Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Musicians step up, sing out at latest Farm Aid
From the Chicago Sun-Times
A different kind of homeland security was evident at Farm Aid 2004 Saturday at the White River Amphitheatre on the Muckleshoot Reservation outside Seattle. That the show was held in the westernmost location of any of the 17 Farm Aid concerts signaled a new message: People are paying more attention to local farm systems for food.
"All around the country, people are reaching for family farm-identified, locally produced, high-quality food," Farm Aid president and founder Willie Nelson said before the nine-hour show. That intimate connection was celebrated in warm acoustic sets by Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Steve Earle on a cool night.
I've only been to 10 of 17 Farm Aids, but Young put on his most heartfelt Farm Aid performance I have seen. The singer opened his set sitting in the center of a circle of five guitars and a banjo. He started slapping his hand on his guitar to establish a beat before launching into "Pocahontas," which he dedicated to the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.
The organic nature of Farm Aid 2004 shaped an upbeat vibe. Artists, fans, farmers and Native Americans coalesced to honor the ability to make the good choice. Before the concert, Mellencamp said, "It is time to take personal responsibility to create the future we want." The message is walking tall, from Seattle's farmers markets to the family farms in upstate New York.
Read the article
Chicago Sun-Times
A different kind of homeland security was evident at Farm Aid 2004 Saturday at the White River Amphitheatre on the Muckleshoot Reservation outside Seattle. That the show was held in the westernmost location of any of the 17 Farm Aid concerts signaled a new message: People are paying more attention to local farm systems for food.
"All around the country, people are reaching for family farm-identified, locally produced, high-quality food," Farm Aid president and founder Willie Nelson said before the nine-hour show. That intimate connection was celebrated in warm acoustic sets by Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews and Steve Earle on a cool night.
I've only been to 10 of 17 Farm Aids, but Young put on his most heartfelt Farm Aid performance I have seen. The singer opened his set sitting in the center of a circle of five guitars and a banjo. He started slapping his hand on his guitar to establish a beat before launching into "Pocahontas," which he dedicated to the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe.
The organic nature of Farm Aid 2004 shaped an upbeat vibe. Artists, fans, farmers and Native Americans coalesced to honor the ability to make the good choice. Before the concert, Mellencamp said, "It is time to take personal responsibility to create the future we want." The message is walking tall, from Seattle's farmers markets to the family farms in upstate New York.
Read the article
Chicago Sun-Times
# posted by Dave Sichak @ 9:44 AM 
