Neil Young performs on stage for his first time in Quebec City during 2018 Festival d’Ete on July 6, 2018. Image: AFP/Alice Chiche via AFP Relaxnews
“At Home with Farm Aid” will bring the long-running Farm Aid festival into homes across the United States while raising awareness about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on independent farmers.
The benefit concert will be livestreamed at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Saturday, April 11, on AXS TV and its social media accounts, as part of the TV channel’s ongoing “@Home and Social” initiative.
“At Home with Farm Aid” will be hosted by American singer and Farm Aid president Willie Nelson, alongside his sons Lukas and Mikah.
In addition to Nelson, the special will also feature musical performances by Farm Aid board members John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Neil Young from their own homes and studios.
“The coronavirus has disrupted our entire country and is a grave threat to all of us. One of its many impacts is that it has helped us to better see the value of essential people like healthcare workers, grocery store clerks, delivery truck drivers and farmers and ranchers. Farm Aid has worked for 35 years to build a family farm centered agricultural system, and we are here now to support farmers and ranchers in this crisis, without whom we could not eat. The time to build a resilient family farm food system is now,” Nelson said of the benefit in a statement.
Although the benefit concert will be livestreamed for free, viewers will be encouraged to make donations via Farm Aid’s website to “invest in farmer-led solutions to the COVID-19 crisis and make emergency grants to farmers and ranchers in need.”
Aside from “At Home with Farm Aid,” AXS TV will also air “The Best of Farm Aid 2019” at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Sunday, April 12.
The broadcast will feature two hours of footage from last year’s festival, with sets by Margo Price, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Tanya Tucker, Yola and Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real.
The two-and-a-half-hour special will also include a previously unaired performance of “Devil Got My Woman” by Bonnie Raitt. CL /ra
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