Neil Young's new release ""World Record" w/ Crazy Horse is now available for pre-order. Order here (Please shop locally & independently. But if you can't, we appreciate your supporting Thrasher's Wheat by clicking this link
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An unofficial news blog for Neil Young fans from Thrasher's Wheat with concert and album updates, reviews, analysis, and other Rock & Roll ramblings. Separating the wheat from the chaff since 1996.
WARMUP NYA PRESALES: NEIL YOUNG & THE CHROME HEARTS - September 22 & 24
WILLIE NELSON & FAMILY
AND
NEIL YOUNG & THE CHROME HEARTS
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Two warmup concerts prior to Farm Aid 2026 have been announced for Neil Young' & The Chrome Hearts:
September 22, 2026 at Hartford Healthcare Amphitheater in Bridgeport, CT
September 24, 2026 at TD Pavilion at Highmark Mann in Philadelphia, PA
The warmup concerts are with Willie Nelson and Family with Special Guest Ty Myers.
The presale for Neil Young Archives annual members will start Wednesday, August 19 @ 10:00 AM EDT. General on-sale begins on Friday, August 21 @ 10:00 AM.
INTERVIEW: Tim Pope, Video Director on Neil Young, More
Tim Pope: ‘I Shoot Rock Stars’
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Tim Pope caught the video wave in 1981 and made hundreds of promotional clips, often three or four a week, edited at night and on-air days later, including videos for Neil Young.
For 15 years he was the man to call – inventive, caffeinated, risk-loving, clubbable – and “nothing was too mad or stupid”. He celebrates that magic age of big budgets and creative freedom in his story-filled memoir ‘I Shoot Rock Stars’, just out, and looks back @:
… Neil Young’s 2,000-acre Broken Arrow Ranch and the “burning fires of his eyes”
Taken by producer Bobbie Bray in Pearblossom, California. Pope is waking Young up on set with a broom he grabbed on the spur of the moment
As we continue our Journey Through The Past, Present and Future, it makes us greatly appreciate how much time fades away so quickly.
Our Thrasher's Wheat 30th Anniversary Shirt of the Moment is from "Brother Alan in Seattle".
As so many of you know, our "Brother Alan in Seattle" really needs no introduction. To say that our "Brother Alan in Seattle" is a prolific commenter here at TW would be a vast understatement. A true music lover, consumer and concert goer to the utmost degree. We'll always treasure our pilgrimage out to Seattle to hang out with our "Brother Alan".
w/ "Brother Alan in Seattle" - 2023
We should note also that Alan has contributed quite a bit of original, exclusive content to TW for which we're quite grateful. For example:
For so many, the nostalgia of the Broken Arrow Ranch in Northern California is viscerally breathtaking. The video shot by Rick Rosas (AKA Rick "The Bass Player") on a drive into the ranch is simultaneously uplifting yet heartbreaking.
With that background, Neil's understated song melody, instrumentation and lyrics combine to bring some to smile, some to cry and everyone to wonder ... thrashers included.
Which brings us to a very special Comment of the Moment by Dan Swan.
As you may recall, Dan has been on a sabbatical -- so to speak -- from Thrasher's Wheat for awhile. Often a thoughtful commenter, his words here have been missed. His return -- for us -- is like the swallows of Capistrano.
I have been away for a really long time here. The reasons are multilayered and difficult to summarize here. But I couldn’t possibly not post about this new song from Neil.
My first reaction was an unmistakable feeling of comfort and reassurance. I fell under the spell of a road trip out to Neil’s ranch. Now; I don’t typically like music videos, but I make an exception in this case, because it truly serves the song. But as usual with Neil, the lyrics are really the focus here.
Neil has always had this tendency to write lyrics that feel more like a stream of consciousness, rather than a specific thing. In this case it plays to the strength of the musical tone of this song.
What it created here for me was a sense of nostalgia and purpose. Combining both without contradicting either one. Yet at the end of the song there’s a message that may seem contradictory. I’m not sure how else to explain it really. It may well be the point of the song to be unresolved in the end. Or perhaps just an open question left for each person to ponder.
All I know for sure is this Second Song affected me in a most profound way. I was drawn into that world, and it touched my spirit in an unexpected way. I felt his presence within the song. It wasn’t just him singing it, he was literally inside of it. And I was privileged enough to be invited in on his journey.
I was transported out of my current situation and spent just over eleven minutes somewhere I wish I could take up permanent residence. A place where perfect is a myth, and possibilities are infinite.
The word masterpiece has become a cliche. But if such a thing is still possible….this would be it.
Peace to All 🙏
Hey Dan, great to hear from you.
Especially for this new song from Neil. You're right, the video of the drive into Broken Arrow ranch so captures the essence. The vibe. The whole feel of ranch world.
Shirt(s) of the Moment: California Coastal Dreamin'
Terry & Martin: California Coastal Dreamin'
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As we continue our Journey Through The Past, Present and Future, it makes us greatly appreciate how much time fades away so quickly.
Our Thrasher's Wheat 30th Anniversary Shirt(s) of the Moment are from Teri & Martin doing some California Coastal Dreamin'.
As so many of you know, Terry & Martin are concert animals. Always at the venue early, always up front, always on their feet. Always rockin' out to the music and scene. Truly legend and always a joy to hang with.