Killer Mike, Joan Baez, Guster, Muna and More Help Celebrate Newport Folk Festival’s 65th Anniversary

For 65 years, the legendary Newport Folk Festival has conjured some of the most magical moments in music history. From Dylan going electric in 1965 to Joni Mitchell’s stunning comeback performance in 2022, the festival is known for delivering surprise, shock and wonder.

This year was no different. From an unannounced set by Beck and his band to folk royalty Joan Baez reading her poetry to a hushed audience of thousands to Conan O’Brien’s closing night jam with special guests such as Jack White, Nick Lowe, Nathaniel Rateliff and others, this year’s festival hit all of its marks. And ASCAP songwriters were front and center.

Guster, who played the festival for the first time after three decades as one of America’s most beloved pop-rock bands, conjured up some special magic of their own. As the band kicked off its first song on the Fort Stage, a swarm of dragonflies swept over the audience and alighted on the tips of people’s fingers throughout their set. They then capped off their set joined by the UMass Marching Band. A classic move by a classic band.

Guster co-founder Ryan Miller summed up his first-time festival experience: “Well, all the stories were true. It felt like a wedding - three minute chunks encountering some of your favorite people in the world, one right after another. I spent the following days replaying moments and conversations from the 16-hour experience and can’t wait to weasel my way in again. It’s like a musician’s Burning Man on the ocean (but with lobster rolls and billion dollar houses).”

Newport continued its tradition of presenting an eclectic mix of artists from across the musical spectrum. Grammy Award-winning rapper Killer Mike performed with back-up gospel singers in what amounted to a big-tent revival on the Quad stage; Big Thief’s Adrianne Lenker performed solo, captivating the audience with her provocative voice and delicate guitar-playing, and was joined by her Big Thief bandmate Buck Meek, who played his own set earlier in the fest; Boston punk legends the Dropkick Murphys came out of the gate with fist-pumping, mosh pit-making Irish anthems that demonstrated why they have become an American musical treasure; Andrew Bird and Madison Cunningham, backed by ASCAP songwriter-producer Mike Viola, treated the audience to a song by song rendition of the legendary Buckingham Nicks album; and Tinariwen, a collective of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara region of South Algeria and Northern Mali, mesmerized the Newport throngs with swirling guitar-driven desert blues.

Perhaps no other American music festival celebrates and elevates roots music, both past and present, like the Newport Folk Festival. In their first appearance at the festival, New Dangerfield, a Black string band supergroup featuring acclaimed roots musicians Jake Blount, Kaia Kater, Tray Wellington and Nelson Williams, made a big sound on the Fort Stage, and got an unexpected stamp of approval from folk and string band pioneer Rhiannon Giddens, who joined them onstage.

“Playing the Newport Folk Festival is every folk musician’s dream,” said New Dangerfield’s Nelson Williams. “But to play Newport and to have a musician who I credit as the reason I still play this music - Rhiannon Giddens - jump onstage and just dance her heart out to our music, that’s just magic.” 

Pride was on full display at Newport this year with an array of artists celebrating diversity. Bertha: Grateful Drag, a Grateful Dead cover band, was one of the most popular sets of the weekend, causing security to manage the crowds who flocked to the Harbor Stage to see them.

Orville Peck, who has achieved star status with his queer country music and dynamic stage presence, was another highlight, performing just a few days before the release of his new album Stampede. And Newport first timers Palmyra, a Virginia-based folk trio who draw from the sounds of Appalachia, elicited a standing ovation with songs celebrating gender fluidity. Muna, the pop-rock trio featuring Katie Gavin, Josette Maskin and Naomi McPherson, who have become an inspiration to young people with their songs about sexuality and gender, were at home on the Quad stage.

The folk festival, which was founded in 1959 by George Wein, along with the Newport Jazz Festival, which originated in 1954, continues to pay tribute to and present roots music from around the globe while also evolving and opening its fabled doors to music that pushes and defies boundaries. Both festivals help fulfill the work of the Newport Festivals Foundation, which is to foster the impact and legacy of both events by supporting artists and music education through year-round programs across the country.