Willie Nelson is keeping Farm Aid in Middle America again this year. He and his usual crop of dedicated cronies -- Neil Young, John Mellencamp, Dave Matthews -- will stage their 26th annual benefit concert in Kansas City on Aug. 13. They're taking over the new Livestrong Sporting Park, a soccer stadium built in partnership with Willie's fellow Austinite Lance Armstrong.
Following the previous two stints in Milwaukee and St. Louis, this is the second Farm Aid in a row staged within easy road-tripping distance from the Twin Cities. Maybe our soon-to-be plethora of outdoor stadiums will help us land one in town soon. More acts for this year's show will be announced soon (last year's lineup included Kenny Chesney, Norah Jones, Wilco, Steven Tyler and Band of Horses). In the meantime, tickets go on sale May 20 for $29-$149 through Ticketmaster, www.FarmAid.org or 1-800-745-3000. Farm Aid has raised an amazing $39 million and an uncountable amount of awareness to support independent farmers and related environmental causes since its 1985 inception.
