The songs of Justin Vernon, also known as Bonnie Vair, have been a companion to me for years,

and it was a thrill to sit with him in the old-fashioned flesh and experience his warmth and tenderness and

wisdom. Justin is a person who experiences deeply, who metabolizes that creatively, and who just

keeps growing.

I know now that I can't make good How I wish I could

Go back and put

Me where you stood

Nothing's really something now the whole thing should He leaned into a sweet and searching conversation with me

about love and despair and healing

and about the deep working of time in a life

and the mystical nature of numbers and the problem of fame.

As I fill my book, what a waste of wood.

Nothing's really happened like I thought it would. Justin has been on an Justin has been on an adventure with all of this

since releasing his first album in 2007

for Emma forever ago

and finding himself on a trajectory of success that was beyond his imagining.

And I'm told you to be patient, and I'm told that you be fine, and I told you to be balanced, and I've told you to be kind.

And now all your love is wasted.

And then who the hell was I?

And I'm breaking at the bridges and at the end of all your lives.

He's collaborated with many artists since then, from Taylor Swift to the Blind Boys of Alabama to Travis Scott.

And he's now released his fifth album, Sable Fable.

...