On Friday, December 13th, Warren Haynes Presents: The Benefit Concert Volume 16, a new live album and film recorded at Christmas Jam, will hit stores.
The new release, recorded at the 2014 edition of the annual benefit show, will feature two hours of live music from a range of high-profile acts including Haynes, Gov’t Mule with Jackie Greene, Billy & The Kids, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit, and Paul Riddle & Friends, among others. The new live album/film also features guest appearances by Oteil Burbridge, Jack Pearson, Col. Bruce Hampton, members of The Revivalists, American Idol winner Caleb Johnson, Audley Freed, and more. The star-studded benefit show featured one-of-a-kind covers of songs by the Grateful Dead, Phish, The Band, Neil Young, Marshall Tucker Band, and The Faces.
One of the standout performances of that memorable day on December 13th, 2014 was delivered by Hard Working Americans, the stellar supergroup comprised of Neal Casal, Todd Snider, Jesse Aycock, Chad Staehly (Great American Taxi), and Widespread Panic’s Dave Schools and Duane Trucks.
[Photo via Warren Haynes – Todd Snider w/ Hard Working Americans at Christmas Jam 2014]
Today, as we prepare for the release of the new live album and film, we’re excited to debut the live video of Hard Working Americans performing their set-closing rendition of Hayes Carll‘s “Holler And Stomp” featured in the new film. The cover appeared on Hard Working Americans’ self-titled 2014 debut album and was a frequent staple of their live shows. This throwback live video is particularly poignant this year, as we continue to mourn the untimely loss of Neal Casal this past summer. While Snider’s gritty lead vocals are the focal point, Casal’s excellent guitar work and effortless backing vocals help lend the performance a satisfying rock n’ roll character.
As Warren Haynes tells Live For Live Music about the set, “[I] love this Hard Working Americans performance — it was one of the highlights of the show!”
Watch the new video from the Hard Working Americans Christmas Jam 2014 set below:
Hard Working Americans – “Stomp And Holler” [Hayes Carll cover, Pro-Shot] – 12/13/14
[Video: Warren Haynes]
Since its inception 31 years ago, Warren Haynes’ annual Christmas Jam concert has provided an opportunity for the performing artists, audience and the local community to give back during the holiday season as Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity’s largest annual contributor. For more than two decades, Haynes—an Asheville native—has worked closely with the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. To date, more than 40 houses have been built with proceeds from the Jam and more than 2.7 million dollars have been raised. In addition to supporting the construction of new energy-efficient homes, proceeds also go towards purchasing and developing land to build entire Habitat neighborhoods—such as the 25-house Hudson Hills neighborhood in West Asheville (the subdivision was named in honor of Warren and his wife Stefani’s son Hudson), a 21-house community in Arden (South Asheville) and Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity’s newest neighborhood, Curry Court in Candler, which will be home to 12 families.
Christmas Jam will be taking a hiatus in 2019, but Warren Haynes and the W&S Charitable Foundation are not taking the year off from philanthropy. On Tuesday, they announced that they will be donating $400,000 to Asheville Area Habitat For Humanity this year. The funds donated were generated by last year’s Christmas jam. You can read Haynes’ thoughts on the 2019 Christmas Jam hiatus here.
See below for a full tracklisting for Warren Haynes Presents: The Benefit Concert Volume 16 Tracklisting, available on Friday, December 13th. To pre-order your copy today, click here. Proceeds from the album will be donated to Habitat for Humanity via Haynes’ W&S Charitable Foundation. For more information about Christmas Jam, head here.
Warren Haynes is currently on the road as part of The Last Waltz Tour: A Celebration of the Band’s Historic Farewell Concert alongside Jamey Johnson, Lukas Nelson, John Medeski, Don Was, Terence Higgins, Dave Malone, Cyril Neville, Bob Margolin, and Mark Mullins & The Levee Horns. For a full list of Warren Haynes’ various upcoming live shows, head here.