There were a lot of special moments during Stereogum’s Austin party with Topshelf Records back on March 15, but something truly unexpected transpired at the end of Squirrel Flower’s set. Ella Williams had been performing solo on the indoor stage at Cheer Up Charlies when she was joined by an all-star band for a cover of Neil Young’s iconic “Cortez The Killer.” (In related news, Young and Crazy Horse have been performing a lost verse from the song on tour.)

Surrounding Williams onstage that night were guitarists Greg Freeman, Alex Peterson (alexalone), Dimitri Giannopolous (Horse Jumper Of Love), and Travis Harrington (Truth Club) plus bassist Michael Cantella (Squirrel Flower, NNAMDÏ) and drummer Kai Wilde (Teethe). With their powers combined, the musicians unspooled a 10-minute version of the song rife with the requisite ripping guitar solos.

“I decided to cover ‘Cortez’ with my friends as a way to feel the power of community amidst the fascism surrounding us that week in Texas,” Williams says. “I love Neil Young and his uncompromising convictions, so I thought this song would be the perfect expression against everything going on. I had the idea the day before the show. Alex offered up their practice space, we ran through it a few times, and then Dimitri and Greg joined the crew day-of. We put it all out there with this one. In the words of Neil, it was ‘one of the pleasures of my life to be able to be on this stage with these people.”

It was a tremendous entry in the storied history of “Cortez The Killer” covers; watch Stereogum’s full footage of the performance below.

The recording was mixed by Alex Farrar and mastered by Mike Nolte at Eureka Mastering. James Larson shot the video. Squirrel Flower has officially released the “Cortez The Killer” performance audio as a single today through Polyvinyl.

Here’s a group photo for posterity: