Country music icon Willie Nelson, with sons Lukas and Micah and other musicians, performs “At Home With Farm Aid” at 7 p.m. tonight. Nelson joins his Farm Aid co-founders Neil Young and John Mellencamp for the live streaming event.
The one hour concert airs at farmaid.org and on the AXS TV cable channel, plus social media sites. In keeping with our “New Norm,” all performances are filmed from each musician’s home or studio so they are not all sharing a stage. The concert benefits American farmers and their families.
AXS TV also airs “The Best of Farm Aid 2019” at 7 p.m. Sunday. That concert is two and a half hours long, and features a number of other stars like Bonnie Raitt and Tanya Tucker. Farm Aid 2019 was live onstage at Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Wisconsin.
Farm Aid Launch
The three co-founders launched the nonprofit after hearing Bob Dylan’s plea to support our country’s farmers. The organization offers COVID-19 relief by offering farmers and ranchers emergency grants and connecting them to support resources. Dave Matthews joined the Farm Aid Board of Directors in 2001.
On March 19, Nelson helped raise funds to fight the COVID-19 virus by streaming a free concert when his annual Luck Festival was cancelled by the crisis. Paul Simon, Edie Brickell, and others joined in that concert, titled “Till Further Notice.”
The organization’s website notes they have raised $57 million to promote “a strong and resilient family farm system of agriculture. Farm Aid is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on the land. The COVID-19 pandemic is creating extreme challenges and uncertainty for all of us. But our essential food producers and workers are doing their part by growing the good food we need for every meal. Farm Aid is working hard to provide the support they need to feed all of us.”
For more information, please visit farmaid.org.
