If It's Too Loud...

Even though it has been around for 50+ years and has been a cultural institution for most of those, I Got a Song: The History of the Newport Folk Festival is somehow the first ever book exclusively documenting the history of the festival. Written by Rhode Island journalist Rick Massimo, breaks down the entire history of the festival. It starts off as the festival clashed with Newport town officials over the rowdy crowds the festival brought to their ritzy town to modern times with the festival receiving awards and accolades from Newport. It discusses the highs of the festivals to the lows, including when the festival disappeared for over ten years, to when it was completely corporately sponsored in the 80s and 90s, and almost ending just before the 50th anniversary in 2009. It doesn't just list the artists that play on each year, but instead focuses on the backstage stories and history. You learn directly from those that were there as to why decisions were made and their affect...

For the 7th episode of the Newport Folk Festival podcast , they focused on '65 Revisited. This year marks the 50th anniversary of when Bob Dylan went electric at Newport, probably the most legendary single performance of all time. Originally the organizers of Newport weren't going to mark the anniversary, but artists in the Folk Family started contacting them looking to be a part of it. This lead to it happening organically, and not a forced "moment" just for the sake of having a moment. The Newport organizers are being extremely tight lipped about who is performing as part of this. All we know is that it will close out the festival on Sunday, it will be full of surprises, and Bob Dylan won't be there. At this point, we don't even know what it will be. A song by song reenactment from current bands? A bunch of acoustic artists plugging in (probably the least likely)? J Mascis and Jim James having a wall of noise for 45 minutes? It could be anything at this poin...

This summer gives you many options on the 90s nostalgia circuit. If you want to see middle aged men 15 years passed their prime with their current nameless hired backing bands for grossly inflated prices, you have the Summerland Tour, Under the Sun Tour, and more. However, if you want to see acts just hitting their prime that capture the spirit of the 90s better than Sugar Ray ever could, you need to check out the current Courtney Barnett tour. Before Courtney Barnett, Chastity Belt brought their own blend of 90s nostalgia to the stage. One unimpressed audience member standing near me remarked that he found them too monotonous. And yes, they were, if you just listened to them on the surface. Once you actually focused on them, you realized that each member was seemingly playing their own song, almost unrelated to each other, in a way that just looped around and around. Then they would all pull their parts tightly together. Basically, they were a less aggressive Sonic Youth with dr...

As we get closer to the 2015 Newport Folk Festival, and as more artists are being announced, it's becoming more and more clear that this year is going to be a truly special one. We have some returning regulars like The Decemberists, Brandi Carlile, First Aid Kit, Shakey Graves, and Spirit Family Reunion, but the real excitement are some of the artists playing the Fort for the first time. Courtney Barnett was a fantastic early addition, and I've been wishing hard for J Mascis for years. I'm not so secretly hoping he doesn't go for an all acoustic set and he brings a few of his affects pedals with him. Just something about him playing one of his Dinosaur Jr songs acoustic and then hitting a pedal to bring this wall of noise seemingly out of nowhere is just thrilling to me. Last week they announced Tommy Stinson to the line up. I don't know if that makes it more or less likely that The Replacements will end up being announced, but a guy can hope. It's also the t...

Photo Credit: Sarrah Danziger The Deslondes (formerly The Tumbleweeds) made my Newport Folk Festival 2014 Must See Bands list , and they were still one of my surprise favorite acts. They're part of the wave of Americana artists coming out of New Orleans, such as Benjamin Booker and Hurray for the Riff Raff. They have a really great roots country and blues sound, and "Fought the Blues and Won," the first single off their forthcoming debut album, fits that since it sounds like classic early rock and roll that's all but disappeared from radio. It's from back when rock and roll first came out of country and western. It's far too country and blues based to be rockabilly. It's from earlier than that. It sounds like it's from a time when Johnny Cash and Buddy Holly shared bills together.  The Deslondes' self titled debut is due June 9 on New West Records. You can listen to "Fought the Blues and Won" below. For more information, check out t...

If you've been reading this blog with any regularity, you'll know we love free music and Hurray for the Riff Raff. Now that Hurray for the Riff Raff have free music coming out, we're kind of obligated to tell you about it. To celebrate their upcoming headlining tour, they've released The Body Electric EP  which features 2 tracks from Small Town Heroes  (including the amazing title track), a Billie Holiday cover, and "Everyone Knows (For Trayvon Martin)." It's a great way to check them out if we haven't convinced you to yet. You're not going to find better country tinged folk for a better price than this. To download The Body Electric EP , check over to Noisetrade . For more information on Hurray for the Riff Raff including tour dates (I highly recommend their live show if you get a chance), go to their website .

As the Newport Folk Festival slowly starts rolling out there 2015 line up, and we sit under 4 feet of snow in the Northeast, it's a great time to look back at last summer's Newport Folk Festival. Suddenly, the absurd amounts of rain on Sunday start to seem quaint, and we start looking forward to this summer and this year's Newport Folk Festival. You can check out our Newport Folk Festival 2014 photo diary over at our Facebook page . Here's hoping to see you all at the Fort this year! For more information on this year's Fest (Friday tickets still remain), head on over to the Newport Folk Festival website . If you can't make it, there are some great Newport Folk Festival Presents shows coming up, mostly in Boston but also in Chicago, Nashville, Napa, and New York City. Check out these here .