Farm Aid 2008 Covered By Betsy Hijazi

Farm Aid was established 23 years ago.  As everyone was trying to Feed the World, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young came together and said it was important to take care of America first, specifically America’s family farmers.

Farm Aid’s concerts over the past 23 years have generated 30 million dollars in donations, a far cry from the 40 million that the Live Aid benefit generated in its inaugural event also 23 years ago.  One big difference between Farm Aid and Live Aid is that Farm Aid is still here.  It’s still going strong and it is still fighting the good fight. As Neil Young says in a clip on the Farm Aid Web site, Farm Aid is ‘not big. They are David and there is an army of Goliaths against them.’ More info and Pictures after the fold…

Farm Aid came to Mansfield, Massachusetts on Saturday, September 20, 2008.  Perfectly timed, it was a beautiful New England day!

The doors to Farm Aid opened at noon and the concerts began around 1:30.  The first few groups sang only 2-3 songs each.  Before the live broadcast on Direct TV, we heard performances from Arlo Guthrie, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Steve Earle, Boston’s own Will Dailey, The Elms, The Pretenders, Jerry Lee Lewis and Jakob Dylan. 

Watching Jakob Dylan, I couldn’t help but think I was watching his dad Bob Dylan.  Jakob was wearing a hat and dark sunglasses, and he was even mumbling his words a bit. He and his band sounded fantastic and regrettably, they didn’t sing more than five songs!

The Pretenders were great. Chrissie Hynde has assembled a new band but she still sang some of her great hits and she showed that she truly is a rocker.

I did say this was Farm Aid. I didn’t say it was Country Aid!

I was most looking forward to seeing Rock n Roll Hall of Famer Jerry Lee “Killer” Lewis perform. Jerry Lee Lewis performed 5 songs, including Roll Over Beethoven, Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On, and my favorite Great Balls of Fire! I never would have thought that the whole pavilion would be on their feet for Jerry Lee Lewis, but that’s exactly where they were! Jerry had everyone doing a whole lotta shakin and he still had that same attitude we saw from his heyday in the 50s! Having now seen the Killer, I can truly say I’ve seen a living legend!

Country star Kenny Chesney took the stage and performed an acoustic set of about 8 songs. I was expecting BIG and crazy but what we got was calm, cool and a set that was not just for country fans! Willie Nelson came out to help Kenny with two songs and I have to say I never laughed harder when Kenny sang the lyrics “at two I went home with a 10 and at 10 I woke up with a two!“.  Kenny told us that he’s certain it has happened to a few of us too! That was a great song!

After Kenny Chesney came Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Willie Nelson. 

Dave Matthews was fantastic.  To hear him live was surreal.  It was just magic. Something about his set was special.  He felt it and so did we. 

John Mellencamp recently performed in Boston to rave reviews.  Now I know why.  That man can still rock it!  He sang and performed great songs and I couldn’t believe I was actually watching him perform so many years after he was known as John Cougar!  He looks older, but don’t let his off-stage look fool you.  As soon as he’s on stage, he doesn’t look a day over 40!

And what can I say about Neil Young? The truth is, I didn’t know anything about Neil Young except that those who know Neil Young say that he is one of the best ever!  I sat mesmerized as I watched him perform.  I couldn’t understand everything he sang, in truth, but he sang it all with such conviction, power, and creativity that I couldn’t help but become a fan right then and there.  Neil is back in the Boston area in December and I think I might have to find a way to get to his concert!

And then there was Willie.  Willie Nelson, a legend like no other.  What can you say about this man that hasn’t already been said?  What I liked about his performance was that he did some medleys so he was able to give us a lot more than just a few full songs.  We got to hear pieces of many of the songs we grew up with, whether we were country fans or not.

I can’t say enough about their performances, so I’ll encourage you to go to the Farm Aid Web site and watch them for yourself!  They are nothing short of stellar!

Presented by Whole Foods Market and Horizon Organic and hosted by Carson Daily and Bob Costas, Farm Aid 2008 was broadcast live on Direct TV, who announced that if Direct TV subscribers donated to Farm Aid, they would match their contributions to $50,000.  Very generous!

Learn more about Farm Aid and support the Good Food Movement. We all love to eat good food!  Farm Aid is Farm Made!

The growing good food movement.

Farm Aid has united farmers, artists, consumers, and concerned citizens to create awareness about the benefits of good food from family farms. Farmers markets and local farm stands are everywhere. Let us help you find one! More people are purchasing organic food. More Americans are choosing meat products from livestock humanely raised on pastures, free of antibiotics and hormones. Rural citizens, consumers, and family farmers are stopping the factory farms that pollute and destroy the rural environment. Americans are rejecting genetically engineered food.

If you care about the food you eat, then please make a gift to Farm Aid. We keep family farmers on the land growing fresh, healthy food for all of us.

Farm Aid’s mission is to ‘keep family farmers on their land’. Farm Aid does this by “Promoting Food from Family Farms, Growing the Good Food Movement, Helping Farmers Thrive and Taking Action to Change the System”. Farm Aid’s volunteers and family farmers were out in full force to spread the word to the 20,000 attendees at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The word is spreading.

For more about the Farm Aid event, visit http://www.vh1realityworld.com/.

All images (except Farm-Aid logo) and writing credit goes to Betsy Hijazi.

Farm Aid logo soure: http://farmaid.org

Betsy is also the writer for http://www.aguilerabuff.com/ at b5 Music Channel