Willie Nelson answers questions on his bus prior to his performance at Saturday at Farm Aid 2012. On Friday, as we were figuring out our coverage plans for
, I assured editors Jim Deegan and Nick Falsone that I would have a story in for print on deadline.
"Don't worry, I won't end up on Willie's bus," I said in jest.
I lied.
When I received a voicemail while covering the
Saturday, regarding the opportunity to talk to Willie on his bus, I thought I was being pranked by an Express Times staff member. But the call was legit... from Farm Aid PR.
Nelson, a country music icon and coveted interview subject for many a journalist, does not readily do press. But he was more than eager to talk Saturday.
As a board member and co-founder of Farm Aid, he has been involved in the organization for 27 years and is passionate for the cause.
During the news conference at the start of the day, he said he was happy to be there, but sad that the issues family farmers deal with are still prominent.
So I asked him later, how do you stay positive about the issues, after 27 years of fighting a cause?
"Short-term memory has its benefits," he said with a luminous grin. "I kind of stay in the moment and forget all of the other stuff. Pay attention to what’s going on around you and if we all did that we’d be in a better place."
When I asked if he felt like he's a made a difference, he had to pause to reflect and looked toward his shade-drawn tour bus window.
"I know that a difference has been made just because we made an effort," he said. "A lot of people have helped us and over 40 million dollars has been sent out there to organizations trying to help the family farmers. So yeah, I think we’re making a difference."
View full sizeSinger Grace Potter speaks during an interview in her dressing room during Farm Aid Saturday afternoon Hersheypark Stadium. When asked by a reporter from Reader's Digest, what individuals can do to help Farm Aid, other than donating money to the organization, Nelson repeated a story a farmer friend of his had offered to him as advice.
"Take my advice and do what you want to," Nelson said frankly and with a smile. "It made a lot of sense to me."
As for the future of Farm Aid, Nelson gives credit to his son Lukas Nelson, who also performed Saturday, to help carry on the torch.
Selecting a young
has also built a foundation to carry on the Farm Aid legacy.
Potter says she ended up on the Farm Aid bill after a discussion she and Willie had when playing another festival.
Potter told Willie of her Vermont upbringing and her support of local, healthy and organic lifestyles. She was later asked to join him on his bus to discuss performing at Farm Aid.
"I've loved Willie since I was born," she said during an interview prior to the show in her dressing room.
View full sizeWillie Nelson and Grace Potter perform during the Grace Potter and the Nocturnals set Saturday during Farm Aid 2012. Potter's heartfelt connection to Farm Aid cause goes back to her up-bringing in a family-farming community in Vermont.
"It's who I am," she said.
She says the celebrity aspect of Farm Aid is so crucial because a face needs to be assigned to the issues. She says their familiar faces draw attention to the humble soldiers in the field.
"I think the platform has been set," she said. "But for me to perpetuate the message is my perspective. "
Her voice, as a woman in a male dominated field in rock music, she says also lends well to the connection to women forging the battles of farming.
"It's the Martha Washington effect," she said.
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Her firsthand experience of seeing her godparents run a family farm and various friends of hers surviving the trenches is empowering to her and has also given her a strong sense of being a responsible consumer, even while on the road.
She says she wakes up in the morning and goes to farmers markets and will go out of her way to find local food and produce.
"We seek it out," she said. "We even rent a car."
But she doesn't see her role as an artist, a young face to Farm Aid or as a sounding board for struggling and innovative farmers as just another rock star chore.
"If we don't keep this up, then who will?" she said.