David Byrne, Inara George, Kurt Vile, Steve Earle and More to Play Food For Love Live Stream to Raise Money for New Mexico Food Banks

A large cast of artists including many well-known artists such as Terry Allen, Jackson Browne, David Byrne, The Chicks, Steve Earle, Inara George, Nathaniel Rateliff and Kurt Vile will be playing virtual festival called Food for Love. The festival intends to raise money for the New Mexico Association of Food Banks and will be live-streamed on YouTube for free, available for 48 hours starting at 5 p.m. MST on February 13. 

At the time of posting, the event’s website claims nearly $65,000 has been raised already, with every dollar going directly to providing meals. Every dollar is said to provide up to four nutritious meals for families in need. 

Asides from musicians, there will also be a handful of guest speakers present. Featured personalities include actress/writer Jo Harvey Allen, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, actress Allie MacGraw, author George R.R. Martin, author N. Scott Momaday, Governor Bill Richardson and historian Hampton Sides.

Byrne mentioned the festival during his February edition of his monthly playlists series, “February 13th (Valentines 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 Navaho and other Native American lands have long been shorted 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.” 

While the lineup is mainly filled by country musicians and related artists, Byrne states that he’s been connected with Terry Allen since the ‘80s. Allen’s the well-loved artist responsible for putting the festival together, and the husband of Jo Harvey Allen. Byrne’s last album was American Utopia in 2018, which was also adapted to Broadway. In 2020, he appeared on Saturday Night Live for the first time in 31 years and contributed song to a compilation called Good Music to Advert the Collapse of American Democracy, Volume 2.

Photo credit: Kalyn Oyer