A few months ago, My Morning Jacket leader Jim James put out a new record: The Order Of Nature, a full-length collaboration with Teddy Abrams and the Louisville Orchestra. But right now, James does not seem too concerned about promoting his own music. Instead, James has been out on the internet, doing what he can to make the current situation a bit more tolerable. He’s covered the Beatles for a COVID-19 relief fund. He’s played a digital Bernie Sanders rally with Neil Young. And now he’s covered Bill Withers, the soul great who died last week.

James has a long and well-documented history of Bill Withers appreciation. In 2008, the reclusive Withers made a rare appearance at a tribute show in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. James was on the bill that night, singing Withers’ classic “Ain’t No Sunshine.” In 2013, James returned to Prospect Park, and he and the Roots covered Withers’ “Use Me” together. And now, on last night’s taped-remotely episode of Colbert, James covered the Withers classic “Lean On Me,” a perfect song about mutual support.

“Lean On Me,” from the 1972 album Still Bill, is the only Bill Withers song that ever went to #1 in the US. James has sung it before; he covered it at Virginia’s Lockn’ Festival in 2017. Last night on Colbert, James sang a soulful solo version of the song, sending in the video from his home. He hit some big notes, and he conveyed both the beauty and the gravity of the original. Watch him do it below.

Jim James could probably afford to get a new straw hat, right? Because that straw hat looks like it’s just about done.