Joe Walsh and VetsAid, his national 501(c)3 non-profit veterans’ organization, today (Aug. 12) announced the lineup and onsale date for their third annual music festival. VetsAid 2019 will feature sets from ZZ Top, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit and Joe Walsh and will take place on Nov. 10, on the eve of Veterans Day, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Tex.
Walsh is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee (with the Eagles) and multi-Grammy Award winner.
Tickets will be available here or through the Toyota Center Box Office, or by calling 1-866-4-HOUTIX and will be priced at $199.50, $149.50, $119.50, $99.50, $79.50, $49.50 and $25.
The inaugural VetsAid took place on Sept. 20, 2017, with a concert at the EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Va., featuring performances by Walsh, Zac Brown Band, Keith Urban and Gary Clark Jr. VetsAid 2018 featured Don Henley, James Taylor, Chris Stapleton, Haim and Walsh, who was joined by special guest Ringo Starr. They performed to a sellout crowd of nearly 18,000. It was also in Tacoma where Walsh and VetsAid hosted their first Veterans Jobs Fair, where, according to a press release, “dozens of local vets found meaningful full-time employment with established regional employers in the Pacific Northwest.”
Watch Walsh perform several favorites at the 2018 VetsAid concert
As every year, all net proceeds from the concert will go directly to the veterans’ services charities selected through a vetting process coordinated in tandem with the National Association of Veterans Serving Organizations (NAVSO). In its first two years, VetsAid has disbursed nearly $1.2 million in grants to veterans’ services organizations on the national level and the regional level with a focus on the festival’s host city. This year, VetsAid plans to disburse grants to Houston-area organizations; small-grant applications have been open since May 2019 via the VetsAid website (www.vetsaid.org).
Related: Our interview with Walsh on Vets Aid and more
Says the press release, “Veterans and their wellbeing have always been important to Walsh, a Gold Star son himself. His father was a flight instructor for the first US operational jet powered aircraft, the Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star, and died while stationed and on active duty on Okinawa when Walsh was 20 months old.”
Walsh has been involved with veterans’ related causes for years, supporting various charities, visiting the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and offering free guitar lessons to the wounded veterans there. He has campaigned for his good friend, (now) United States Senator Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, an Iraq War veteran and double amputee.
“Walsh aims to use this platform to raise funds and awareness for the still urgent and significant needs of our returning soldiers and their families. Through the establishment of VetsAid and this annual benefit concert, he aims to give back to those who have given so much in sacrifice for this country,” says the release.
It continues: “It’s about time we brought VetsAid down to Texas and who better to share the stage with than my old buddies and Houston’s own ZZ Top! With Brad, Sheryl, Jason and more special guests to be announced joining us too this will be yet another historic night of incredible music for our vets. This is a night where all are welcome to celebrate the things that unite us as Americans: good friends, open hearts and great music!”
For more information, including grant applications for small veterans services groups, visit www.vetsaid.org.
Watch Ringo Starr lead the evening’s All-Starrs on his signature song at the 2018 concert
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