It's been years since Welch has put out a new album or performed frequently, but she's a fixture at the Newport Folk Festival no matter what. With David Rawlings at her side Saturday, Welch treated fans to many of her classics — each drenched in the pair's trademark close harmonies — and threw in a reverb-drenched cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit" for good measure.
Welch and David Rawlings treated Newport to a cover of Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit."
Taking a break from full-length performances of its latest album, The Hazards of Love, The Decemberists dipped into old and new songs at this concert. Colin Meloy and his crew even led the crowd in a sing-along of "Sons and Daughters."
Colin Meloy and his crew led the Newport crowd in a sing-along of "Sons and Daughters."
The former lead singer of The Staple Singers has spent her career navigating the worlds of blues, gospel, pop, soul and folk. Her most recent album, We'll Never Turn Back, contains some of her most explicitly political music.
The lifelong activist and singer brought some serious soul to the Folk Festival at Newport.
Steady rainfall couldn't stop the Newport audience from singing along at the festival-closing Sunday-night hootenanny. Pete Seeger and grandson Tao Rodriguez-Seeger led the festivities with Joan Baez, Ben Jaffe and members of Balfa Toujours.
Steady rainfall couldn't stop the crowd from singing along at the festival-closing hootenanny.
On Saturday, the Avetts brought their emotionally charged and frenetic live show to the Fort Stage at Folk Festival 50. The band stomped and hollered through a high-energy set spanning its history, and previewed material from the forthcoming I and Love and You.
The band stomped and hollered through a high-energy Newport set spanning its history.
Case's latest album, Middle Cyclone, has more of a pop sound than her previous efforts. There's still plenty of country heartbreak and sorrow, but the melodies seem brighter, even if the lyrics don't always reflect as much. Hear a full live concert.
Case's latest album, Middle Cyclone, has more of a pop sound than her previous efforts.
In 2008, the band's self-titled debut won massive critical acclaim. Fleet Foxes' members blend layers of harmonized vocals with shuffling drums and finger-picked guitars, and their song titles are in sync with the vision of pastoral mammals their name conjures.
The gorgeous vocal harmonies of Fleet Foxes filled the air with beard-sporting love at Newport.
Armed with an electric guitar and a sharp wit, Billy Bragg is a one-man punk band with a Woody Guthrie-sized heart. Since the mid-'80s, Bragg has tirelessly railed against injustice in his music, while remaining tethered to the intricacies of human interaction.
Billy Bragg returned the electric guitar to folk music as he took the stage solo at Newport.
Just one year after her first Newport appearance, Baez released her self-titled debut and began a decades-spanning career that traversed not only American folk styles, but also a broad assortment of social issues. It would become the mark of her music that it was inextricably linked to social and political change.
Baez came full circle at Newport 50 years later, as she performed a decades-spanning set.
Elliott's voice — flat, tinged with sadness, with a matter-of-fact delivery — has become a template for generations of folksingers, as well as an influence on Bob Dylan. On the day he performed at Newport, he turned 78.
Elliott's flat, sad, matter-of-fact voice has become a template for generations of folksingers.
On August 1st and 2nd, NPR Music, WFUV, Folk Alley and mvyradio covered George Wein's Folk Festival 50 from Newport, R.I. The live broadcast, webcast and archive covered 30 artists from three stages, including legends like Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, as well as newer bands like The Decemberists and The Avett Brothers.
