Beyond ‘Harvest Moon’: Farmers Tell Us What They’re Listening to in the Fields
What are farmers listening to this fall?
1.Kanye West — Can’t Tell Me Nothing
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”N2bCc0EGP6U”]
It’s a mash up of lots of different stuff, from Sun Ra to Willie Nelson to Deerhoof to Edith Piaf… Lately I’ve been listening to this wonderful bluegrass out of Asheville, NC called Town Mountain. And I can’t forget one of my favorites… “Can’t Tell Me Nothin” by Kanye West… it makes me smile because I think of this hysterical video spoof that Zach Galifianakis and Will Oldham (whose music I also adore) did out on a farm with bouncing tractor hydraulics, a clogger troupe, and some bucket dance moves. More often than not though, just making up your own random songs and singing them at the top of your lungs in the field is the best music of all.
Walker Hancock — Wood Dell Tilth — Paris, Kentucky.
2. Sam Lightnin’ Hopkins — Picture on the Wall
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”KY8fmHxmtgU”]
I am the 4th generation of my family to farm this land. When I am working I sometimes find myself looking across the fields and imagining my great-grandfather on the horizon, looking back, considering how much things have changed and how much things have remained unchanged. I suppose I am always interested in the story, and so when I’m listening to music while I am harvesting I really enjoy listening to songs that tell a story. My playlist is filled with old music and new music, but in general it’s filled with music from the southern landscape…my landscape.
Newt Lynn — Lynn Farms — Gilliam, Louisiana.
3. Deerhoof — We Do Parties
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”ajzdlO48Pqo”]
Walker Hancock — Wood Dell Tilth — Paris, Kentucky.
4. Dwight Yoakam — Guitars, Cadillacs
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”9DkcQ09h2Vo”]
Guitars, Cadillacs by Dwight Yoakam. How can you not have a good time when that’s on?
Adam B. Sullivan — Wetherby Park Community Garden — Iowa City, Iowa.
5. Ralph Stanley — Rank Strangers
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”YqpOdKMrZS0″]
Newt Lynn — Lynn Farms — Gilliam, Louisiana.
6. Sun Ra — We Travel The Space Ways
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”kfaASP26J00″]
Walker Hancock — Wood Dell Tilth — Paris, Kentucky.
7. Cat Power — Moonshiner
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”Lx120yg_JDk”]
Old American songs like ‘Moonshiner’ & ‘River of Light’. They’re easy to sing and you can repeat them ad infinitum/nauseum.
Ben Degaetano — Sweet Annie Produce — Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
8. M.O.P. — Ante Up
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”a78uALZwWNE”]
When we do listen to music it varies between bluegrass, gangster rap and Taylor Swift. Something that you can’t help but bob your head to.
Hilary — Growing Heart Farm — Pawling, New York.
9. Jimi Hendrix — If 6 Was 9
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”VNXWMHu9An0″]
I harvest vegetables every Thursday. I listen to a lot of things, but prefer some funky Jimi Hendrix when I’m in the field. If Six Was Nine. Valleys Of Neptune. That sort of thing.
Bryce Oates — Yellabird Farm — Adrian, Missouri.
10. John Prine — Bruised Orange (Chain Of Sorrow)
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”7E62RfsYwCU”]
Laura Frerichs — Loon Organics Farm — Hutchinson, Minnesota.
11. Coolio — Fantastic Voyage
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”a3QAHZicSjQ”]
I like 90’s hip hop a lot. Snoop Dogg “Gin & Juice,” Coolio “Fantastic Voyage,” anything fun like that, that I know all the words to. Anything by 2pac, Biggie, Warren G’s “Regulate” Jay Z’s “Can I Get a…” Wu Tang Clan, House of Pain.
Jay Johnston — I & G Farms — Jackon, New Jersey.
12. Hall & Oates — Rich Girl
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”7mdIWaRi-7c”]
None. We don’t listen to music out there. We listen to the birds, we listen to their music.
Hall and Oates, “Rich Girl.”
Taryn Hammer — Sheepscot General Store and Farm — Whitefield, Maine
13. Lucinda Williams — Pineola
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”7zm7PLmBwWM”]
Newt Lynn — Lynn Farms — Gilliam, Louisiana.
14. Jimmy Buffett – Margaritaville
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”ue2-ZVxpVjc”]
“Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett. Became our theme song when we were harvesting pumpkins by the truck headlights in the pouring cold rain around 10 pm one night. It reminds us no matter how bad it is here, there is a beach and a margarita waiting for us someplace.
Ann — Meadeville Farm Pumpkin Patch — Tyre, New York.
15. Danny Michel – Feather Fur & Fin
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”6Ugkain3QUg”]
Feather Fur and Fin — Danny Michel and Thistle and Weeds — Mumford and Sons
Both of these songs remind me of the importance of caring for the land and being connected with nature. They inspire me to take time to feel that connection while I’m closest to the land.
Nicole Davis — Daybreak Mill — Saskatchewan, Canada.
16. Town Mountain — Black-Eyed Susan
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”T7hmWDTumWE”]
Walker Hancock – Wood Dell Tilth – Paris, Kentucky.
17. 2 Chainz — I’m Different
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”e2QKlmMT8II”]
Girl Talk albums if I’m alone. But, more often, I jam to whatever my high school students are singing — which runs the gamut from ‘Amazing Grace’ to 2 Chainz.
Rania Campbell-Cobb — Cloud 9 Rooftop Farm – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
18. Neil Young — Harvest Moon
[pl_video type=”youtube” id=”xMjDc8MJotU”]
A favorite harvest song to listen to at the end of a long day, relaxing with a beer on the porch is Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.”
Laura Frerichs — Loon Organics Farm — Hutchinson, Minnesota.
Subscribe
0 Comments
Most Voted
Newest
Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Follow us
Republish!
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
Republish this article
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Want to republish a Modern Farmer story?
We are happy for Modern Farmer stories to be shared, and encourage you to republish our articles for your audience. When doing so, we ask that you follow these guidelines:
Please credit us and our writers
For the author byline, please use “Author Name, Modern Farmer.” At the top of our stories, if on the web, please include this text and link: “This story was originally published by Modern Farmer.”
Please make sure to include a link back to either our home page or the article URL.
At the bottom of the story, please include the following text:
“Modern Farmer is a nonprofit initiative dedicated to raising awareness and catalyzing action at the intersection of food, agriculture, and society. Read more at <link>Modern Farmer</link>.”
Use our widget
We’d like to be able to track our stories, so we ask that if you republish our content, you do so using our widget (located on the left hand side of the article). The HTML code has a built-in tracker that tells us the data and domain where the story was published, as well as view counts.
Check the image requirements
It’s your responsibility to confirm you're licensed to republish images in our articles. Some images, such as those from commercial providers, don't allow their images to be republished without permission or payment. Copyright terms are generally listed in the image caption and attribution. You are welcome to omit our images or substitute with your own. Charts and interactive graphics follow the same rules.
Don’t change too much. Or, ask us first.
Articles must be republished in their entirety. It’s okay to change references to time (“today” to “yesterday”) or location (“Iowa City, IA” to “here”). But please keep everything else the same.
If you feel strongly that a more material edit needs to be made, get in touch with us at [email protected]. We’re happy to discuss it with the original author, but we must have prior approval for changes before publication.
Special cases
-
Extracts. You may run the first few lines or paragraphs of the article and then say: “Read the full article at Modern Farmer” with a link back to the original article.
-
Quotes. You may quote authors provided you include a link back to the article URL.
-
Translations. These require writer approval. To inquire about translation of a Modern Farmer article, contact us at [email protected]
-
Signed consent / copyright release forms. These are not required, provided you are following these guidelines.
-
Print. Articles can be republished in print under these same rules, with the exception that you do not need to include the links.
Tag us
When sharing the story on social media, please tag us using the following: - Twitter (@ModFarm) - Facebook (@ModernFarmerMedia) - Instagram (@modfarm)
Use our content respectfully
Modern Farmer is a nonprofit and as such we share our content for free and in good faith in order to reach new audiences. Respectfully,
-
No selling ads against our stories. It’s okay to put our stories on pages with ads.
-
Don’t republish our material wholesale, or automatically; you need to select stories to be republished individually.
-
You have no rights to sell, license, syndicate, or otherwise represent yourself as the authorized owner of our material to any third parties. This means that you cannot actively publish or submit our work for syndication to third party platforms or apps like Apple News or Google News. We understand that publishers cannot fully control when certain third parties automatically summarize or crawl content from publishers’ own sites.
Keep in touch
We want to hear from you if you love Modern Farmer content, have a collaboration idea, or anything else to share. As a nonprofit outlet, we work in service of our community and are always open to comments, feedback, and ideas. Contact us at [email protected].Beyond ‘Harvest Moon’: Farmers Tell Us What They’re Listening to in the Fields
by Brendan Francis Newnam, Modern Farmer
September 27, 2013
Modern Farmer Weekly
Solutions Hub
Innovations, ideas and inspiration. Actionable solutions for a resilient food system.
ExploreExplore other topics
Share With Us
We want to hear from Modern Farmer readers who have thoughtful commentary, actionable solutions, or helpful ideas to share.
Submit