Farm Aid board members John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews will join Willie Nelson, and his sons Lukas and Micah, for ‘At Home with Farm Aid,’ a unique performance as they tune in from their homes and studios to deliver an unforgettable and intimate night of music. The streamed event will be available on AXS TV, and the Farm Aid website.
First started in 1985 by Nelson, Mellencamp, and Young, Farm Aid has raised over $60 million to support programs that help farmers thrive by expanding the reach of the Good Food Movement, and by increasing the action needed to change the dominant system of industrial agriculture to promote food from family farms.
The annual Farm Aid Festival has brought musicians, farmers, and agriculture together for over three decades with the mission of building a vibrant, family farm-centered system of agriculture in America. This year things will work a little differently, yet with the same principles at heart.
As everyone faces challenges during these unprecedented times, farmers are facing new difficulties as well. Farm Aid is responding to their needs by investing in farmer-led solutions to the COVID-19 crisis. Farm Aid is establishing emergency grants for farmers and ranchers in need, creating comprehensive resources for farmers, connecting them to legal, financial, and mental health support resources, and supporting local, state, and national farm organizations, as well as advocating for COVID-19 recovery funds and resources from the federal government for short-term relief and long-term resilience
“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,” said Farm Aid president Willie Nelson. “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!”
Viewers can catch “At Home with Farm Aid” from Nelson, Mellencamp, Young, Matthews a second time during a two-and-a-half hour special when AXS TV presents “The Best Of Farm Aid 2019,” on Sunday, April 12, at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT.
“The Best Of Farm Aid 2019,” will featured compiled footage from AXS TV’s live broadcast of the 2019 festival, giving viewers the best seat for sets from Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Tanya Tucker, Margo Price, Yola and Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real, among others, as well as Bonnie Raitt’s previously-unaired performance of “Devil Got My Woman”-seen now for the first time on television.
Gloria Ruth Finney
