Jason Isbell Performs Gorgeous Grateful Dead Cover At Event In Atlanta

Jason Isbell participated in “An Evening Of Conversation And Song With Jason Isbell And Will Welch” at Atlanta’s Fox Theater on Saturday night. In addition to chatting with his friend Welch — who is the global editorial director at GQ Magazine, Isbell also performed a solo set and played a gorgeous acoustic cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Ripple.”

Isbell told a story about his wife, fellow singer-songwriter Amanda Shires, who a few years ago worked at a record store in Lubbock, Texas. One of Shires’ co-workers was a Deadhead and often played live recordings of Dead shows. According to Isbell, for a while Shires thought the sound of guitars tuning was a Grateful Dead song.

After the introduction, Isbell treated the Atlanta audience to “Ripple.” Written by Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia and lyricist Robert Hunter, “Ripple” appeared on the Dead’s 1970 album, American Beauty.

Isbell’s solo set was also notable for the final song he played. As reported on Setlist.fm, the closer was the live debut of an unreleased original titled “King Of Oklahoma.”

Watch Isbell’s take on “Ripple” below:

Setlist