Big Star Bust Out: Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit Cover ‘When My Baby’s Beside Me’ At Ryman Opener

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit covered Big Star’s “When My Baby’s Beside Me” to start the encore on Thursday night at The Ryman Auditorium. The concert kicked off Jason Isbell and his bandmates’ annual residency at the historic Nashville venue.

The cover opened the encore, believed to be Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit’s first performance of the song since 2010. The band recorded a studio version of “When My Baby’s Beside Me” for inclusion as a bonus track to their 2009 self-titled album and the later-released reissued version of that record.

Big Star – the influential early-1970s Memphis power pop band composed of Alex Chilton, Chris Bell, Andy Hummel and Jody Stephens – included “When My Baby’s Beside Me” on their 1972 debut album, #1 Record.

Isbell has used the yearly Ryman residency to cover songs by other artists, often zeroing in on a single band’s music across the run. The Mother Church residency in 2025 featured a series of The Band covers and R.E.M. songs were played as part of the encores in 2024.

Memphis soul outfit Southern Avenue opened Thursday’s concert. Different openers, all hailing from Memphis, will perform at subsequent nights of the run.

The six-show residency continues today (Friday, October 16) and tomorrow (Saturday, October 17) and concludes October 22 – 24.

Swipe through the post below to see a clip of the Big Star cover bust out:

The night before the Ryman residency commenced, The 400 Unit guitarist Sadler Vaden played National Anthem before the start of the Nashville SC game against Sporting KC at nearby Geodis Park. Watch the pre-MLS soccer match performance of “The Star Spangled Banner”: