Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit Continue Covering R.E.M. At The Ryman

After a few days off, Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit resumed their residency at The Ryman Auditorium on Thursday night, playing the fifth concert of the eight-show run. As they did on the first four shows of the run, Jason Isbell and his bandmates began the encore with an R.E.M. cover.

Isbell played acoustic guitar while leading his band through a cover of R.E.M.’s “Fall On Me.” The song was recorded by R.E.M. for the Athens, Georgia-born band’s fourth album, 1986’s Lifes Rich Pageant.

“Fall On Me” followed Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit kicking off this year’s Ryman residency with R.E.M.’s hit “Losing My Religion.” The second show’s encore began with R.E.M.’s “Driver 8,” which joined Isbell’s live repertoire after the band recorded the song for the 2021 covers compilation Georgia Blue.

Show three featured R.E.M.’s “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” at the start of the encore. Isbell performed “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It” in June when he inducted R.E.M. into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The fourth show of this year’s Ryman residency brought “The One I Love” into the fold. Isbell recently performed “The One I Love” with R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe at a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris.

Like other nights of this year’s Ryman residency, Thursday’s show also featured lasers. Singer-songwriter Matraca Berg played an opening set at the start of last night’s concert. Tennessee State Representative Gloria Johnson, who is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, introduced Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit before they took the stage last night at the storied Nashville venue.

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit perform the sixth show of their eight-show Ryman residency tonight. Iris DeMent will open Friday’s concert.

Watch audience-shot video clips of last night’s R.E.M. cover below: