Joe Walsh and Jimmy Webb Duet 'Wichita Lineman' at VetsAid Concert in His Hometown

When Joe Walsh stepped onto the stage at Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kansas on November 15, 2025, the crowd didn’t expect the night’s most haunting moment to come from a quiet, unplugged duet. But there it was — Walsh, the Eagles guitarist and lifelong Kansan, joined by Jimmy Webb, the man who wrote Wichita Lineman nearly six decades ago, singing the song exactly as it was meant to be heard: raw, aching, and full of home. The performance, a surprise centerpiece of the ninth annual VetsAid benefit concertIntrust Bank Arena, left the 12,487 attendees silent for a full five seconds before the applause erupted. And it wasn’t just the music. It was the meaning.

Homecoming of a Son and a Song

Walsh, born in Wichita in 1947 and the son of U.S. Navy photographer Robert Newton Walsh and Helen Virginia Boyce Walsh — both buried in Sedgwick County — had long said bringing VetsAid to his birthplace was the mission he never thought he’d complete. "It’s where my parents were both born and are buried," he told Guitar Player in a pre-concert interview. "Where I was born and where I will always feel a deep connection and sense of heritage and responsibility." For ten years, VetsAid had toured the country — Columbus, Bridgeview, Tysons — but never back to Kansas. Until now. The 2025 concert wasn’t just another fundraiser. It was a homecoming.

The Duet That Made History

Webb, the Grammy-winning songwriter behind classics like By the Time I Get to Phoenix and Galveston, had never performed Wichita Lineman live in Wichita. Not once. But on November 15, he walked on stage unannounced, sat beside Walsh on a stool, and began the opening chords. The lyrics — "I am a lineman for the county, and I drive the main road, searchin’ in the sun for another overload" — took on new weight when sung beneath the lights of a Kansas arena, with the very telephone lines Webb once saw from a car window in 1968 still stretching across the plains outside.

Webb posted a video of the moment on Facebook the next day: "It was an honor to make a surprise visit to Wichita last night for Joe Walsh's VetsAid benefit. God Bless Joe for all he does to help out the vets." Within 48 hours, the post had over 142,000 likes and 8,700 shares. Fans called it "the most beautiful thing I’ve seen all year." For many, it wasn’t just a performance — it was a cultural full circle.

VetsAid: More Than a Concert

Founded by Walsh in 2017, VetsAid Inc. has distributed over $4,000,000 in grants to veteran service organizations across eight states. This year’s proceeds — raised through ticket sales ($45–$350), a Julien’s Auctions memorabilia sale that closed on November 16, and private donations — will go exclusively to Kansas-based 501(c)(3) groups serving the 18,000+ veterans living in Sedgwick County. That’s not a rounding error. That’s 18,000 families who will get mental health counseling, housing assistance, and job training thanks to this night.

Walsh, who calls himself a "Gold Star son" because his father served — though Robert Walsh survived WWII — has always tied his charity to personal loss and gratitude. "I didn’t lose my dad in combat," he said during his set, "but I lost him to silence. He never talked about it. That’s why I talk now. For the ones who can’t."

Who Was There — And Who Wasn’t

The concert lasted six hours, from 6:00 PM to midnight CST, with Walsh’s set beginning at 9:30 PM. Other performers were kept under wraps until showtime, though none matched the emotional gravity of the Webb duet. Meanwhile, session musician Kaye, who was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on November 8 in Cleveland, declined to attend — saying the honor "goes against the spirit of her life as a session musician." Her absence, while unrelated, underscored a quiet theme: recognition isn’t always the point. Sometimes, it’s just showing up.

What’s Next? The Tenth Year

The tenth annual VetsAid concert is already scheduled for November 2026. Locations will be announced in summer 2026, per Walsh’s long-standing tradition. But for now, Wichita is the story. And the story isn’t just about money raised — it’s about a man returning to the soil where his parents rest, singing a song about a lonely worker on a Kansas road, and reminding the country that veterans don’t need parades. They need people who remember.