The Newport Folk Festival can feel like a cross between summer camp and a family reunion. Fans return year after year in no small part because the camaraderie between musicians is unlike most other festivals. You can always count on unusual and memorable collaborations, whether it's Margo Price singing "Me and Bobby McGee" with Kris Kristofferson or Roger Waters singing John Prine songs. There are so many surprises for both musicians and fans, which is one of the reasons the festival sells out every year before anyone even knows who's playing.
This year we'll post live broadcasts from Newport courtesy of TuneIn. We'll also archive and podcast sets in our Live Concert podcast series.
So what's in store this year? Along with headliners John Prine, Fleet Foxes and Wilco, there'll be newcomers like The Wild Reeds, Joseph, Pinegrove, Big Thief and so much more.
To tell us a bit of what's in store for Newport 2017 I called Jay Sweet, the executive producer of the festival. Jay explains how he picked this year's lineup, the importance of giving artists a platform for change and why the festival continues to resonate with people more than 50 years after it started.
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