Newport Folk Podcast

Shakey Graves stumbled upon the music of Buffy Sainte Marie in the most Shakey Graves way possible: scouring the dollar bins at Amoeba Records. Seconds into his first hash-influenced listen, he knew he’d found something special. He joined us this episode to share his admiration for Buffy and cover her songs “Little Wheel Spin and Spin” and “Cod'ine.

Bonny Light Horseman (Eric D. Johnson, Anais Mitchell and Josh Kauffman) cover Tim Buckley and perform a track from their own record.

Each episode we ask a Folk Family Artist to take a look at every other artist that has ever played Newport Folk and cover a song by them. This episode, our friend, Liz Cooper chose to cover Twain.

This season we’re introducing a new format: Each episode we’ll ask a Folk Family Artist to take a look at every other artist that has ever played Newport Folk and cover a song by them. For this first episode, we were fortunate enough to have Mandolin Orange chose to cover Leonard Cohen.

Sara Watkins calls Anais Mitchell, Benmont Tench, Billy Strings, and Madison Cunningham to ask which artists they’ll be making time to see at the Fort this weekend.

Legendary Folk Festival Matriarch Mavis Staples chats with Phil Cook about harmony, family and friendship.

After a 20 hour trek from the Netherlands to Newport Folk, Stephen from Spirit Family Reunion was asked a simple question: “Why do you keep coming back to Newport?”. Unable to articulate a coherent response, he set out on this podcast quest of sorts to find his answer, the same question to NFF fans, staff and artists (JP Harris, Zach The Lone Bellow, Ian O’Neil from Deer Tick, and Kam Franklin).

Well, this is it - the last episode before the festival. And what better way to send things off than with our annual 'Ask Us Anything' show? You guys asked our staff questions about the festival, and we answered em'. Enjoy the episode, and we'll see you in just a few days!

In this special edition of the Newport Folk Podcast, Christopher Paul Stelling takes over as host to talk with Ben Harper. Chris & Ben discuss definitions of the blues, Ben's upcoming set at Newport Folk with Charlie Musselwhite, and much more. 

This episode contains explicit content.

We talk a lot on this podcast about the folks that make this festival possible - the artists, the staff, the fans...but we don't hear enough from a group that plays a huge role: our partners. Sponsors, nonprofits and organizations help make this festival what it is. This episode we'll hear from three partners, their stories and how they make Newport a better festival.