EXCLUSIVE: Longtime Neil Young Guitarist Releases Pro-Trump Song And Video As Part Of Sugarcane Jane
AUGUST 31, 2020 By Emily Jashinsky
Anthony Crawford spent years playing guitar in Neil Young’s band. He’s toured with Steve Winwood and Dwight Yoakam. His songs have been cut by Kenny Rogers, Lorrie Morgan, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, among (many) others. Now, Crawford is making music to support Donald Trump.
“How can you hate a man that’s draining the swamp and exposing all the greed?” he asks in “That’s What I See,” the latest single from Sugarcane Jane, a roots duo comprised of Crawford and his wife, Savana Lee. In the accompanying video, shared first with The Federalist, Crawford and Lee stand side-by-side, wielding their instruments and singing into a single lens.
It’s almost a Zoom-style aesthetic, fitting for a song that expresses an everyman endorsement of Trump, flavored by the angst and isolation of the summer. Crawford and Lee wrote and recorded “That’s What I See” in the same day late last month, at their studio in rural Alabama. “I’ve had enough of standing on the sidelines,” declares Crawford, “gonna get my skin in the game.”
Sugarcane Jane is set to play at an upcoming Trump fundraiser in Florida. “That’s What I See” is the latest single off “Ruffled Feathers,” which came out earlier this month.
Asked about the song’s inspiration, the couple told The Federalist, “This is the most important election of our lifetime. We have three young children that we want to grow up in the same America that we did. Now is not the time to be silent.”
“We felt we had no choice but to come out in support of President Trump,” they continued. “The man has been taking body blows for the last four years undeservedly, yet still continuing to accomplish so much for the American people.”
I wondered what reaction Sugarcane Jane received from their peers in the industry after revealing their support for the president. “We knew by supporting him, we would polarize ourselves with at least half of our fan base,” they emailed, “but we made that sacrifice to support the President and our core values.”
Crawford and Lee said they “were told by multiple music promoters that they would pass on the album, even though they have promoted our previous releases.”
“Clearly their bias and hatred towards President Trump could not be separated from their jobs. The music industry, like Hollywood, is run by the liberal elite,” the couple wrote. “We took a leap of faith and wanted to be counted among the conservative community. It’s the least we could do for our country. Whatever happens with this album, we are proud of it and all it stands for. God bless the USA.”