Last summer, Amanda Shires thought she was going insane. But it wasn’t a mid-life crisis or heat-induced hallucinations, rather it was her hormones going bonkers when she was seven months pregnant with her—and husband Jason Isbell’s—first child. While Isbell was on the road, Shires would stew about their relationship, worried that Isbell might find someone new who hadn’t gained 50 pounds. “Being pregnant makes you crazy,” she says now with a laugh. Fortunately, Shires was able channel some of her neurosis into songwriting. One of the best from her upcoming album, My Piece Of Land, is “Slippin’,” an aching lament about losing someone.
“I wrote this song thinking about the little decisions that you make before you end up across the line,” she says. Turns out she didn’t need to be fearful of Isbell taking a hike—he supplies the mournful, eerie guitar and sings background on the song. “Writing a song about something isn’t the same as bringing it up in a lover’s discussion,” Isbell says. “I took it as a small fear that inspired a creative conversation between Amanda and her audience. It’s her way of sorting, of unpacking those emotions.” Shires and Isbell welcomed their daughter, Mercy, last September, and Shires’ other baby, My Piece of Land, is out on Friday, September 16. She’ll be touring throughout the fall. In the meantime, Garden & Gun is thrilled to premiere “Slippin’.”
