- Music
- 20 May 20
"These songs are for all of us, left, right, in between. We are stronger together"
Neil Young has moved his fireside concert series to the farm, dubbing his fifth streamed gig the 'Barnyard Edition'.
The 74-year-old singer has been hosting the Fireside Sessions series since mid-March, with each episode directed by his wife - actress Daryl Hannah - who records it all on her iPad.
The session starts in a sizeable field, where Young plays his 2014 Storytone tune 'Tumbleweed' on the ukulele, before moving inside a barn where he plays 'Homegrown' as chickens loiter around him.
He later performs a simple instrumental version of 'Speakin' Out' from Tonight's the Night, before moving on to 'Harvest' from his 1972 LP.
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He sticks with his 'Harvest' theme, singing 'Old Man' and a rare acoustic rendition of. 'Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere'. He finishes the session with 'War of Man' from Harvest Moon as the sun sets, marking the end of an aesthetic, stay-at-home show like no other.
Young recently wrote on the Neil Young Times Contrarian section of the Neil Young Archives that the sessions will continue as the pandemic rages on.
“They’re good for us all. I hope we don’t run out of songs, but probably that would take a long time. These songs are for all of us, left, right, in between. ALL. We are stronger together.”
In June, Young is finally releasing Homegrown - an album he recorded in 1974 and shelved in favor of Tonight’s the Night.
A few of the tracks have never been heard before, and Young hasn't played in front of an audience since Farm Aid last September.
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A Crazy Horse North American arena tour was reportedly planned for 2020, but Covid-19 has put a stop to that indefinitely.
“May be a couple of years before I feel safe asking people to come and see/hear me,” he said on the Neil Young Archives. “That’s just the way it is.”
Watch the full Barnyard Edition live concert here.