Joe Walsh's 5th annual VetsAid music festival dubbed for 2021 — “The Basement Show” — will be streamed live from his basement studio on December 18th. This year's non-profit fundraising show will feature performances by Walsh with special guests including brother in-law Ringo Starr, a tour of his studio and guitar collection — along with a fan submitted Q&A as moderated by his wife Marjorie Walsh and stepson Christian Quilici, who are both VetsAid co-founders.
The stream will feature the debut of a jam session between Walsh, Ringo, the Heartbreakers' Benmont Tench, and studio veterans Waddy Wachtel, Lee Sklar, and Russ Kunkel. Also included will be never before seen footage from the first four VetsAid concerts and a recent visit Walsh made to the U.S. Vets Long Beach, California facility.
Joe Walsh — a Gold Star son himself — said in a statement, “I’m always so inspired by the incredible service and sacrifice of our veterans and their families — and this year I had the honor of visiting with some of them in Long Beach and I look forward to sharing some of that visit in the stream on December 18th. Supporting and being of service to them is the sole aim of VetsAid. And while we couldn’t be together in Columbus as originally planned, I thought I’d do something special and invite everybody over to my house instead! So c’mon and join us for some great music and a glimpse of how I live, work, play and make music with my friends! That’s a lotta Joe!”
Walsh, who grew up part of a Gold Star family, told us that it's only in recent times that the trauma that veterans and their families were forced to carry has been able to be brought out into the light: “No, it's never discussed. My father died when I was two. He died in 1949 and there was no Gold Star designation. It was just, 'Oh, your father died? Oh, that's too bad.' It was never discussed with me, it was never really explained to me. And when you think of it, all the guys from World War II, which is all of our fathers; they all came back, and, and they never talked about it.”
We asked Walsh, what is the quickest way to help veterans and their families on a local, grassroots level: “Well, you can find out more about this at VetsAid.org. There's also a network of places, but I would say, anybody listening to this, there are vet organizations all around us. They're small, and they're predominately vet run, but ask around and find something near you, because that's who needs help. Because you can save lives and even if it helps them prevent suicide, you can make a huge difference.”
VetsAid 2021: “The Basement Show” will be streamed live on December 18th at 8:00 pm EST (with restream available through December 25th)
The show is a ticketed event with livestream passes and merch bundles available now from $15 via vetsaid.veeps.com.