On the eve of the 2020 presidential election, when it looked like Joe Biden could defeat Donald Trump by holding the Blue Wall and flipping some reliably red states, Jason Isbell took to Twitter:

“If Biden wins Georgia I’m gonna make a charity covers album of my favorite Georgia songs- REM, Gladys Knight, Vic Chesnutt, Allmans, Cat Power, Precious Bryant, Now It’s Overhead, etc… And damn is that gonna be fun.”

Biden did win Georgia, and 11 months later Isbell kept his promise and released Georgia Blue, the proceeds of which went to three progressive Georgia charities: Black Voters Matter, Fair Fight, and Georgia STAND-UP.

While this is a Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit album, and the band plays on every track, Isbell hands the lead vocal reins to others on most of the songs. That’s a shame, because I love his voice. Fortunately, he does the honors on the opening and closing tracks — the R.E.M. classics ‘Nightswimming’ and ‘Driver 8.’

The rest of the album is just fine, especially when the source material is by Otis Redding, James Brown, and Gladys Knight and the Pips. The Black Crowes tune is a little less exciting.

Apart from the R.E.M. covers, my favorite track on Georgia Blue is The Indigo Girls’ ‘Kid Fears’ performed by Brandi Carlile and Julien Baker. This is the kind of team-up you’d read about in lesbian fan fiction, and it delivers.