Jason Isbell has announced details of his long-awaited Georgia covers album, Georgia Blue. The 13-track LP paying tribute to a wide range of artists from the Peach State is out digitally on October 15th, with vinyl and CD editions arriving on November 26th for Record Store Day Black Friday.
Georgia Blue began as an online gentleman’s agreement Isbell made with his 402,000 Twitter followers that if Georgia went blue and Joe Biden won the state in the 2020 presidential election, he would record an all-Georgia cover album. The finished product, Georgia Blue, features Isbell and a slew of special guests including Bèla Fleck, Chris Thile, Brandi Carlile, Julien Baker, and many more as they take on tracks by Georgia royalty The Allman Brothers Band, James Brown, R.E.M, Otis Redding, Vic Chesnutt, Indigo Girls, The Black Crowes, and more.
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Isbell said of the album in a lengthy statement,
Georgia Blue is a labor of love. On election day 2020, when I saw that there was a good chance the state of Georgia might go blue, I came up with an idea: to record an album of Georgia- related songs as a thank you to the state and donate the money to a Georgia based non-profit organization. I will admit my motivations were a bit selfish. For years, I’ve been looking for an excuse to record these songs with my band and some friends. The songs on this album are some of my favorite Georgia-related songs, but the tracklist is not meant to be comprehensive. I would love to cover Outkast and 2 Chainz, but I don’t think the finished product would be very good. We’re a rock band, so we covered rock songs. We have roots in blues and R&B, so we enlisted some brilliant artists to help us pull off songs by Precious Bryant, James Brown, and Gladys Knight. My favorite part of the Georgia Blue recording process was having the opportunity to work with these very special artists, and I thank them: Amanda Shires, Brittney Spencer, Adia Victoria, Brandi Carlile, Julien Baker, Bèla Fleck, Chris Thile, Steve Gorman, Peter Levin, and John Paul White. I hope you enjoy listening to these recordings as much as we enjoyed making them. Keep listening to good music and fighting the good fight.
Along with the announcement, Isbell shared a cover of R.E.M.’s “Driver 8” featuring fellow Muscle Shoals, AL boy John Paul White (The Civil Wars). “Driver 8” has been in Isbell’s repertoire since returning to active duty following the live music shutdown, with the debut rendition arriving on July 10th, 2021 at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, NC, per Setlist.fm.
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Stream the track below and click here to order a copy of Georgia Blue, the forthcoming Jason Isbell all-Georgia cover album. Scroll down to see a full tracklist and album artwork by Isbell’s wife and 400 Unit bandmate Amanda Shires.
Jason Isbell (ft. John Paul White) – “Driver 8” (R.E.M.)
[Video: Jason Isbell]
