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Morgan Wallen On His Jason Isbell Cover: “I Knew I’d Get Some Hate For It, And I Have, But It’s Mostly Love”

On night one of Luke Combs’ back to back sold-out shows at Nashville’s Bridegstone Area this week, Morgan Wallen brought the entire room to a standstill when he performed his version of Jason Isbell’s “Cover Me Up.”

The song has become an instant favorite among Wallen’s fans and, as you might expect, a point of contention from the staunch traditionalists that consider it blaspheme for a mainstream guy like Morgan to cover a song like this.

The other night, before his performance, Morgan addressed that criticism in a lengthy introduction explaining his appreciation for that song, Jason Isbell, and how although there is some hate, it’s been mostly love.

I always make sure that I say this every night I play it. This is a song that I did not originally write. It’s written by a guy who is one of my favorite artists and one of my favorite songwriters of all time. A guy named Jason Isbell. And from the moment I heard this song I just connected with it in a way that I have not connected to many songs. I would always be backstage warming up, just getting my voice ready to play a show, not really intending on anybody to hear it, but a few people heard it and they said ‘man, your version of that song is good, you should do your own version’. I was a bit skeptical at first because I knew I would get some hate for it, and I have, but it’s been mostly love and that’s because you guys so thank you for being so loving towards this. As long as I am able to sing I’m going to sing this song because I love it so much. It’s called ‘Cover Me Up.'”

And, most importantly, some of that love has come from Jason Isbell himself.

At the end of the day, whether you like it or not, this is a good thing for country music.

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