (The Lady and the Dale) executive produced the project along with series EP Bill Simmons (30 for 30). The sold-out premiere is set for Thursday, March 23rd at 6:30 p.m. at The Grammy Museum in L.A. Following the film, there will be a conversation with Isbell and Jones and a performance by Jason and Amanda. Nashville’s The Belcourt will host another sold-out screening and Q&A on Sunday, March 26th at 7 p.m.
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