Newport Folk Fest '09 Highlights - Old News Moves Slowly

Every blogger in the world has brought you the lowlights of that damn VMA show – we GET it, Kanye is a giant douchebag. But is anyone else going to give you a peek into a festival that took place a month and a half ago? I think not! But Juano’s got the goods - here it is kids, everything you never wanted to know about The Newport Folk Festival ’09…

Voted Most Likely To Incite Rebellion: Tom Morello, The Nightwatchman

Okay, I know this guy lost some credibility after he turned into a giant pussy in Audioslave – especially compared to his amazing stint with Rage Against The Machine. But a couple of years ago, Mr. Morello went folk – just him, an acoustic guitar, and the occasional harmonica and stomp box - yet somehow, he’s more of a rock god now than during his heyday. This is his second visit to the Folk Fest, and I think he got the crowd even more fired up this year.

Highlights: He debuted a new song, “Dogs of Tijuana”. But the real standout was his cover of “This Land Is Your Land”, complete with the original final verse that the record companies didn’t want you to hear. He has the kind of stage presence that makes you want to change the world…at least for the 45 minutes of his set. But during that time, if he had asked us to burn the venue to the ground I don’t know if we could have said no. (Now if we could just get that same level of enthusiasm from Mr. Morello on his Nightwatchmen studio albums, we’d have a real movement…)

More Info/Set Download: Check out his whole performance, available for download here thanks to NPR's (National Public Radio's) web site - just look for the download link at the top of the page.
Most Likely To Wax Poetic About Squirrels and Bob Dylan: The Decemberists

Ah, The Decemberists - to define you as prog-folk with a dash of thrash guitar would just pigeonhole you. So we’ll just call you a bunch of weirdos who make great music. The band took a break from their scheduled routine for the Folk Fest’s 50th anniversary – they’ve been performing their epic concept album, The Hazards of Love, in its entirety during this tour. Instead, their set provided us with such faves as “O Valencia!” and “The Crane Wife Pt. 3”. We were also treated to what leading man Colin Meloy referred to as “the worst song I ever wrote” – “Dracula’s Daughter”. C’mon man, don’t be so hard on yourself – it was really funny…oh, it was supposed to be tragic…ahhh.

Highlights: A recreation of Bob Dylan going electric at the ’65 Folk Fest was performed during “A Cautionary Song” by The Decemberists Family Players. To give you an idea of how truly surreal that telling was, a big ol’ squirrel had a key role in this wacky rendition…’nuff said. We were also lucky enough to witness the American debut of two new songs: “Down By The Water” and “Copper Mine Song”. But the biggest treat came from the vocal talents of two of the women touring with the Hazards of Love troupe: Becky Stark (of Lavender Diamond) and Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond…huh, kind of a sparkly gem thing going on with these bands). Stark was entrancing backing She & Him at last year’s Folk Fest, and was equally wonderful here. But Worden, as the Queen in the Hazards fable, had one of the most commanding voices I’ve ever heard – the studio version just didn’t do it justice. If you have a chance, SEE The Decemberists before the end of this tour!

More Info/Song Downloads: Check out 3 songs from their phenomenal set here, again from NPR. To check for tour dates, go to the bands page here (they'll be in New York and Vermont this weekend, if you're feeling like a road trip).

The Gillian & David By Any Other Name Award: Gillian Welch and David Rawlings Machine

In Gillian Welch’s band (who played Saturday’s show), David Rawlings plays second banana, and vice versa for David Rawlings Machine (who played on Sunday). Huh. Luckily, they’re both extremely fun and incredibly talented – both with a strong, unique voice that shines through.

Highlights: For Gillian, it was her exhaustion that led to my favorite moment. Announcing that she had been on the road and sleep deprived for WAY too many consecutive hours, she confessed to being a bit delusional. She decided to roll with that feeling and broke into a transcendently hallucinatory cover of “White Rabbit”. She also played one of my faves, “Look At Miss Ohio”.

For David Rawlings Machine…man, it might’ve been his duds. Yeah, the tunes were great, but you should’ve seen this wide pinstriped lavender suit he was wearing - snazzy! But the music was pretty darn good, too – from a cover of Old Crow Medicine Show’s “I Hear Them All” to Bob Dylan’s “Queen Jane Approximately” to the encore of Johnny & June Carter Cash’s “Jackson”, Mr. Rawlings knows how to please.

More Info/Set Downloads: Check out Gillian Welch's set here and David Rawling's Machine's set here.

Most Likely Soundtrack To A Good Old-Fashioned Bloodletting: Tim Eriksen & The Shape Note Singers

Any of us who lived in Western Mass during the early ‘90s probably remembers the band Cordelia’s Dad, who married classic folk stories with a punk soundtrack. That act eventually went mostly acoustic, and now Tim Eriksen has gone even more unplugged. Starting the show solo, surrounded by a variety of traditional instruments, he played a slew of centuries old ditties. He was eventually accompanied by his former Cordelia’s bandmate Peter Irvine on percussion.

Highlights: So where were these Shape Note Singers that were supposed to be with him, I wondered? Well, they came out about halfway through, and they absolutely filled the stage. Shape notes are basically a way of writing music for large groups, each note representing a vocal sound (fa-sol-la-mi). And when sung together (completely a cappella in this case) by such a large congregation that Mr. Eriksen had with him – beyond impressive.

More Info/Set Download: Check out the set here, and for more backstory about shape note singing, check out their page here.

Most Likely To Be Photographed Nude On A Bucking Horse: Ramblin’ Jack Elliott

Okay, so I know that this guy is a bit of a legend. And yes, it was his 78th birthday on the day of the show. And they did make an announcement about no flash photography before the start of the set. But when the guy stopped dead every time some poor schlub with a camera showed up, it made me think less about his musical legacy, and more about C.O.M.S. (Cranky Old Man Syndrome).

Highlight: To his credit, Mr. Elliott made a compromise with all would-be photographers in the audience: if they would stop taking pix during the set, he would let us photograph him in the parking lot, nude on a bucking horse. Y'know, I'm as open-minded about role play as the next guy, but that sounded a bit overindulgent...

Two Acts I Wish I'd Seen More Of: Langhorne Slim & Billy Bragg

I'll file this under: too many stages, too little time. For Langhorne Slim, I was in the wrong tent and only caught the last two songs of their set - but they had the crowd up and dancing. That doesn't seem like that big of a feat, but when you're the first act of the day (starting your show before noon), a lot of people won't give you that kind of attention. I had never heard these guys before, but I'll certainly be looking forward to checking out more.

I've heard Mr. Bragg's studio work in the past, but it's really the silly banter between songs that makes him so entertaining. His comedic rants make his very political messages much more appealing - it seems like Billy and Tom Morello might have a lot to talk about over a frothy pint or two...

More Info/Set Downloads: Luckily for me (and you, as it would seem), NPR posted both full sets. For Langhorne Slim go here, and for Billy Bragg go here.

Oh, And There Were a Few Living Legends, If You're Into That Sort Of Thing...

Being the 50th anniversary and all, they had some acts you may have heard of: Joan Baez, Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie to name names. I'm assuming you may already know about these folks though, right?

That's it for now. Maybe next time I can dig up some news that's even more outdated - I'm talking Mesozoic, baby. Fingers crossed!...