Maybe you watched Farm Aid’s first few years on TV, or you’ve since streamed YouTube footage of musicians Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp and Neil Young teaming up to raise money for family farms in need of relief.
The star-studded benefit concerts left an especially strong impression on Woody Woodworth. When the leader of Richmond-based country band Woody Woodworth and the Piners learned about the Central Virginia Poultry Co-Op, which was formed in response to the 2023 closure of the Tyson Foods broiler processing complex in Glen Allen, inspiration struck. “Let’s do a Farm Aid, but we’ll scale it back to more of a Virginia level,” he remembers thinking.
That embryo of an idea has grown into a one-day festival called Virginia Farm Fest: Playin’ for Layin’, set to take place at Poor House Farm in Rice, Virginia on Saturday, Oct. 19. Jake Kohn, the gravel-voiced teenaged phenom from Winchester, will headline a 10-act country and Americana-focused bill that includes the organizer’s own group.
“It’s just Virginia artists helping Virginia farmers,” Woodworth says.
The Central Virginia Poultry Co-Op works with Indiana-based company Dutch Country Organics LLC to help poultry farmers convert their operations to the sustainable production of table eggs — the type that are graded, sold and scrambled each morning in kitchens all over the commonwealth. “They’ve only been around for about a year and a half, so this is to help them get the wind under them,” Woodworth says of the co-op.
When Woodworth reached out about a benefit concert, the CVPC was ready to run with the idea, helping to secure sponsorships that allowed the event’s scope to expand. “We started small,” Woodworth explains, noting they didn’t have a budget at first. “It was just, ‘Let’s do something good.’ And the co-op got really excited, and they eventually went out and got some funding.”
The 10 acts slated to play make up a regional sampling of Virginia’s country and Americana talent pool including Lillian Hackett from Lovettsville, Zac Townsend from Berryville and Chris Poindexter from the Farmville area, among others. Bringing disparate corners of the commonwealth together was a priority for Woodworth when he was building the lineup. “We’ve got artists from Winchester, from Bristol, Charlottesville, Richmond — and that was intentional,” he says. “The hope is to drive these forces together.”
Woodworth knows what that looks like. His group was part of the inaugural Road to Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion showcase at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery, working with Virginia is for Lovers [Virginia Tourism Corporation] to raise Richmonders’ awareness of the annual Southwest Virginia shindig organized by the nonprofit Birthplace of Country Music organization. Like Farm Aid, the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion was a point of inspiration for Woodworth’s organizing efforts, particularly the way that event’s layout encourages attendees to move from one stage to another and encounter different sounds along the way.
“I love festivals that create motion and movement,” Woodworth says. A barn on the Poor House Farm that doubles as an event space will host solo acts, while an outdoor stage situated on a handful of open acres will be where full bands perform. “Even though we’re starting small with two stages, the intent is to keep continual flow and allow people to enjoy this 100-acre property.”
Openness is a mantra for the inaugural Virginia Farm Fest. “The hope is that people come with open minds and open hearts,” Woodworth says.
The festival founder’s own heartstrings are interwoven with those of the farmers looking to rejuvenate their businesses. “I know the struggle, personally, that a family or a farm has to go through in order to survive,” he says.
Woodworth has farmed, and grew up across the street from Hanover Vegetable Farm, less than 10 miles from the Tyson’s factory. “I drove past it all the time. I still drive past it. Hundreds of generational farms were impacted by that one singular event.” Fittingly, the festival’s vendors will also be local. The Fishin’ Pig and North Street Press Club, both of Farmville, will be cooking up sustenance, and Red Rooster Coffee of Floyd, Virginia will donate joe to keep the artists energized.
While prepping for the event, Woodworth had the opportunity to reflect on other Virginia musical gatherings, from the festivals his band has played around the commonwealth to the 1927 Bristol recording sessions that became known as “the Big Bang of country music.” While it may be in its first year, Woodworth is hoping Virginia Farm Fest will eventually take its place among those memorable moments when communities came together.
“Virginia has a very rich musical history and legacy, and we’re not too far removed from that,” he says. “I would love to see this thing grow and continue on and be a lasting event in itself, and continue to give back to Virginia.”
Virginia Farm Fest: Playin’ for Layin’ will take place on Saturday, Oct. 19 at Poor House Farm in Rice, Virginia. Gates open at 2 p.m. and music starts at 3 p.m. and ends at 10:30 p.m. Tickets are $35 and proceeds will benefit the Central Virginia Poultry Co-Op. For tickets, the full lineup and additional information, visit virginiafarmfest.com.
