David Byrne, Jackson Browne Among Stars Of ‘Food For Love’ Livestream

David Byrne, Jackson Browne, Nathaniel Rateliff, the Chicks, and Kurt Vile will be among the all-star line-up at the Food For Love livestream on Valentine’s Day Eve (Saturday 13). The event will benefit the New Mexico Association of Food Banks.

The concert is free to view, but donations are welcome and can be made here. 100% of every dollar raised will go directly to feed the hungry of New Mexico, and organizers say that $1 will create up to four nutritious meals. The stream airs at 4pm PT/5pm MT/6pm CT/7pm ET via YouTube.

Says Byrne: “On February 13 (Valentine’s Day Eve), some musician friends of mine, and many I’ve never met, are doing a virtual concert to raise money for meals for New Mexico’s hardest hit. New Mexico ranks almost at the bottom in poverty (49th) in the US and the Navajo and other Native American lands have long been short of basic health, jobs and education services- so the impact of Covid on these folks has been devastating.

“How in the world are they going to fit all these folks into one show? We’ll see.

Mutual appreciation

“Now for some folks my connection to these musicians might seem a little odd – we don’t exactly make the same kind of music – but I sense there exists some mutual appreciation – it’s certainly there from my end. I met Terry Allen, the artist and musician who helped put this together, in the mid eighties when I was making the True Stories movie. I love his music (and artwork).

“Terry often works within this vaguely country/americana musical style but he’s definitely on the artier end of the spectrum. Through him I soon got to know fellow Lubbock alumni the Flatlanders – Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock. All great songwriters. Terry sent me a cassette w Steve Earle’s song “Billy Austin” and eventually Earle and his then wife ended up singing on my Here Lies Love score.

“Alejandro Escovedo was in a punk band the Nuns and Joe Strummer of the Clash and Joe Ely were close friends. A lot of boundaries get crossed with this crowd. So my being part of this is maybe not as surprising as folks might think.”

Byrne has also marked the upcoming show by compiling his own Food For Love playlist, which can be streamed on Apple Music and Spotify.