When country music legend Willie Nelson takes the stage at Farm Aid on Sept. 26, he will be joined on stage by Mickey Raphael, the Jewish harmonica player who has played alongside him since 1973. It will mark the 40th Farm Aid gig for Raphael, who calls the concert that works to help American farmers a form of tzedakah.
“We’re making it possible for farmers who are having all kinds of trouble to get on their feet or to keep doing what they are doing,” said Raphael, 74. “So, this is really part of Jewish tradition.”
The 2026 version of Farm Aid will be held at Veterans United Home Loans Amphitheater in Virginia Beach, Va. Since the initial concert in 1985, Farm Aid has raised more than $90 million. The funds have been used to keep family farmers on their land and support local food systems.
Country singer-songwriter and activist Willie Nelson founded the event, along with fellow singer-songwriters Neil Young and John Mellencamp; all three will headline this year’s concert. Raphael said he recognizes the importance of the Farm Aid mission while he’s performing, which will be over Sukkot weekend, another tie-in, albeit coincidental, to agriculture and the great outdoors.
“We’re not buying farms for farmers, but the money we raise might go to represent somebody that lost their farm,” he said. “It helps them with legal representation and helps them help themselves. We are helping them maintain their kibbutz.”
‘We’re rehearsing it in pieces now’
Raphael is originally from Dallas, where he attended religious school and was confirmed. His father, a furniture designer, was a German refugee who escaped and immigrated to the United States in 1936. Raphael is now based in Nashville, Tenn., where he says he often attends events held by Chabad.
When performing, Raphael’s instrument of choice is a professional-grade Hohner Rocket and Golden Melody harmonica. He calls the instrument “easy to play, but very hard to master.”
He has recorded with a who’s who of artists, including Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Ringo Starr, Jason Isbell, Neil Young, Bob Weir, Margo Price, Elton John, U2, T Bone Burnett, Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, Billy Gibbons, Kenny Chesney, Wynton Marsalis, Mötley Crüe, Billy Strings and Snoop Dogg.
In late September, on the road with the Willie Nelson and Family band, Raphael said he had just come from a rehearsal with Young, who will play a duet with Nelson. The band’s name comes from the loose-knit touring and recording group Nelson assembled back in the early 1970s to reflect a tight bond of shared musicianship and personal friendship.
“Neil played harmonica on the record that we’re covering,” Raphael said. “I’ll take the intro, Neil will play the solo, and then I’ll end the song with the harmonica. We haven’t done this song with Neil, and we’re just rehearsing it in pieces now. Then we’ll end up putting it all together, but it’s all pretty spontaneous and not too over-rehearsed. Basically, we have to know when to start the song and when to end it.”
Following Farm Aid, Nelson will take some time off from touring, but Raphael plans to keep busy. He’ll be accompanying country singer-songwriter Chris Stapleton on his All-American Road Show tour through October.
Raphael is also scoring a documentary about the history of marijuana farming in California, a film directed by Israeli auteur Oren Moverman. When Willie Nelson gets the itch to hit the road again, Raphael will be ready to sign on, as he has for decades.
“The band is billed as Willie and Family—and is a family,” Raphael said. “There has been very little changeover. Once you’re in the organization, you can’t escape.”
He noted that “we all live in different states, but when we come together, it all moves as one unit. It’s one big circus family. I’m just very fortunate and lucky to be doing what I’m doing. I’ve had this opportunity to make a living playing the harmonica and help people along the way. It has fed me, and I think it inspires others.”
