Food for love concert

February 13, 2021 7:48 PM

For the next 48 hours, the online concert for the New Mexico food banks is up at foodforlove.org. Artists include Santa Fe’s Bill Hearne, Jackson Browne, John Doe, Ray Wylie Hubbard, James McMurtry, David Byrne and many others. New Mexico is a poor state and now with Covid people are hungry. Enjoy the concert and please consider a donation.
posted by jabo (14 comments total)

Thanks for the reminder! It was on my mental list: and as a fellow New Mexican, I’ll echo your encouragement to donate. It’s a very poor state, and with our acecia associations reporting a 50% reduction in irrigation water this year, they are actually asking farmers not to plant this year. A lot of people need help now, and will need help throughout the year.
posted by Silvery Fish at 8:15 PM on February 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

Native of Las Cruces here. Thanks for posting this. Putting this on is perfect for my mood tonight, and I threw them some money and am happy to see this going on. Seems they're raising some good money, too, so yay.
posted by hippybear at 8:20 PM on February 13, 2021 [2 favorites]

Do you have any idea who organized this? I’m happily surprised at the line-up — Jackson Browne, Lyle Lovett, David Byrne...

edit: you already mentioned that artists. Rough night here.
posted by Silvery Fish at 8:21 PM on February 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

No clue who organized it. The New Mexico Association Of Food Banks is mentioned frequently, so maybe they did it themselves?
posted by hippybear at 8:25 PM on February 13, 2021

Was organized by Jo Harvey Allen. Here's an interview with her about the concert.
posted by hippybear at 8:29 PM on February 13, 2021

@hippybear - could be. The better known artists have all expressed an affection for NM at some point. I’m digging the very local artists and sounds.

on send: you found it! Thanks for the link.
posted by Silvery Fish at 8:34 PM on February 13, 2021

If I could have found good work in NM I'd still live there. I lived there for 29 years, and still go back for at least one extended weekend every year. Gotta get the green chile into me! And the high desert country is just so beautiful. That state is in my soul.

I've been known to fly into Albuquerque for a Las Cruces weekend just so I can drive the spine of the state and take in the majesty of it all.
posted by hippybear at 8:37 PM on February 13, 2021 [4 favorites]

It does dig deep into the soul. I have an old-school paper map and yellow highlighter in my car. When I farmed, I’d take 3 or 4-day weekends on irrigation weeks (can’t walk on saturated soil) and drive a new route, on return marking on the map in yellow. Camping gear was ALWAYS is the back of the car. The sound of wind running toward you thru sage and juniper and piñon is the voice of God... almost clear enough to make out the words. Almost. The hours standing on the edge of a mesa, just ~being~, thoughts interrupted by a hawk rising from below to hover eye to eye....

I’ve loved it here. And I too will probably have to move for lack of work.
posted by Silvery Fish at 8:48 PM on February 13, 2021 [5 favorites]

I've visited Santa Fe twice, for a total of maybe 10 days, and the NM landscape is in my heart like no other place I've been -- even the places I've actually lived. It really is the land of enchantment.
Donated with warm thoughts and wishes for y'all.
posted by snerson at 9:07 PM on February 13, 2021 [2 favorites]

I wish we were a country where benefits like this weren't necessary.
posted by Gadarene at 9:08 PM on February 13, 2021 [5 favorites]

(Incidentally, this post caused me to look up a favorite bakery from both my visits, and hello??? the chocolate maven SHIPS NATIONWIDE NOW?? If you have some wiggle room in your budget after donating, I can wholeheartedly recommend these folks as a NM business to support long-distance.)
posted by snerson at 9:13 PM on February 13, 2021 [1 favorite]

We've been buying farm-fresh (like, arrives 2-3 days after picking) New Mexico green chile from Berringer Farms (Hatch-Green-Chile.com) for years now. Supporting local farmers like this is vital to New Mexico's existence.
posted by hippybear at 10:39 PM on February 13, 2021

I played through this whole thing today while doing various household chores, and there are some great performances dotted throughout. One bit you definitely don't want to miss is David Byrne delivering a dance instruction class straight to camera, demonstrating each move as he talks us through them. The music he's chosen to dance to is pretty damn good too, and the segment runs from about 3:21:00 to 3:26:00.

[While you're there I recommended sticking around long for the African band on the beach. It's next song but one after Byrne's slot, and utterly joyous to hear.]
posted by Paul Slade at 7:42 AM on February 14, 2021

Fun new Mexico fact. It has the second most biodiversity or any state after California. Think lowest desert to the high Rockies. I am a huge fan of the state, both from the natural sites and the culture. I don't know what to do about the endmeic poverty... but I will listen in and donate
posted by CostcoCultist at 11:48 AM on February 14, 2021 [1 favorite]