Alabama singer and songwriter Jason Isbell talked on “APR Notebook” about his new album, “Foxes in the Snow.” That compilation of original songs has led to his latest three Grammy nominations. Isbell will be considered in the categories of “Best Folk Album.” The title track from the album is up for “Best American Roots Song,” and another number from the album, “Crimson and Clay," will compete for “Best American Roots Performance.”
Isbell’s song “Crimson and Clay” will be competing against “Beautiful Strangers” by Gospel singer Mavis Staples. Both performers have links to the Muscle Shoals area. Isbell learned about music under the guidance of veteran bass guitarist David Hood, one of the legendary musicians known as “The Swampers.” Staples recorded her classic song “I’ll Take You There,” in the Shoals. During his interview on “APR Notebook,” Isbell explained how his mentor played bass during that recording session with Staples, and even performed his only solo.
“There's something about the way he (David Hood) interprets a song that can really make the song more than it would have been otherwise," Isbell observed. "And I think where I normally start is on (song) “I'll Take You" there when Mavis (Staples) says 'little David,' and he plays the bass solo, probably the only bass solo of his life, because he just hates playing solos. He would rather be in the background. But that solo, everybody knows that. You know, that's a recognizable part of American art and and I think David really made that song stronger than it would have been with anybody else.”
All of Isbell’s three 2026 Grammy nominations are for his first solo acoustic album “Foxes in the Snow," and he talked extensively on APR about the challenges of going into the studio without either of his bands “The Drive-By Truckers” or "The 400 Unit” to back him.
“It was different at first,” Isbell admitted. “It was terrifying, you know, because if you mess up, there's nothing to hide behind. But it got to be a little bit liberating in that way, because I didn't have to worry about sometimes you'll be recording a track and, you know, let's say two or three musicians will be playing at the same time, and I'll be the guy that messes it up, and everybody else will get it perfect. And you get all the way to the end, and you're like, I'm sorry, guys, I did it wrong. We got to all try it over again. So that didn't happen. That was really nice, but at the same time, it was a very sort of small, personal, emotional record for me, and one that I feel like worked best with that delivery process. I don't do it forever. I enjoy playing solo acoustic but, but I do miss the horsepower and the camaraderie of having the band around me.”
Isbell also talked about the series of guitars he used during the recording session for “Foxes in the Snow. That led to his three latest Grammy nominations. After trying them all out I the studio, Isbell says he decided the smaller 1940 Martin guitar was the best and he used that one instrument for all of tracks.
“It sat right in the mix. It was the lowest model on the on the food chain for (guitar maker) Martin,” Isbell observed. "At that point in time, was inexpensive, sort of a learner's guitar, a starter guitar for Martin. But in those days, they built those with the same sort of attention to detail that they built their more expensive models. And it's all mahogany. It's a small bodied guitar, so it doesn't have the big, throaty, boomy sound of a big Dreadnought, you know, that would have been way more expensive before World War Two, but over time, that guitar has aged really perfectly. And the size and the volume of it made it work for this record, because it's just a guitar and a voice, you know, and I brought in a bigger guitar, a louder guitar, and it just dominated the frequency range, and it sounded like, you know, that was the most important thing. And this guitar sat in that space just perfectly. And after I did three or four songs that way, I thought, Well, I think it would make sense just to make the whole album with this one guitar. And actually, Martin's doing a signature version of that now they're going to put out a version of that guitar that's really beautifully made.”
Not like us? More like him: Kendrick Lamar leads the 2026 Grammy Award nominations, announced Friday. The rapper is up for nine trophies at February’s ceremony: record, song and album of the year — marking the third time he’s had simultaneous nominations in those big categories — as well as pop duo/group performance, melodic rap performance, rap song and rap album. He’s also nominated twice in the rap performance category.
Lamar, who is riding the success of last year’s blockbuster “GNX” album, has 22 Grammy career wins and 66 nominations. “GNX” is his fifth consecutive studio album to be nominated for album of the year, something no other artist has ever done. If it wins, it will be his first win in the category. And it will be only the third rap album to win the top prize, following Outkast in 2004 for “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below” and Lauryn Hill in 1999 for “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.”
Lady Gaga is up for song, record and album of the year — her first time receiving nominations in all three categories simultaneously. She could also score potential wins in the pop solo performance, pop vocal album, dance pop recording and traditional pop vocal album categories.
Antonoff is nominated in the record, album and song of the year categories twice, for his work with Lamar and Sabrina Carpenter. He’s also nominated for rap song for the first time. That’s for “tv off” with Lamar, featuring Lefty Gunplay.
Antonoff and Cirkut are this year’s leading producers. However, Antonoff will not face off with Cirkut in the producer of the year, non-Classical category – though he’s won it three times before.
That’s not all. Cirkut is up for both record and song of the year, twice — for Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra” and Rosé and Bruno Mars’ “APT.” — as well as album of the year and best dance pop recording.
In addition to Lady Gaga’s “Mayhem” and Lamar’s “GNX,” the album of the year category is rounded out by Carpenter’s “Man’s Best Friend,” Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” Justin Bieber’s “Swag,” Clipse, Pusha T & Malice’s “Let God Sort Em Out,” Leon Thomas’ “Mutt” and Tyler, the Creator’s “Chromakopia.”
This is the first time three albums have been up for both rap album and album of the year: “GNX,” “Let God Sort Em Out” and “Chromakopia.”
Additionally, Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” is only the second time an all-Spanish language album has been nominated for the top prize. The first was also a Bad Bunny release — in 2023, for “Un Verano Sin Ti.” Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” won that year.
Carpenter, Bad Bunny, Leon Thomas and Serban Ghenea all boast six nominations. Andrew Watt, Clipse, Doechii, Sounwave, SZA, Turnstile and Tyler, the Creator have five each.
Only recordings commercially released in the U.S. between Aug. 31, 2024 through Aug. 30, 2025 were eligible for nominations. The final round of Grammy voting, which determines its winners, will take place Dec. 12 through Jan. 5.
