Newport Folk Festival 2024: Recap

What is “folk” music? The Newport Folk Festival just celebrated its 65th year, where respectful nods to the origins of the form mixed with more modern interpretations. Joan Baez buzzed between poetry readings like a cool, sweary literature fairy blessing hippies and Gen Zers alike; on Saturday night a mob of music fans hotfooted around the fort’s perimeter from Killer Mike’s energetic grooves directly into the chill-out artistry of Gillian Welch & David Rawlings.

Clearly we are all living in some kind of transitional musical phase, and as usual, the Newport folks are several steps ahead of the US summer circuit. So, do we continue to call it “folk” and expand our understanding of what that means, or do we coin a new term?

Perhaps Britannica can help us define it...

Folk music is passed from one person to the next through social groups, and is learned by hearing rather than reading.
 

The most obvious example of transmitting folk songs from one generation to the next (or the next few) was a surprise unannounced set on Friday afternoon. The festival’s reputation for pulling excellent rabbits out of its hat meant that the Quad tent was overflowing, and guest star rumors zinged around like the swarm of dragonflies that swooped in, after visiting Guster’s set along the way.

Beck and his band delivered a live version of Folk 101, a heartfelt case for keeping the OG spirits alive, covering Bob Dylan ("Maggie's Farm"), Fred Neil ("The Other Side of This Life"), Jimmie Rodgers ("Waiting for a Train") and Blind Willie Johnson ("God Moves on the Water"), as well as the traditional "John Hardy" and "Stag' Lee," before granting fans some faves from his own catalog. Extra kudos to Smokey Hormel’s slide guitar, and Mr. Hansen’s old school blues licks.

Also in the never-forget category: In Newport to carry forth the songwriting craft of beloved icon John Prine, we got artists like Palmyra (just signed by Oh Boy Records), Jobi Riccio, and William Prince (both Prine Fellowship winners); Rett Madison making her NFF debut, and Austin’s Briscoe covering “Angel From Montgomery” with the Lumineers’ Wesley Schultz. What’s old is new again. We miss you, John.

The much-talked-about Sierra Ferrell (yes, that dress) blends classic country-folk song structure (fiddle, check; saw, check) with the modern confessions of messy personal history; her set came complete with supporting vocals from Gillian Welch and actor John C. Reilly. There was a noted lack of singing along from the younger crowd during “Me and Bobby McGee,” however — some more schoolin’ might be in order. Call Beck back in to teach Folk 102?

Taj Mahal just has to show up and be himself, now and forever, amen. Mavis Staples, of course, was belle of the ball, special guest across the weekend, zooming backstage between sets in her own “MAVIS IS BRAT” golf cart.

Folk music is more participatory than presentational. A group of people take part in singing and playing a folk song together, rather than sitting to watch a performer.
 

Yes,  we all got to sing “This Land is Your Land,” with all the verses. And yes, “We Shall Overcome” too. Of course we got a finale of “The Weight,” (thank you, Hozier), which was done properly — with Mavis present, that is — and she came back to lead us all on "I'll Take You There."

It was nice of Conan O'Brien to come all the way to Rhode Island to introduce Brittany Howard, who smashed "Come and Get Your Love," a classic call-and-response sing-along. (Sure, he did other things too, with his pals Dawes, Nick Lowe, and Jack White.)

For De La Soul’s set, all the chairs came out of the Quad tent for the first time ever; they knew no one was going to stop dancing to sit down anyway. Cue lesson in arm-waving for “the white folks in the back” (their words, not mine). The crowd already knew all the words.

Folk music is played on traditional instruments; Contemporary folk music incorporates modern guitar-based acoustic sounds.
 

Ohio’s Oliver Hazard brought a mic in a suitcase on stage as part of a mass busking session that included a tambourine in a towel and spot-on “whooos” from the packed crowd. Palmyra’s “Girls Love Banjo” shirts sold out in a hot minute.

The (imaginary) award for Best Fiddle 2024 goes to… Rhiannon Giddens! Bonus points for the dance-off with Joan Baez.

Adrianne Lenker needed nothing but a guitar and a mic to spellbind the masses. If she’d kept on with her set of solo and Big Thief material, we’d all still be laying in the grass, rapt.

Folk music can bond people together in a way that has more to do with culture and history than entertainment.
 

Mexican ancestors are as much a part of a Reyna Tropical performance as the very much alive Fabi Reyna and Nay Mapalo. LA LOM brought Cumbia Sonidera and Mexican boleros in SoCal style to the party.

Irish culture and history, more specifically Boston Irish, made every non-Celtic music fan green with social envy as Dropkick Murphys tore up the Quad.

Folk music expresses concerns that are important to the community, such as environmentalism, peace, labor unions, racial equality, and LGBTQ+ rights.
 

The gear on the Bike stage is literally powered by the people, who take turns pedaling through sets from project founders Illiterate Light, Tiny Desk winner Alisa Amador, and newcomers Glitterfox, who broke the stage barrier to dance merrily in the crowd.

Billy Bragg’s portrayal of justice through collective power never goes out of style.

Allison Russell’s uplifting message of personal and social justice and healing is modern, and timeless, and beautiful.

“Newport is so f***ing gay!” shouted Reyna Tropical’s Fabi Reyna, hip-deep in the joy they exchanged with hand-holding fans practically running between sets from Brittany Howard, MUNA, Orville Peck, Allison Russell, Jobi Riccio, Glitterfox, rainbow flag-bearing ally Hozier, and more.

And add to that mix the musical vortex that is BERTHA, the Grateful Drag newcomers from Nashville, performing the happiest of Dead songs in glorious high-heeled regalia. Their infectious set drew hippies and queers from every corner of Fort Adams and turned the dancing throng into a cheering protest party by revealing their “DRAG IS NOT A CRIME” signs.

WFUV’s Janeen Shaitelman, who’s greeted new and old fans of the station at our festival tent for the last two decades, sums things up:

“Folk music brings people together. It’s not schlocky, it’s just a fact. The shared energy that exchanges constantly between audience and artist is something you don’t get to see often.

“The protest songs, hymnals and barefoot dancing were just what everyone there needed. We fed off the joy and energy the artists were so generous with. We hope they felt it come back to them.

“I was taken aback by the number of artists who were there as civilians, purely to be part of it. Mavis Staples was thankfully everywhere. 

“The togetherness of people was most evident in the more intimate arenas, like the Foundation Stage and the Bike Stage. Fans lined up to keep them playing. People really do have the power!”

Music by the people, for the people? That works. Let’s see how jazzy this year’s Newport “Jazz” Festival turns out to be, shall we?

[For more about Newport, see what artists had to say about playing the venerated fests.]