Farm Aid 2015 pics: Neil Young, Willie Nelson, Mavis Staples, John Mellencamp, Kacey Musgraves & more

September 22, 2015

Willie Nelson / Neil Young / Mavis Staples / Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgraves‘ most affecting songs, like the young Texan’s breakout hit “Merry ‘Go Round” — or the majority of her recent Pageant Material LP, for that matter — flip stereotypes on their ass. She may play the part of the down-home country girl when appropriate, but there’s fire in this gal’s belly. Seeing her sport a frilly, baby blue prom-like dress in front of a backing band in bright pink Nudie suits was only too fitting: She baited the Farm Aid crowd into thinking she was an innocent lady before belting out the truth. “I ain’t pageant material/I’m always higher than my hair,” she sang when performing her new LP’s title track, smirking extra wide before closing out her breezy afternoon set with a foot-stomping take on Nancy Sinatra’s outta-my-way-silly-boy anthem, “These Boots Are Made for Walkin.'” [Rolling Stone]

Farm Aid 2015, now in its 30th year, went down on Saturday (9/19) in Chicago with sets from founders Neil Young, Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, plus Mavis Staples, Kacey Musgraves, Old Crow Medicine Show, Willie’s sons and Neil’s collaborators Promise of the Real, and more (including… Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson and Imagine Dragons).

Pictures continue below…

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Ian Mellencamp