Willie is joined on stage by the Native Americans who helped him open the show. All the artists who played today pack the stage and help Willie sing “Will the Circle be Unbroken” and “I’ll Fly Away.”

Willie thanks the artists, audience and farmers.

Willie and Neil take a final bow and say “See you somewhere next year.” We at Farmers’ Almanac TV hope “next year” will be in our home state of Georgia.

This has been an amazing event and we are so happy to have been here. Some of tonight’s footage will appear in a 30-minute episode about Farm Aid on Farmers’ Almanac TV, which airs on public television. Check your local listings or this map for station times. (Check our website, www.farmersalmanactv.com, as well. Some Farm Aid footage will appear there soon).

Thank you for joining me on this blog.

Renee Bishop, Executive Producer, Farmers’ Almanac TV

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Wearing his Farmers’ Almanac TV hat, Willie opens with “The City of New Orleans” Neil sings backup for him. The crowd is on it’s feet as he launches into “Whiskey River.” Neil blasts away on his harmonica.

“Good Hearted Woman” brings the audience to it feet. Everyone claps and sings along with the well-loved tune. Willie belts out the last chorus then yells, “Hello there.” The audience loves it and calls back.

He goes into the song that he wrote, Patsy Kline made hers and once more belongs where it began, with Willie. It is of course “Crazy.”

Willie begins to meld once song with another, there are so many well-loved tunes that the audience wants to hear. “Crazy” becomes “My Life.”

He asks the crowd “How you doing?” He then introduces his sister, Bobbie, who plays “Down River” on piano. She wears her signature black hat and dress.

Willie sings, “Help Me Make It Through The Night.” It is a show stopper. These are the songs the audience has come to hear. This is the legend they came to see.

By Renee Bishop, Executive Producer of the Farmers’ Almanac TV show.

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Neil Young opens with “It’s Plowing Time Again.” Willie joins him on his second number, “Home Grown.” It’s really clear they enjoy playing together.

In this 21st year of Farm Aid, home grown takes on a new meaning. Neil emphasizes Farm Aid’s message that consumers should support their local farmers by buying locally grown food.

Neil says “We’re looking for some new blood, we need some new farmers.” The audience responds in loud agreement.

His next song asks, “What will people do after the garden is gone?” This question is not asked lightly… It’s what spured all the effort behind Farm Aid.

Strapping on his signature harmonica, he sings his ballad “Strong Winds.”

The crowd then calls out names of favorites they want to hear. He responds by playing “Harvest Moon” to their loud approval.

Neil repeats a quote that Willie Nelson made earlier in the day: “We started out to save the family far, now the family farm is going to save us.”

The ballad is over, so Neil steps it up with “Human Highway” to the crowd’s delight.

Willie is next!

More to come

By Renee Bishop, Executive Producer of Farmers’ Almanac TV

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At 8pm, Dave Matthews played a trio of hauntingly beautiful melodies. The audience is enraptured. He began with “Every Day” and followed it with “Crazy,” which kept everyone spellbound.

John Mellencamp followed Matthews and is currently playing. His sound fills the stadium and fields beyond. It is rich with guitar and fiddle. The crowd is on its feet swaying to this big sound and John’s electric presence on stage. Dressed all in black, he is reminiscent of the original man in black himself. As he finishes his second tune the crowd roars its approval and John quickly slams into “Paper in Fire.” The crowd responds by singing along, standing and dancing to the song.

John, on fire himself, has thrown off his jacket, finishes his song and begins to address the audience. They respond in full voice, roaring their approval.

Farm Aid, Dave Matthews, John Mellencamp

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There is a WHOLE LOT OF SHAKING GOING ON!!!!! Jerry Lee Lewis has this crowd up and screaming. No matter that he is the most senior performer here and he is the hit of the night!

Best of all Willie just joined him on stage wearing a Farmers’ Almanac TV hat. THANK YOU Willie!

Willie and Jerry are on fire. Check out the concert streaming live on www.farmaid.org — then come back to us for more updates.

This party is on fire! Technorati tags: Farm Aid, Jerry Lee Lewis

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Some of our crew had the chance to sample bratwurst from Patchwork Family Farms, and according to one of our producers, “it was the best brat I ever had.” The people of Patchwork are amazing and their product passion for family farming are unprecedented. Patchwork has been supplying food at Farm Aid for several years now and they really are
fantastic people and a good example of why Farm Aid does what it does!

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Rising Star Pauline Reese granted us an interview. She opened the show today with Willie. She talked about how excited she was when she got a call asking if she wanted to participate in this years Farm Aid, she said, “I couldn’t say yes fast enough.”

It’s 6:39 the Los Lonely Boys are on stage. They’re a real crowd pleaser. Willie just joined then and the crowd is going nuts. Everyone is up and dancing.

Willie is jamming on guitar with the band members.

More to come!

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Farmers’ Almanac TV is on location, shooting video at the Farm Aid concert in New Jersey. Here is the sixth post from the event.

We just returned from our interview with Willie Nelson. He graciously hosted us on his tour bus where he talked about the past 21 years with Farm Aid. He also told us about how he got involved with bio-diesel.

We gave him a Farmers’ Almanac TV hat and when our audio operator, Greg Ward, asked him where he could get a Bio-Willie hat, Willie took it off his head and signed it for Greg.

We then ran into Danielle Evin backstage who told us what it was like to be a part of Farm Aid.

Next we were lucky enough to get b-roll from backstage. It is amazing how organized this event is. Each band’s equipment is placed on a rolling wagon back stage so that when one band is finished, the next can be put in place in less than 5 minutes.

More to come

By Renee Bishop, Executive Producer of the Farmers’ Almanac TV show

Technorati tags: Farm Aid, Willie Nelson, Danielle Evin

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Farmers’ Almanac TV is on location, shooting video at the Farm Aid concert in New Jersey. Here is the fifth post from the event.

Steve Earle is on the stage and Farmers’ Almanac TV Supervising Producer, Paul Leone was just granted back-stage access. Steve is playing by himself on an acoustic guitar. His voice is incredible, it fills the amphitheatre and shakes the surrounding grounds. The crowd is still streaming in. Steve broke into the music scene 20 years ago with a #1 country record, “Guitar Town.”

More to come.

By Renee Bishop, Executive Producer of the Farmers’ Almanac TV show

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Farmers’ Almanac TV is on location, shooting video at the Farm Aid concert in New Jersey. Here is the fourth post from the event.

An absolute thrill just went through the crowd when The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band took to the stage. They were met with a huge standing ovation… the crowd is still on their feet. This band has been playing for 40 years and their music is deep in the hearts of many here. I heard one woman saying, “I can’t believe I am getting to see these legends…
More to come

By Renee Bishop, Executive Producer for the Farmers’ Almanac TV show

by Farmers Almanac Staff
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