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

The 2006 Farm Aid Concert just kicked off. Willie Nelson took to the stage with American Indians in ceremonial dress. He and Pauline Reese sang the first song together. Pauline and her band are on stage now tearing it up.

The crowd went wild when Willie came to the stage. A brief rain didn’t affect the crowd. In fact, people are standing two-deep in line to get through the entrance gate.

The Farmers’ Almanac TV crew is in a press bunker, called the Liquid Lounge — the liquids being organic teas and juices supplied by local farmers. We were given a box lunch filled with fresh, organic food also supplied by local farmers.

Mickey Youmans and Mike Jarema are in the Farm Yard, with farmers who have traveled from all over the country to take part in the 21st Farm Aid. They will share their stories with Mickey and crew, and the video will appear in our show.

More to come.

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

Technorati tags: Farm Aid, Willie Nelson,

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

The excitement is unbelievable. There are farmers here from all over the country. It’s a sold-out concert. I can’t possibly describe what it’s like to be here and listen to the standing ovations, applause and the enthusiasm for the artists and their messages.

Here are some quotes from the press conference - and interviews.

Willie Nelson:

“We started out to save the family farm. Now it looks like the family farm will save us.”

Dave Mathews

“Family farms are the solution.”

John Mellencamp

“If you want a better world, it starts with you.”

Neil Young

“My daughter didn’t like her college food. She wouldn’t eat. So I went to the college and started Food for Thought. Farmers around the college started selling homegrown food to the school and the college started cooking it differently. They are now in their fourth year.”

“We need smart people to use their understanding of economics, capitalism, advertising to restore good food in this country.”

“Let’s enable children to learn to eat good food and put new blood into farming. Let them take the good healthy food that they learn how to plant at a young age and then become the future farmers.”

Carolyn Mugar
“Farm Aid is an activist charity. It’s an extraordinary feat that four artists have stayed together over 21 years for this cause.”

More to come.

By Renee Bishop, executive producer for Farmers’ Almanac TV show on public television.

Technorati tags: Farm Aid, Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp

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

The Farmers’ Almanac TV crew is backstage now… We just saw Steve Earle and Los Lonely Boys. Boy do they rock!

We are about to interview Larry Mitchell, chief executive of the American Corn Growers Association (ACGA).

More to come.

By Renee Bishop, executive producer of the Farmers’ Almanac TV show on public television

Technorati tags: Farm Aid, Los Lonely Boys, Steve Earle

by Farmers Almanac Staff
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Farmers Almanac TV just returned from The National Show in Atlanta where we were received with open arms by the rest of the Cable Industry. It was great to reconnect with our friends from BlueHighways TV and learn how well they’ve been doing with their VOD offerings and their Blue Grass programming on RFD. Look for us to add a BlueHighways TV page to our site very soon.

We also were happy to discover that our series on PBS combined with our broadband offerings (our online video) is a perfect strategy to build upon as we expand further into television. Our lineups — Gardener’s Row, Natural Cures, etc — will be showcased across the internet on various sites. In fact, if you know of a site that would benefit from having our video lineups built right into those sites (for Free), let us know. The shows and segments we’ve got only add value to other sites with members interested in these kinds of things.

It’s a big week for us as our shows continue to roll out across the country. Thanks for all your patience as it has taken time to get to where we now are. And let us know if you see the shows and have any suggestions.

Thanks!

R. Joseph

Founding Farmhand

Technorati tags: TV, Bluegrass

by Farmers Almanac Staff
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Farmers Almanac TV just returned from the National Association of Television Programming Executives conference (NATPE) in Las Vegas last week where we learned that the strategy of launching a series on public television and a broadband network on the internet is the perfect approach to building a media brand in this day and age of convergence.

Launching a television channel in any traditional sense, like the linear channels we know so dear and well, is fast becoming a thing of the past. Nowadays people are more likely to know the shows they like, but less likely to know the channels they play on. With Tivo and other programmable devices, people are programming their own channels if you will. Rather than sit down in front of the TV at a certain time every week or every night, they just program their DVRS to record their favorite shows and then those favorite shows are ready for them to watch whenever they want.

Pretty soon — it’s happening already really —televisions and computers will merge more and more into being the same device. You’ll be watching TV — the same quality if not better — and it’ll be coming into your house via the internet. This is what people mean when they say “broadband channel.” You could be watching the channel as it has been programmed or you could watch the channel or any number of channels in any way you prefer, capturing the shows and content that you decide is worthy of your time.

Big companies are still trying to figure out what this all means. You have shows like “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” now available as downloads on iTunes. You have Comedy Central with every one of their shows, plus more that never air on the cable channel, making up their broadband channel called the Motherlode. You have sports and news available on the web in massive amounts. What it means for Farmers Almanac TV is that you will be able to watch us wherever you are, and whenever you want. As our series rolls out on Public Television — and we’ll soon be able to list all the markets and airdates (most of the country has picked us up) — we will simultaneously be programming 12 lineups on the internet, ranging from channels like “Gardener’s Row” to “Classic and New Ruralism” to “Weather Central” and “Artisans.”

As these lineups take shape we’ll want your contributions. Your contributions will be viewable side by side with the shows and segments that our producers create. The best of your submissions will migrate over to the PBS series. It’s all about our relationship with you — that’s the important thing. Just as almanacs were filled with contributions from all over the country, with recipes and hints and tips that were then printed and shared with the entire readership, Farmers’ Almanac TV is about sharing what comes our way. Continue to watch the site for the lineups as they materialize over the next six weeks or so and keep your eye out for the series on Public TV. If you already know that you have a video or segment for us to look at for one of the lineups or series, please submit it. Right now the process begins with you emailing us at Newsletter@FarmersAlmanacTV.com. Soon we’ll have it so you can upload your video to us online.

Keep on Making Hay!

R Joseph.

by Farmers Almanac Staff
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