Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit announce benefit covers album featuring Julien Baker and more

The announcement of Georgia Blue arrives with a cover of R.E.M.'s "Driver 8" featuring John Paul White.

Georgia Blue will see all proceeds donated to Black Voters Matter, Fair Fight and Georgia STAND-UP, and will feature appearances from Julien Baker, Brandi Carlile, Adia Victoria, Brittney Spencer, Chris Thile, Sadler Vaden and more.

The album, recorded at Nashville’s Sound Emporium Studios and Blackbird Studio with engineer Gena Johnson, will see Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit cover 13 songs by the likes of Otis Redding, Cat Power, James Brown, The Allman Brothers Band, The Black Crowes and others.

Isbell says, "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 organisation. 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…We have roots and 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."

Tracklist:

1. Nightswimming feat. Béla Fleck and Chris Thile (originally performed by R.E.M.)
2. Honeysuckle Blue feat. Sadler Vaden (originally performed by Drivin’ N’ Cryin’)
3. It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World feat. Brittney Spencer (originally performed by James Brown)
4. Cross Bones Style feat. Amanda Shires (originally performed by Cat Power)
5. The Truth feat. Adia Victoria (originally performed by Precious Bryant)
6. I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (originally performed by Otis Redding)
7. Sometimes Salvation feat. Steve Gorman (originally performed by The Black Crowes)
8. Kid Fears feat. Julien Baker and Brandi Carlile (originally performed by Indigo Girls)
9. Reverse (originally performed by Now It’s Overhead)
10. Midnight Train To Georgia feat. Brittney Spencer and John Paul White (originally performed by Gladys Knight & The Pips)
11. In Memory of Elizabeth Reed feat. Peter Levin (originally performed by The Allman Brothers Band)
12. I’m Through (originally performed by Vic Chesnutt)
13. Driver 8 feat. John Paul White (originally performed by R.E.M.)