10 Highlights from the Newport Folk Festival 2024

It’s everything I had heard about over the years and more. That’s the thought I had running through my head everyday of this year’s 65th anniversary of the iconic 3-day Newport Folk Festival held in Newport, Rhode Island. As a first timer, my expectations were high going in, and by the closing set on Sunday evening, with Conan O’Brien, backed by Dawes and many special guests, Newport ‘24 more than delivered on the promise of its time-honored legacy and import. And now, I understand a small part of the folklore that is Newport.

Jay Sweet is Executive Producer for Newport Folk and Jazz, and Executive Director Newport Festivals Foundation. As in the past years he curated a multi-genre experience for the community that brought together emerging and more well known musicians from the broad musical world of Americana, (folk, bluegrass, singer-songwriters, country, blues). The festival leaned into indie rock and pop (Wednesday, Friko, Muna, Buck Meek and Adrianne Lenker of Big Thief), Latin instrumental (La Lom, Hermanos Gutierrez), hip-hop (De La Soul, Killer Mike), appearances by Mavis Staples, Allison Russell’s moving set on the Fort Stage, Joan Baez, Nathaniel Rateliff, Black Pumas’ Fort appearance, Guster, Hozier, Sierra Ferrell and a very special song for song performance of the 1973 still not on streaming services Buckingham Nicks album by Madison Cunningham and Andrew Bird.

Over the three days there was an average of 26 sets a day, with most overlapping a bit, but rarely in their entirety. Five stages stagger the bands, with The Fort being the main stage, followed by the Quad, then the Harbor Stages, and the Foundation and Bike Stages. From a festival setting, it ran incredibly smoothly, with almost all the sets starting on time. Like the XPoNential Music Festival (coming next month!) volunteers staff much of the grounds and some behind the scenes, and their hard, important, and friendly work cannot be overlooked to pull off such a great weekend. Of course, the weather always helps, and on Friday and Saturday, it was all gorgeous, sunny blue skies. During Guster’s set, and Beck’s surprise set there was a hatching of dragon flies, which swarmed into the crowd with (mostly) natural delight.

Newport Folk is about community. It’s about music discovery, where the lines between genres are sometimes distinct, yet in this setting those lines blurred as one moved from stage to stage, with incredible performances by Jobi Riccio, Rhiannon Giddens, Taj Mahal, Brittany Howard, Dropkick Murphys, Killer Mike, Mighty Poplar, and Illiterate Light. The lineup played like a great mixed tape for a true music lover of all styles of music.

I once called The Clash and Creedence Clearwater Revival folk bands. While folk to many (fans and musicians) clearly exists as a genre, folk also means steeped in some cultural and artistic traditions. As Newport Folk has consistently redefined and broadened what folk means, the 65th festival continued to look forward as much as it respected life’s rich folk quilt it wraps itself around.

10 Highlights from the Newport Folk Festival 2024

Beck at the Newport Folk Festival 2024 | Photo by Heather Hurlock

1. Beck

Every year at Newport there’s a TBA (To Be Announced) or two, and this year’s Friday TBA, fresh off his show the night before with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Beck rolled into the Quad stage for an hour to play a few of his own songs, but mostly to pay homage to the great legends of past Newport Folk Fests. Beck opened with a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Maggie’s Farm,” followed by Fred Neil’s “The Other Side Of This Life,” Jimmie Rodgers’ “Waiting For A Train,” (with some excellent yodeling by Beck), a couple of traditional folk songs and ended his set with four originals including “Loser,” and “One Foot In The Grave.”

De La Soul at the Newport Folk Festival 2024 | Photo by Heather Hurlock

2. De La Soul

Even though the start of De La Soul’s Sunday set at Newport’s Quad Stage was delayed by technical difficulties, once started, the hip-hop legends brought the party to the Newport crowd with a non-stop energetic set of hits that included “Me, Myself and I,” “Potholes In My Lawn,” and “A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays.” Maseo (Vincent Lamont Mason Jr.) and Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer) remain De La’s two members; David Jude Jolicoeur, AKA, Trugoy The Dove sadly passed away in 2023. They wasted no time in getting the crowd to wave their hands in the air like they just didn’t care, and were joined by rapper Pharoahe Monch on a handful of songs including Monch’s “Simon Says,” which sent the crowd into a De La Folk frenzy. Here’s what’s equally as important to know – the Quad stage is tented and is mostly chairs. At the request of the Dropkick Murphys, who played after De La, they removed the chairs (“an experiment based on trust” announced Newport’s producer Jay Sweet to the crown). The feeling that De La brought to Newport was in keeping with the energy and the spirit of the folk fest, even though there wasn’t an acoustic guitar in site on the stage.

Allison Russell at the Newport Folk Festival 2024 | Photo by Heather Hurlock

3. Allison Russell

Allison Russell began her Newport set by lighting a candle and speaking an incantation of love, joy, and hope out over the audience. She took her time, creating an intentionally sacred space on stage before diving into an incredible set that included If Eve Was Black, Demons (featuring the Newport County Choral Group), and a gorgeous version of Requiem (featuring a duet with Hozier). Backed by her Rainbow Coalition band, a tight-knit group of Black and POC, queer, and historically marginalized musicians, Russel personified the power of music to bring people together in what she calls “Beloved Community.” (This review written by Heather Hurlock)

Sierra Ferrell at the Newport Folk Festival 2024 | Photo by Heather Hurlock

4. Sierra Ferrell

Dressed in a beautiful, ornate gown that looked like a wardrobe piece from Gone With The Wind, Ferrell’s extraordinary set on the Newport Fort stage included songs from her recent album, Trail Of Flowers.  Three years ago at the XPoNential Music Festival, Ferrell was an emerging Americana musician with a growing fan base for her eclectic roots music influences. Her Newport set clearly signaled an arrival of a new Americana torch bearer. With her incredibly tight band, her set had several “Newport moments” including Gillian Welch who joined Ferrell for the bluegrass classic, “Handsome Molly,” John C. Reilly who joined her on “Heartaches By The Number,” and Ferrell completely owned a cover of “Me and Bobby McGee.”

Palmyra at Newport Folk Festival | photo by Nina Westervelt

5. Palmyra

Of the many newer bands who played at Newport that I saw, the Virginia based Palmyra put on a captivating and confident performance that rose above. With a musical mix that draws on Americana influences with more contemporary songwriting, the band’s set was undoubtedly uplifted by the news over the weekend of their signing to Oh Boy Records. One of the highlights was the confessional “Speak My Mind.” Lead singer Sasha has a unique front person confidence, and the band has melodic, nicely syncopated and sweet harmonies. Even though they call themselves a folk band, something about their songs kept reminding me of Counting Crows’ August and Everything After, not a bad touch point .

Bertha Grateful Drag at Newport Folk Festival | Photo by Nina Westervelt

6. Bertha – Grateful Drag

Bertha are a drag Grateful Dead tribute band, a collective of queer and allied East Nashville musicians. Their Saturday set at the Harbor Stage was fun and joyous, irreverent and funny. They rocked it, are incredible musicians and had the overflowing crowd singing along to every word.

Chaparelle at Newport Folk Fest | photo by Adam Kissick

7. Chaparelle

Chaparelle was one of the newer bands who played Newport and they put on a fantastic set on Saturday at the Harbor Stage. Chaparelle is a collaboration between Zella Day and Jesse Woods, an Americana band who came across like classic country duos of the past. Their fun and accomplished set on the smallest of the three stages suggests that they are headed for bigger stages in the future.

War On Drugs at the Newport Folk Festival 2024 | Photo by Heather Hurlock

8. The War On Drugs

When it came to rocking Newport Folk, they booked the great War On Drugs, and rocketh the Drugs did! Philly’s finest turned out a spectacular set at the Fort, with highlights including “Harmonia’s Dream,” and “Under The Pressure.” Their set also had a “Newport Moment” when TWOD’s lead singer/guitarist Adam Granduciel brought out Craig Finn (The Hold Steady) to sing John Haitt’s “Walk On.”

Gillian Welch & David Rawlings at Newport Folk Festival 2024 | Photo by Heather Hurlock

9. Gillian Welch & David Rawlings

With some assistance from bassist Paul Kowert, Sunday night’s closing set with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings was, in a couple words, intimate and mesmerizing. Playing songs from their forthcoming new album, Woodland, they turned the 10,000+ people footprint into a private living room concert for all of us, with their world class musicianship new songs and some of Gillian’s classics including “Revelator” and “Look At Miss Ohio.”

Conan O’Brien at Newport Folk Festival 2024 | Photo by Heather Hurlock

10. Conan O’Brien & Real Musicians featuring Dawes with Jimmy Vivino

The closing set at Newport is historically one of those big culminating “kumbaya” moments where dozens of musicians show up to sing at least one folk music classic, sing a bunch of cool covers, and to make one big final musical statement. This year was no exception. Hosted by Conan O’Brien, with Dawes as the house band along with Jimmy Vivino, the parade of musicians and great choice of covers brought smiles and sing-alongs to the dozens of people I was surrounded by. Some of the highlights: Nathaniel Rateliff sang “Let It Bleed” (The Rolling Stones) and Fred Neil’s “Everybody’s Talking.” Brittany Howard rocked a fun cover of Redbone’s “Come And Get Your Love.” Mavis Staples followed with “I’ll Take You There.” Nick Lowe showed up to sing his classics “So It Goes” and “Cruel To Be Kind.” Jack White surprised many when he came out on stage to play “We’re Going To Be Friends,” and a cover of Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock.” Then everyone came on stage to sing “The Midnight Special,” as a light rain fell on the crowd, putting a final goodnight kiss on Newport Folk, 2024.

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