This past Friday was my fourth time seeing Jason Isbell. However, this time was different. Isbell performed an acoustic show with just himself and his lead guitar player, Sadler Vaden. It was amazing seeing one of my favorite artists perform an intimate acoustic set; however, what made this performance so special was seeing him perform in this venue, The Forum Auditorium hosted by Harrisburg University Presents. This venue is one of the major performance venues in Harrisburg, home of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and an intimate seating of about 1,600. This small intimate venue puts you right in the thick of any performance.

Kevin Morby set the stage for this amazing night of music. He only performed a short set, but it was the perfect way to warm up the audience for what was to come. Morby often works with Kate Crutchfield from the indie rock band, Waxahatchee. Together, they have performed covers of various artists at live performances. Their most notable work together was the recording of two covers by the late singer/songwriter, Jason Molina. On this evening, Waxahatchee joined Morby to perform with him on the last two songs of his set, “Downtown Lights” and “Beautiful Strangers”. Watch the duo perform “Downtown Lights” in Austin last year, recorded by NPR.

Then, Jason Isbell took the stage, starting with “Something More Than Free”, the title track to his fifth studio album which won him a Grammy for best Americana Album. What a way to begin! Isbell performed a mix of songs from this album as well as his fourth studio release, Southeastern. He performed six songs from Southeastern including two encore songs, “Relatively Easy” and “Cover Me Up”. In addition to his solo work, Isbell also treated the fans to a handful of songs he recorded with the 400 Unit, mostly towards the end of the night to round out his set. One of Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s most beloved albums is The Nashville Sound, which coincidentally, was released just after the two solo albums by Isbell that he featured throughout the night.

Isbell also tossed in a few surprises during his set. He performed “Maybe It’s Time” from the movie soundtrack to A Star is Born. It was sung by Bradley Cooper in the movie and written by Jason Isbell. Eddie Vedder has also performed this song a few times! Isbell also tried out a new song for the audience titled, “Overseas”, giving us something to look forward to! Isbell eloquently ended his main set with “Last of my Kind”, the opening track from The Nashville Sound. This song provides an intimate look at how it feels to “not belong”. The opening lyrics, “I couldn’t be happy in the city at night, you can’t see the stars for the neon light” seemed to drift about this beautiful venue and I felt captivated by Isbell’s performance.

This was a night where Jason’s voice filled The Forum every time a note was sung. After his main set, he took the stage again for a 2-song encore. The final song of this special evening was a love song to his wife which was about his sobriety, “Cover me up”. Isbell truly shared his soul with us at this performance and that song was the perfect way to end a great evening!

If you want to see a performance at a venue where you are a part of the experience, be sure to check out a show at The Forum Auditorium in Harrisburg, PA.  Special thanks to Harrisburg University Presents for allowing us to cover this show and for bringing such an amazing talent to the city of Harrisburg! 

Note: Photography was not permitted at this show. I was able to take a few photos with my cell phone but that was all. So enjoy a beautiful recording of Jason Isbell performing and acoustic version of “Last of My Kind” on the Charlie Rose show on PBS.