The Avett Brothers Impromptu Backstage Jam @ Newport Folk Festival

By Jay Sweet at 2:17 PM on August 19, 2009

Hopefully you have seen Paste's recent A/V video where Sweet Talk brought the Avetts to the top of Fort Adams overlooking Newport Harbor during the Folk Festival. Obviously, it's been our supreme pleasure and good fortune to be part of these mini-concerts over the last couple of years. The guys ability to play at the drop of a hat has never been in question, and this two-minute ditty which happened backstage post-main-stage-set/pre-top-of-the-fort-video shoot exemplifies their bluegrass chops. When they started pickin' and pluckin' it was just for their own enjoyment, then people just start wandering over. Not the best video, but fun! ...  read more

Found in: Blogs, Sweet Talk

George Wein's Folk Festival 50 Photos: Pete Seeger, Avett Brothers, Gillian Welch, Josh Ritter, Mavis Staples and More

By Austin L. Ray at 4:15 PM on August 4, 2009

[Above: The Avett Brothers]Photos taken by Stephanie F. Black (unless otherwise noted) at George Wein's Folk Festival 50...  read more

Found in: Blogs, 1000 Words

Paste's Guide to George Wein's Folk Festival 50

By Kate Kiefer at 4:00 PM on July 31, 2009

Co-founded by Pete Seeger in 1959, the Newport Folk Festival quickly became...  read more

Found in: Music, Features

Folk You: 50 Years of the Newport Folk Festival

By Ed Ward at 11:00 AM on July 30, 2009

Newport Folk is the granddaddy of American folk festivals and—were it not for the existence of the Newport Jazz Festival, founded five years earlier by the same man...  read more

Found in: Music, Features

New, old artists harmonize at Newport's Folk Festival 50

By Jeremy Goldmeier at 12:00 AM on April 17, 2009

In the 50 years since the founding of the Newport Folk Festival, it's remarkable to realize just how much the term "folk" has expanded. Back in the old days, so much as plugging in a guitar was enough to brand a folk artist as a traitor of biblical proportions....  read more

Found in: Music, News

Jay Sweet talks Newport Folk Festival with Fox, NPR

By Veronica Sepe at 5:00 PM on August 1, 2008

A year shy of the mid-century mark, The Newport Folk Festival kicks off today in Rhode Island. This year's line-up features a refreshingly eclectic mix of artists, ranging from indie darlings She & Him to tried and true veterans of the Americana scene Levon Helm and Steve Earle. ...  read more

Found in: Concerts, News