Willie Nelson Hosts Virtual Farm Aid featuring Neil Young + More

Notable musician Willie Nelson hosted a virtual concert this weekend to fundraise for family arms. The country icon, who is the president and co-founder of benefit concert series Farm Aid, has been raising awareness for family farmers and its sustainable communities since 1985. The program was broadcasted this past Saturday at 8 PM EST/ 5 PM PST on AXS TV.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, Nelson announced that this year’s Farm Aid concert will be referred to as “At Home With Farm Aid” and will be raising funds for family farms afflicted by the COVID-19 outbreak. The funds will be used to develop emergency grants, create advocacy efforts for recovery funds and provide legal, financial health and mental health resources to farmers.

"One of its many impacts is that it has helped us to better see the value of essential people like health care workers, grocery store clerks, delivery truck drivers, and farmers and ranchers," said 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."

Nelson was accompanied by other board members of Farm Aid, including Dave Matthews, Neil Young, John Mellencamp and Nelson’s sons, Lukas and Micah. The intimate performance on Saturday celebrated 35 years of continuing Farm Aid’s mission. The hour-long show featured the quartet performing from the comfort of their own homes.

The evening’s setlist included three songs from Nelson, two of which were from his discography. Each had their own special rendition that made every performance unique in its own form. The virtual concert opened up with “I Thought About You, Lord,” which was performed acoustically by Nelson and his sons Micah and Lukas. They then followed up with an acoustic cover of Bill Callery’s “Hands on the Wheel” and finished with another acoustic performance of “On the Road Again.”

Willie Nelson performing "On the Road Again" with his sons, Lukas and Micah

Willie Nelson

Neil Young performed his classic "Vampire Blues" and "Love and Only Love." He also did a cover of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young's "Helpless." The tracks were pre-recorded for the live session. Dave Matthews opened up with his set with a cover of Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away" before jumping into performances of "Satellite" and "Bartender." He closed out his portion with "Windows." John Mellencamp performed "Save Some Time to Dream," the first half of "Jack & Diane," "Longest Days" and "Rain on the Scarecrow."

Neil Young
Dave Matthews
John Mellencamp

The live stream, which premiered on AXS TV, YouTube and Facebook, is currently unavailable to rewatch.

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