Jason Isbell and his 400 Unit bandmate Sadler Vaden stopped by KEXP studios on March 2nd for a performance now available on YouTube. The duo turned in a four-song acoustic set featuring an R.E.M. cover and a trio of Isbell originals.

Starting off with the misty darkness of “Only Children”, Isbell and his fellow guitarist/backup vocalist delivered a performance similar to the recorded version from 2020’s Reunions. Rather than transposing some of his more raucous electric compositions to the acoustic plane, the singer-songwriter instead opted for some of his softer pieces. Up next was another Reunions track, “St. Peter’s Autograph”, which Jason wrote for his wife and 400 Unit fiddle player Amanda Shires when she was grieving the loss of her friend and renowned guitarist Neal Casal, who committed suicide in 2019.

Though Reunions has been out nearly two years, Isbell notes, this was one of his first opportunities to perform stripped-down versions of these songs live, in-studio. “We didn’t know coming into this if this was going to succeed or not,” he joked. “This is not like David Copperfield. We didn’t plan this out, we just went for it.”

Related: Watch Jason Isbell Cover The Allman Brothers Band In Seventh Grade [Watch]

Between songs, Isbell highlighted his most recent studio effort, Georgia Blue. The all-Georgia covers album arrived last October as fulfillment for Isbell’s vow to pay tribute to The Peach State if it went blue for President Joe Biden in the 2020 election. Included on the album is a rendition of “Driver 8” from one of the many jewels of the Athens, GA music scene, R.E.M.

Following the tribute, Isbell and KEXP host Cheryl Waters shared their affinity for another musical luminary from Athens honored on Georgia Blue. “Anytime someone tells me I write sad songs I tell them you should listen to Vic Chesnutt,” Isbell said. “Because clearly, you’ve never listened to Vic Chesnutt.”

Finally, the musical portion of the session came to a close with “Tour of Duty”. The song first appeared on Isbell and The Unit’s 2011 album, Here We Rest, though as Jason noted him and Sadler have started revamping it “sort of in the hillbilly style.”

Watch Jason Isbell and Sadler Vaden’s performance on KEXP. Jason Isbell And The 400 Unit recently added new summer tour dates including stops in Texas, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Connecticut. For tickets and a full list of shows visit his website.

Jason Isbell, Sadler Vaden – Live on KEXP