Mickey Guyton, Jason Isbell Perform at DNC Opening Night

For Guyton and Isbell, it was their first time performing at a a political convention, though both have been outspoken on political issues throughout their careers. Isbell famously recorded Georgia Blue, an album of cover of songs by artists from Georgia after Biden won the state in 2020. And earlier that year, Guyton made a major statement with her song, “Black Like Me,” released amidst the Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd.  

“You have to find a balance because our point here is not that we’re trying to cause division, we just want people to see us, to step outside of their world and see the rest of the world,” Guyton told Rolling Stone at the time. “Because the rest of the world sees white people. We’ve been seeing white people our whole lives.”