The first day of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago will feature prominent performances, including one by legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor. According to a schedule released by organizers Monday afternoon, Taylor, singer-songwriter Jason Isbell and country artist Mickey Guyton are all slated to perform for the first night of the convention. The performances come on a night of big speeches. Guyton will be the first to take the stage, slated to appear just before 7 p.m. following a speech from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Isbell will then perform following a speech from reproductive rights activist and content creator Deja Foxx. Taylor, known for hits like “You've Got a Friend” and “How Sweet It Is,” will take the stage later in the night, following a speech from First Lady Jill Biden and just before Biden's daughter Ashley Biden introduces her father, President Joe Biden, and welcomes him to the stage. Taylor is no stranger to performing at the DNC, having performed at the 2012 convention as well. Biden is slated to headline the first night of the convention at Chicago's United Center.
Musical Performances at the Democratic National Convention
The Democratic National Convention will deliver some music for the people on Monday night in Chicago. Legendary singer-songwriter James Taylor, country standout Mickey Guyton and folk/Americana star Jason Isbell are confirmed to hit the stage at the United Center to help kick off the four-day convention as part of tonight’s packed program organized under a theme of “For the People,” convention officials confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter. As previously announced, Monday’s schedule will feature a keynote from President Joe Biden and remarks from a slate of high-profile politicos and Biden family members including first lady Dr. Jill Biden, Ashley Biden, former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Rep. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, U.S. Sen. Raphael G. Warnock and others.
Jason Isbell's Performance
On a night when President Joe Biden will be addressing the Democratic National Convention, another guest will be speaking up — or singing out — for the working Joe. Jason Isbell will be performing on the first night of the convention in Chicago, singing his working man’s anthem “Something More Than Free.” Although the DNC’s musical guests have so far not been announced in advance, Isbell’s impending appearance became clear to the world Sunday night via CNN. The network was conducting live broadcasts from its booth at the United Center in Chicago, where a soundcheck of the song was clearly audible in the background, with the rock singer-songwriter’s face visible on screens. Variety has independently confirmed Isbell’s performance will take place Monday night.
Rarely shy about speaking out on matters he considers important, the Alabama-bred performer has been less active about topical events on social media than usual lately, as he has been out on tour with his band the 400 Unit. So he hasn’t spoken up a great deal yet about the latest electoral developments, although no one in his audience could be surprised by his approval of the Kamala Harris/Tim Walz ticket. Isbell did offer a wry testimony to Walz’s integrity in an Aug. 8 post on the Threads platform. There, he wrote: “Tim Walz doesn’t just bring the pickguard to get signed after the show, he brings the whole guitar so you won’t think he’s gonna sell it on eBay.” Back on July 21, he also paid homage to the man who will be sharing the stage with him Monday night at the convention. “Finally somebody shows some integrity and consideration for the American people,” Isbell wrote, upon hearing that the president was stepping back as a candidate. “I don’t know what the right choice was, but I know what the hard choice was. Respect, @joebiden.”
Isbell hit Chicago for his soundcheck the day after playing for tens of thousands of people at Texas’ AT&T Stadium, opening for Zach Bryan, who has described Isbell as one of his primary influences. Apart from a couple of stadium shows opening for Bryan, Isbell has been headlining amphitheaters this summer, including a Hollywood Bowl show in late July enthusiastically reviewed by Variety. The lyrics of “Something More Than Free” characterize freedom as a luxury enjoyed by Americans, but also a baseline for richer and fuller lives. The song describes a man exhausted by his job, yet “grateful for the work,” even if it leaves him with little time or energy to enjoy the fruits of his labor. Isbell said in a 2015 video that the song were inspired by a phone call with his father, who told him that he wanted to go to church with other members of the family, but needed to rest on the one day of the week he got to sleep in past 5 a.m. “I thought, ‘Man, what kind of a position is that to be in — you know, where you’re really grateful for having this job that prevents you from being grateful in public about it in the way that people in my part of the country normally show their gratitude, by going to church and giving thanks with their community for something like that?’”
“Something More Than Free” is not a nightly staple of Isbell’s sets, but it is a recurring concert favorite, with Setlist.fm showing that he has performed it with his band or as a soloist at about 530 documented concerts. In an interview with Stereogum published in 2015, when the album of the same name was coming out, Isbell shared his thoughts about what the title meant. “Freedom is a means to an end,” he said. “Very often you hear people putting so much emphasis on having the freedom to choose, and living the lives that they want. And I understand that I have been very fortunate to be born into certain circumstances that allow me to do whatever I want to do, for the most part. But freedom can also be enough rope by which to hang yourself. I went through a long period of time where I didn’t have to answer to anybody, so I made a lot big mistakes: things that I don’t necessarily regret now — because I learned from them — but I overdosed on that freedom for a while. I think as you get older, if you mature and grow in the right way, then eventually you realize it’s not really freedom that you’re fighting for. It’s what that freedom can get you. It’s freedom combined with the ability to make good decisions and align your priorities correctly. The ability to make those decisions is a privilege that not everybody has.” Isbell has not had much to say about Harris’ Republican competitor lately, although his fans know where he stands on Donald Trump. In June, he posted the advice: “All I ask is that you consider voting for a presidential candidate who can legally travel to Canada and the UK.”
The Democratic National Convention Lineup
THR has learned that Taylor, a longtime Democrat and activist who campaigned for Biden and former President Barack Obama, will be the night’s final performer. Taylor’s showing tonight will mark a return to the DNC stage. In 2012, he performed “Carolina in My Mind,” “You’ve Got a Friend” and “How Sweet It Is” from the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. “I’m a lifelong Democrat, and I pay a lot of taxes, and I want a government that I paid for,” Taylor has previously said. “I do feel as a citizen, I just feel compelled to respond when I’m asked for support.” Kerry Washington, Mindy Kaling, Tony Goldwyn and Ana Navarro will serve as hosts at the 2024 DNC, with each of the stars delivering opening remarks and making appearances throughout the evening on select nights. The schedule is as follows: Goldwyn (Monday), Navarro (Tuesday), Kaling (Wednesday) and Washington (Thursday, which is also the day that Vice President Kamala Harris will formally accept the Democratic nomination for president). Additional performers are expected throughout the week, and those names have yet to be announced. Born in Massachusetts and raised in North Carolina, Grammy Award-winning Taylor has a history of activism that has found him hitting the stage for causes he cares deeply about and for backing Democratic politicians including Biden, Obama and Clinton. He turned up at multiple campaign events for Obama, and performed “America the Beautiful” during his second-term inauguration in 2013. More recently, Taylor had been showing his support for President Biden’s re-election efforts before the president elected to step down from the current campaign. For his part, Isbell, who has a load of tour dates scheduled for the rest of this year with his band The 400 Unit, is expected to perform his song “Something More Than Free.” The rocker’s participation was reported earlier today following a leak of sorts. During CNN’s live broadcast from the network’s DNC booth, Isbell’s soundcheck could be heard in the background and his face was visible on the screens. The outspoken Grammy Award winner had posted to Threads when Biden dropped out of the race, sharing, “Finally somebody shows some integrity and consideration for the American people.” Guyton’s appearance comes as she’s readying for the release of her new album, House on Fire, on Sept. 27. She has a new song out this Friday titled “My Side of the Country” and her inclusion in the DNC festivities represents a showing from a successful Black female artist who has blazed her own trail in country music, long considered an industry dominated by white men. “There’s so many people — women, Black women, Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQIA+ — that have a unique story that’s important to be heard and when you’re not giving people that platform, that is just flat out wrong in my personal opinion,” she once told E! News. “That’s why representation matters, because there’s a little 7-year-old girl out there that looks like me that has these dreams and when she doesn’t see herself, she doesn’t get to pursue that and she doesn’t get to live a life that could have been destined for her.”
The 2024 DNC is the official event where Democrats from all 50 states and the U.S. territories will come together from Aug. 19 to 22 to rally for Harris in her bid to be elected to the White House alongside vice presidential candidate Tim Walz. Nightly programming will be headquartered at Chicago’s United Center with other party activities set to take place at McCormick Place Convention Center, all of which are rolled out as a collaboration between the Democratic National Committee, the Chicago host committee, the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois. Per the DNC, 50,000 visitors are expected to descend upon Chicago, a figure that includes 5,000 delegates and alternates and 15,000 members of the media.
