Neil Young thumps Trump, backs Sanders

When Neil Young plays his July 19 concert at the Champlain Valley Exposition in Essex, expect him to say nice things about Bernie Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont and Democratic presidential nominee.

If he says anything at all at the concert about one of the Republican candidates, Donald Trump, it might not be printable here.

Young is perturbed that Trump played one of the veteran rocker's best-known songs when the business magnate announced his candidacy Tuesday.

"Donald Trump was not authorized to use 'Rockin' in the Free World' in his presidential candidacy announcement," Young's representatives from Lookout Management wrote in an email sent Tuesday night to the Burlington Free Press. "Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America."

Related: Neil Young to Donald Trump: Don't play my music

Young makes his first-ever headlining appearance in Vermont next month in relation to another political issue — the state's first-in-the-nation law requiring food to be labeled if it contains genetically modified organisms. He has said he supports the Vermont law, which is the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Grocery Manufacturers Association.

Young has most adamantly criticized one of the GMA's members, Starbucks, for "hiding behind the shadowy Grocery Manufacturers Association" against the Vermont law. Starbucks has said it is not "a part of any lawsuit pertaining to GMO labeling nor have we provided funding for any campaign."

"Contrary to the misleading information coming from Starbucks, the coffee company is in alliance with other Food Giants, including Monsanto, in suing the state of Vermont to overturn the GMO labeling laws voted for by the people," reads a statement attributed to Young on his website in May. "... Starbucks and Monsanto are members of the Grocery Manufacturers Alliance. The Grocery Manufacturers Alliance sued the state of Vermont to overturn the people's will to mandate GMO labeling in Vermont."

Young also said Starbucks failed to answer a question on whether Starbucks' coffee product contained GMOs.

Young's new album, "The Monsanto Years," comes out June 29 on Reprise Records and takes on that company among others. One of the songs on that new album is titled "A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop."

Tickets for Young's July 19 concert in Essex Junction, presented by Higher Ground, are mostly sold out; only seats with possible restricted views remain for $83.75. 652-0777, www.highergroundmusic.com.

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Contact Brent Hallenbeck at 660-1844 or bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.