Bon Iver took the stage at Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s campaign rally in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on Wednesday (Aug. 7), drumming up support for the Democratic presidential bid before captivating the audience with a mellow cover of “The Battle Cry of Freedom” on guitar.
In a clip from the rally posted by Harris’ headquarters on X, Justin Vernon introduced the Civil War-era composition as a tune that’s been “rolling around in [his] head these last months.”
“We’re here for the right reasons,” he continued as the crowd clapped. “We all know what we’re here for, so we’re gonna do our thing, make this music and make way for the people we need to hear from.”
Sporting one of the Harris-Walz campaign’s Internet-famous trucker caps, the singer/songwriter went on to play an emotional rendition of the ballad on electric guitar, letting the notes wash over the gathered voters before adding in vocals. “Yes we’ll rally round the flag, we’ll rally once again/ Shouting the battle cry of freedom,” Vernon belted with his signature warble. “We will rally from the hillside, we’ll gather from the plain/ Shouting the battle cry of freedom!”
Billboard was the first to report that Bon Iver would be performing at Harris’ campaign-trail stop in Eau Claire, where the two-time Grammy-winning act was founded. Vernon has long been committed to uplifting his hometown, founding the Eaux Claires Music Festival with The National‘s Aaron Dessner back in 2015.
Harris and Walz also took turns speaking during the rally following Vernon’s performance, as well as personally greeted some of the kids who came out to the event (paying no mind to an unceremonious interruption from a plane branded “Trump-Vance”). It marks one of the duo’s first campaign events since the sitting VP announced that the Minnesota governor would serve as her running mate on Tuesday.
Watch Bon Iver perform at the Harris-Walz rally below.
