Jim James is ready to get personal. The My Morning Jacket frontman has announced One Wonders, his first memoir, due April 13 via Simon & Schuster. The 336-page book traces the Louisville, Ky.,-reared James’ evolution as a musician and a human, exploring the exhilaration and isolation of life in a touring rock band alongside struggles with mental health that he says he has never publicly discussed in such detail.

James writes about everything from discovering music through The Muppet Show to the physical and emotional toll of a career spent on the road. Among the book’s most difficult chapters is his account of a gruesome onstage injury in Iowa in 2008 and the depression, excessive drinking and suicidal thoughts that followed. He also describes his eventual efforts to address his alcoholism and mental health, and to rediscover the restorative power of music.

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In a statement announcing the book, James said years of therapy and reflection prompted him to consider what he wanted to communicate through his life and work — and whether sharing his own struggles might help others feel less alone.

“As I reflect on my own musical journey (from first learning to play the guitar to creating music in the present day) and navigating the complexities of life in general, I have been thinking a lot about my elders,” he said. “For so many of them, tradition was to never speak about yourself. You carried your victories and failures, your joys and horrors, quietly. A thought kept making its way into my mind: wouldn’t things be lighter for all of us if we shared more with other people?”

He continued, “I feel like it’s our generation’s job to tear down those walls and share our triumphs and horrors. When we do, we’ll find that we’re all walking around with the same things inside of us, the good and the bad. It helps so much when we can find a way to let them out together, so that we can all begin to move toward a more peaceful and love-centered existence.”

James hopes the memoir’s candor can serve a purpose beyond documenting his own experiences. “Perhaps if I illustrated my journey, and how I began to deal with my own struggles with mental health, it could help people take a step toward getting out of their own darkness and depression,” he said. “If nothing else, I hope the main thing someone takes away from this book (aside from learning more about the joys and challenges of being a working artist and musician) is that it’s okay to ask for help. Everyone is going through some sort of challenge in this crazy world. IT IS POSSIBLE to find your way out of darkness and despair, and begin to enjoy the subtle, beautiful, everyday victories of simply being alive.”

One Wonders will be published in hardcover and ebook, with an audiobook read by James himself. Autographed copies are available to preorder through Louisville’s Carmichael’s Bookstore, alongside general preorders through Simon & Schuster.

My Morning Jacket played its last show of the year on Oct. 23 in Live Oak, Fl., treating fans to rare covers of Radiohead’s “The National Anthem” and the Grateful Dead’s “Franklin’s Tower” with special guest Karina Rykman. The group will be back in action for its long-running Mexican destination festival One Big Holiday, which returns Jan. 14-18 at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya with sets from Modest Mouse, Spoon, Wednesday, Durand Jones & the Indications, Kevin Morby, Bonny Light Horseman, Slow Pulp and Say She She.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.