David Byrne, Alejandro Escovedo, Inara George of The Bird and The Bee, Jackson Browne, John Doe, Kurt Vile, Lyle Lovett, Nathaniel Rateliff, Robert Earl Keen, Steve Earle, The Chicks, and others are participating in a virtual benefit show this month. Food for Love streams on February 13 at 7 PM ET/5 PM MT on YouTube, benefiting the New Mexico Association of Food Banks. You can see the lineup in full, which also includes appearances from George R. R. Martin, Governor Bill Richardson, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, and more, below.

Byrne talked about the benefit and its lineup in the new February edition of his monthly playlist 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.

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 with 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.

-David Byrne

See the playlist tracklist below, and stream it on his website.

DAVID BYRNE PRESENTS: FOOD FOR LOVE TRACKLIST
"Letter To Laredo" Joe Ely
"She Never Spoke Spanish To Me" Joe Ely
"A man and His Dog" Joe Ely
"All These Blues Go Walkin'" By Terry Allen, The Panhandle Mystery Band
"All That's Left is Fare-Thee-Well" Terry Allen, The Panhandle Mystery Band
"Across The River" Alejandro Escovedo
"Wave" Alejandro Escovedo
"Clay Pigeons" Ben Dickey
"Stranger in a Silver Horse" Ben Dickey
"Falling in Love with Jill Kotowski" Bob Schneider
"Heaven's Just a Sin Away" Kelly Willis
"Where We Belong" Bukka Allen
"Unkown" West Texas Waltz
"The Damage Done" Butch Hancock
"Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown" Jimmy Dale Gilmore & The Flatlanders
"Gospel" Charlie Sexton
"The Weary Kind" Ryan Bingham
"Boracho Station" Ryan Bingham
"Hard Worn Trail" Ryan Bingham
"Corazon Loco" Del Castilo
"Hey! Baby" Bruce Channel
"Honky Tonkin'" Delbert McClinton
"Frankenstein Walks" Donald Rubinstein
"Requiem" Eliza Gilkyson
"Todo Cambia" Gina Chavez
"Liberame" Inara George
"Right as Wrong" Inara George & Van Dyke Parks
"Dirty White" Inara George & Van Dyke Parks
"Fountain Of Sorrow" Jackson Browne
"The Birds of St. Marks" Jackson Browne
"Just Us Kids" James McMurtry
"My Mind's Got a Mind of Its Own" Jimmie Dale Gilmore
"Dallas" Jimmie Dale Gilmore
"Another Colorado" Jimmie Dale Gilmore
"The Golden State" John Doe
"Stop the World and Let Me Off" John Doe & The Sadies
"How Lucky" Kurt Vile
"Baby's Arm" Kurt Vile
"The Road to Ensenada" Lyle Lovett
"Who Loves You Better" Lyle Lovett
"La Ti Da" Marcia Ball
"The Road Goes On Forever" Robert Earl Keen
"Copenhagen" Robert Earl Keen
"I Ain't Living Long Like This" Rodney Crowell
"Dreaming my Dreams" Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell
"Brown & Root, Brown & Root" Rodney Crowell
"God May Forgive You" Rosie Flores
"Big River" Rosie Flores
"Prayers in Open D" Shannon McNally
"Sunny Came Home" Shawn Colvin
"Steady On" Shawn Colvin
"Copperhead Road" Steve Earle
"Billy Austin" Steve Earle & The Dukes
"Guitar Town" Steve Earle
"The long Way Around" The Chicks
"Boats to build" Verlon Thompson
"Gimme a Ride to Heaven Boy" Verlon Thompson
"The Man Who Comes Around" Motel Mirrors
"Paper doll" Motel Mirrors
"Big Blue Sea" Bob Schneider
"Honeybomb" Bob Schneider
"Concrete Pie" Bob Schneider