10 Best Performances from Farm Aid 2020

by Julian Spivey

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Farm Aid 2020, the 35th annual fundraiser for the family farmer, had to shift to online streaming this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but the board of directors Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Dave Matthews were joined by a dozen or more terrific artists for a toned down, but still excellent evening of music and much-needed support for the family farmers around this country.
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Here were the 10 best performances from this festival, which appeared on AXS TV and was streamed on both farmaid.org and on Farm Aid’s YouTube page.

10. “Singing from the Windows” by Dave Matthews
Dave Matthews, the youngest member of the Farm Aid board of directors, performed a four-song set from cabin in the woods in his home state of Virginia. The most touching performance of his set was the pandemic inspired “Singing from the Windows,” which he debuted in March in the early stages of the pandemic. The song tells of life in 2020 during the pandemic being similar to a time at war where we’re all looked inside, but our voices can still sing. It was the perfect tune for a Farm Aid like no other.

9. “Little Boy Blue” by The War and Treaty
If you’re not already familiar with the married couple Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Blount-Trotter, know as the soulful duo The War and Treaty than you’re really missing out. The duo released its second album Hearts Town on Friday, Sept. 25, the day before their pre-taped Farm Aid performance, and performed “Little Boy Blue,” one of the album’s standout tracks with jaw-droppingly beautiful vocals.

8. “The Eye” by Brandi Carlile feat. Phil & Tim Hanseroth
Speaking of jaw-droppingly beautiful vocals, Brandi Carlile performed “The Eye,” from her 2015 release The Firewatcher’s Daughter, with her collaborators Phil and Tim Hanseroth (often simply affectionately known as “The Twins”) and absolutely slayed with their three voices meshing amazingly.

7. “Old Man” by Neil Young
Neil Young’s Farm Aid sets are often a mixture of classic hits and songs with a farming or anti-big agri-business themes. I’ve found over the years that because of this his sets can often be uneven, preferring his hits. This is why “Old Man,” his 1972 Top 40 hit off his excellent Harvest album, was easily my favorite performance of his 2020 set. The performance was made all the more endearing as Young performed on his farm to his chickens, in lieu of an actual Farm Aid audience this year.

6. “Starting Over” by Chris Stapleton feat. Morgane Stapleton  
Few if any male vocalists in any genre of music these days have a voice as flawless as Chris Stapleton and he showed of his powerful voice once again this year at Farm Aid with a performance of his terrific new single “Starting Over” with his wife Morgane. It was a cute performance for the two as they lovingly stared into each other’s eyes while performing the sweet love song about trying to break free of life and begin anew – something that gives many of us hope for 2021.

5. “On the Road Again” by Willie Nelson & Sons
Anybody who’s seen Willie Nelson perform live as many times as I have and even perform on television has certainly heard “On the Road Again,” perhaps the iconic country music singer-songwriters theme song, enough times. But this year’s annual performance of it at Farm Aid, with his sons Lukas and Micah accompanying him, felt different. There’s actually a bit of new life breathed into the song at a time when we’ve all been locked down and longing to truly get back on the road again listening to our favorite musicians playing our favorite songs live in concert. Hopefully come 2021 it’ll come to fruition.

4. “The Mother” by Brandi Carlile
Brandi Carlile’s “The Mother,” from her Grammy-winning 2018 release By the Way, I Forgive You, was my favorite song of 2018 and topped this website’s list of greatest Americana and Country Songs of that year. It’s a beautiful take on motherhood, especially non-traditional motherhood, and the performance of it at Farm Aid 2020 was made all the more beautiful by the fact that Carlile performed it with the song’s inspiration, her daughter Evangeline, by her side.

3. “Colors” by Black Pumas
“Colors” by the Austin, Texas soul duo Black Pumas, comprised of singer-songwriter Eric Burton and guitarist/producer Adrian Quesada, has been on my mind a lot this year. Released on the group’s 2019 debut self-titled album, “Colors” is a bit of a throwback in sound to great soul records like the kind Marvin Gaye released. It’s also a song that I believe many in this country need to hear this year amidst more racial strife.

2. “King Harvest (Has Surely Come)” by Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
My second favorite performance from this year’s Farm Aid event was one that I certainly wasn’t expected, but completely made my night – Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real’s excellent cover of The Band’s “King Harvest (Has Surely Come),” which is a perfect song for the occasion. Nelson’s vocal sound terrific on the song and Promise of the Real grooved nicely on one of The Band’s underrated classics.

1. “Longest Day,” “Jack & Diane,” “Easy Target” and “Rain on the Scarecrow” by John Mellencamp
John Mellencamp has consistently had the best Farm Aid set of the last few years and his 2020 four-song performance, which was held outdoors in front of an Airstream travel trailer in front of a small audience (of likely friends and family) most of whom were wearing Black Lives Matter t-shirts, was the highlight of this year’s event. The short set had it all – timely songs that spoke to the struggles of life in 2020, classic Mellencamp hits and a song that’s essentially become Farm Aid’s theme.

Mellencamp began his set with “Longest Days,” from his 2008 album Life, Death, Love and Freedom, which really hits hard in this year of pandemic with lines like, “But nothing lasts forever/your best efforts don’t always pay/sometimes you get sick/and you won’t get better/that’s when life is short/even in its longest days.”

Things wouldn’t be fittingly depressing for too long as Mellencamp would perform perhaps his most popular tune, 1982’s No. 1 “Jack & Diane, next. It’s a performance that truly would’ve killed with a large festival performance but proved to be one of the most fun performances of the entire show anyway.

Next on the lineup was “Easy Target,” from 2017’s Sad Clowns & Hillbillies, which tackles politics and it the lack of caring many politicians have for the lower class and minorities of this country. Following the song, which references Black Lives Matter, Mellencamp took a knee on his small outdoor stage and raised his fist to the sky.

Mellencamp ended his Farm Aid set with “Rain on the Scarecrow,” from his 1985 album Scarecrow, which is about the plight of the family farmer and has basically become the Farm Aid theme song over the years.

It may have only been four songs, but the set showed Mellencamp still has his finger on the pulse of America’s issues.

The entire Farm Aid 2020 festival can still be viewed on YouTube. If you would like to support Farm Aid and the family farmers in the U.S. you can do so at farmaid.org.