Rosanne Cash and Bruce Springsteen are among the artists who will join Steve Earle’s seventh annual John Henry’s Friends Benefit Concert at New York City’s Town Hall on December 13. VIP package presale for the show, mounted in association with City Winery, begins today (27) at 3pm EST for City Winery and Town Hall members, and tickets go on general sale on November 5.
Earle himself will headline the event with his band the Dukes, and Cash and Springsteen join a bill that also features Willie Nile, the Mastersons, and Matt Savage. Proceeds will go to the Keswell School in New York, which describes its mission as “to ensure that children on the autism spectrum experience school as joyous and enriching.”
Earle’s own son, John Henry, attends the facility, which educates children with autism aged 3 to 21. You can make a donation here to the non-profit organization.
“The John Henry’s Friends concerts are obviously a labor of love for myself as well as an expression of the generosity of all the performers who have suited up and showed up over the years,” says the Americana hero. “I’m especially grateful for this year’s new friends, my neighbor Willie Nile, my old friend Rosanne Cash and my hero Bruce Springsteen.”
Steve Earle & The Dukes have three live dates in the US this week (October 28-30) as part of the 2021 edition of The Lantern Tour, which raises money for Women’s Refugee Commission. The tour also features Emmylou Harris, Larry Campbell, Teresa Williams, Amy Helm, Gaby Moreno, and Thao.
Last year’s sixth annual John Henry’s Friends Benefit Concert was its first virtual edition, in which Earle and his band were joined online for a star-packed fundraiser with Harris, Savage, Warren Haynes, Lucinda Williams, Josh Ritter, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires, Jackson Browne, Graham Nash, Shawn Colvin, and the Mastersons.