I’m a Midwest Farmer’s Daughter AND a California Girl, so when I got the news that I was going to be covering Farm Aid 40 for its first time ever in my home state of Minnesota with my brother for Juice Magazine, I was completely thrilled. It was a massive day and a massive success. After a close call due to striking workers at the venue (and Farm Aid being unwilling to cross a picket line, bless them!), Willie Nelson placed a call to Minnesota Governor Walz, and the day was ON. There was rain predicted for the weekend at the outdoor stadium, but Saturday was so perfect almost the whole day, it just felt charmed.
We arrived early to attend a press conference about it all, which was cool because you got to hear from its founders. It was going to be a long day for nonagenarian Willie Nelson, but there he was, talking about family farms and how it’s up to us to help them feed us all. Or like Neil Young said, “We need money to give to the farmers!” AKA, the point of the entire event. A farmer from Ghana had this beautiful thing to say, “We find peace when we talk to the land.” I love that.
The lineup was stacked with ALL TIME legends and new(er)comers alike, and we were excited for all of it. Especially so because my brother, Paul, and I hadn’t covered an event together in years, and he flew in to be my photographer for the day, so even cooler.
The show opened with the Wisdom Indian Dancers putting their blessing on the whole proceeding, and reminding us whose land we are on. The instant they were done dancing and left the stage, I looked up and saw an eagle circling the entire stadium, far above. If that’s not a proper blessing/omen for the day, I don’t know what is.
There was so much going on, we definitely got in our steps. The “Homegrown Village” circled the outside ring of the venue, and was jam-packed with booths representing farmers and all things agriculture. You could send postcards to your Representatives, listen to Farmer’s stories, make Crop Art with the group from the Minnesota State Fair, watch how beekeepers work, pound flowers, listen to speakers, watch artists get interviewed, and learn about anything you ever wanted to know about farming. There was so much to see and learn that you could have spent the entire day there, but the music was too good to miss. I skedaddled back to the stage in time to catch a song with a perfect title, “Seat At The Table”, by Madeline Edwards, making her Farm Aid debut with her new Fruit album. It was lovely, and I’m gonna check her out more.
The next act was one of the true highlights of the day, Jesse Welles. WOW. This 70’s looking troubadour could not be more timely. He really let ‘em have it and we loved every note. “Amazon Santa Clause”, “Bugs” and “War Isn’t Murder” let you know exactly where he stands, and he tells it exactly like it is. Jesse Welles is one to watch and learn from. He left the stage saying, “Y’all be kind to one another”, and got the first standing ovation of the day, rightly so.
Eric Burton from The Black Pumas was next, and we heard his beautiful “Colors”, reminding me of when I used to see him busking all the time on the Santa Monica Pier. How awesome that a few years later he’s playing for the 40th anniversary of Farm Aid! I congratulated him after his set, and you could just tell he was so stoked to be there. Just like we were.
We had to go find something to eat if we were to survive this marathon of a concert, and this quest made us miss most of Waxahatchee, but we heard their radio hit “Right Back To It”, and that was good enough for us.
Wynonna Judd got a nice reception. I’m not that into country, so I don’t know her songs, but she sounded good belting out her hit, “No One Else On Earth”, then looked out at the crowd saying, “Music is a healer. See what happens when we all get together!” It was pretty powerful.
I love Trampled By Turtles, and so did everyone else there. They’re from Minnesota (Duluth), so the hometown crowd really got into it. They’re such a good party band, with their super high energy set full of fiddlers shredding strings. “Codeine” got the crowd up and dancing. Singer Dave Simonett was wearing a “Hennepin County” t-shirt, appropriate as that’s right where we were all dancing in the sunshine. I love these guys and am gonna have to hang out with them. Their local flavor of Bluegrass is so fun, you WILL have a good time seeing them. Don’t miss.
Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats blazed through a high-energy set, highlighted by “I’m On Your Side”. He was wearing a “Stop Factory Farms” shirt, and clearly understood the day’s assignment. Looking at all the great shirts being worn was a fun part of the day, with past Farm Aid shirts from other years in the far lead. All of the bands could have had their own show, but had to keep it short due to the many acts still to come.
Steve Earle played a solo set, and talked about watching the first Farm Aid on TV 40 years ago (this year’s was being broadcast live on CNN!), and how special it was to be here now. He tore up his “Copperhead Road” on his mandolin, before ceding the stage to Willie’s son, Lukas Nelson.
Lukas Nelson dedicated his first song to “everyone struggling in recovery”, and played the beautiful “Ain’t Done” in his signature southern rock/country tone. He sounds a lot like his Dad in a way, but also exactly like himself. We used to see him play all the time around Venice, so it was really nice to see him here again, in my hometown. He brought up Dave Matthews for a cover of the Daniel Lanois tune, “The Maker”, and the crowd just loved it. He then brought up his “favorite singer” and we all got to know Sierra Ferrell, your Americana Artist of the Year for 2025. They gave us the gorgeous “Friend In The End” and “Georgia” backed by the Travelin’ McCourys giving it all the feel of a good old barn dance. Ferrell was covered in facial piercings and dressed like a saloon girl, but what everyone will remember is her soaring vocals harmonizing with Nelson’s falsetto on the excellent “Find Yourself”. Another one to watch.
Another total highlight of the day was Billy Strings. Holy Smokes! This bluegrass shredder is called “A generational talent”, and it’s very easy to see why. His fingers absolutely flew over his guitar stings, and blew everyone away. “Away From The Mire” rocked everyone silly and “New Country Blues” took it to the next level. “My wife used to be a flower farmer, this one goes out to her,” Strings said by way of introducing his radio hit, “Gild The Lily”. Stunning. He ended his set by crushing “Doin’ My Time”, and left everyone wanting more. An INCREDIBLE talent. The backdrop screens were filled the whole day with gorgeous scenes of farms, vegetables, clouds, etc … making every picture look cool with that stuff behind everyone. Kudos to the people behind all of that, it was gorgeous.
Margo Price took the stage and opened with “Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down”, her homage to Kris Kristofferson (my most favorite ever, so I automatically liked her). The crowd loved it, and her shreddingly awesome guitar player. “Nowhere Is Where” was super pretty, and everyone loved her cover of Waylon’s “Kissing You Goodbye”.
Price brought out Jesse Welles and Billy Strings to tear up her awesome song, “Don’t Wake Me Up” and they finished with a cover of Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm” that saw Welles and Strings dueling guitars fire the crowd all the way up. “WOW!”
Price then introduced Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds. Mathews opened with his popular song “Oh”, and said, “Don’t let anyone tell you that we’re not all in this together. Look at this!” Indeed, as you looked around the massive stadium filled with happy people, you got it. We can all get along. “Grey Street” featured a blistering guitar battle between Matthews and Reynolds that riled everyone up, then one called “Peace On Earth” that he said he’d never played at Farm Aid before. One guy in a jester hat danced around belting and acting out every single lyric, so you knew he was in his happy place. “Don’t Drink The Water” was fiery and appropriate for the times, especially when they played a piece of “This Land Is Your Land” as its outro. That made me well up, because it really doesn’t have to be this hard in this country. Matthews ended with his big one, “Crush”, and that jester guy was so happy.
Matthews introduced John Mellencamp, who is starting to sound a lot like Tom Waits. He played his “Small Town”, “Paper In Fire”, and “Longest Days” back to back, shouting “Go outside and get some sun on your face, and plenty of it!” … only by this point in the show it was lightly raining, so that would have to wait. “Jack and Diane” was a total crowd pleaser with the entire stadium singing along. “Little Pink Houses” wrapped up his well-received set and then it all went dark.
The lights dimmed to almost none, and Mellencamp came back out to introduce Mr. Bob Dylan. Back in Minnesota! In a hoodie! He was added to the lineup at the last minute and we could not have been more thrilled. Another Minnesotan/Californian in the house (Can you tell I love Dylan?)! The former Mr. Zimmerman and his band opened with “All Along The Watchtower”, and all felt right in the world. Next up was a jazzy version of “You Don’t Love Me No More”, and Dylan was in fine form. Upbeat, wailing on the harmonica, giving the people what they wanted. “Highway 61 Revisited” took a minute to recognize, but we got there, then we got “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”, which got me choked up again. Bob Dylan was right there playing one of my all time favorites, and then he was gone. In and out, and as Dylan-like as you’d expect/hope. What a legend.
Next up, Neil Young and The Chrome Hearts lit into a FEROCIOUS burn of a new song called, “Big Crime”. Young is another Californian in town, and I think people sometimes forget that California is our biggest agricultural state. It makes sense that Young was a founder of Farm Aid, and you can feel how important it is to him. This cat is nearly 80 and he was TEARING. IT. UP. (I saw Daryl Hannah there too). His once again very timely “Rockin’ In The Free World” had an added poignancy this night. After that banger, Young sat at the piano to play “Long Walk Home”, and its chorus of “America, where have we gone?” got me emotional! Thank goodness for artists like this to tell it like it is. Amid all of the nonsense going on, it feels like we’re forgetting about our planet, but Neil Young isn’t. “Be The Rain” is a call to action, begging us to remember “We’ve got a job to do, we’ve got to save Mother Earth”. Young and his band then tore through “My, My, Hey, Hey (Out of The Blue)” assuring us that rock and roll will never die. Young finished with a lovely version of “Old Man”.
Willie Nelson. What a treasure. There he was with his trademark braids, headband, and crocheted guitar strap holding his famous Trigger. “Welcome to Farm Aid 40, and thank you for making it a success!”, Nelson said, and then lit into “Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground”. You could see him playing his guitar with such love and crazy skill. He’s 92! Incredible. He gave us the hits: “On The Road Again”. “Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys”. “Georgia On My Mind.” – with an awesome harmonica solo. I had to get emotional again because they played “Help Me Make It Through The Night” by my favorite Kris Kristofferson, who we lost nearly exactly one year ago. Waylon Payne took lead vocals on that one, and Willie’s son, Micah (another guy we’d see around Venice) took the lead on “Everything Is Bullshit”. It was pretty funny (Willie backup singing “Bullshit, Bullshit!”), but also hard to argue with right about now. “The Last Leaf On The Tree” had everyone emotional as we all watched this American Hero with tears in his own eyes. When he sang, “I’ll be here for eternity” … it might have been the biggest cheer of the night. They didn’t want to end on a teary note and then Willie told us what to do when he’s gone … “Roll Me Up And Smoke Me When I Die.”
Nelson brought everyone (except Dylan) back out for the grand finale, which was a medley of the gospel standards, “May The Circle Be Unbroken”, “I’ll Fly Away”, “It’s Hard To Be Humble”, and finally, “I Saw The Light” – which may have been the sun coming up, because by now it was the wee hours of the morning, and totally worth every moment.
We saw so much and I still feel like I missed a lot. What could not be missed was the good vibes surrounding the entire day, and the open willingness of everyone there to support our family farmers who give us our food to live. What could be more important? It doesn’t have to be just at Farm Aid, either. There is so much we can all do, starting with purchasing your food directly from Farmers. There are year-round Farmer’s Markets. Go to them. Talk to the farmers. Learn from them. This epic day served as a much-needed reminder that we are in this together, and Rock and Roll will never die.
Words by CJ Gronner. Photos by Paul Gronner