The lineup for the 51st annual Newport Folk Festival has been announced, and like last year, it’s shaping up to be an excellent weekend: My Morning Jacket’s Jim James (a.k.a. Yim Yames), Andrew Bird, Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, Calexico, the Avett Brothers, the Felice Brothers, the Swell Season and more will perform July 31-August 1 at Newport, RI’s Fort Adams State Park.
Other performing acts include SPIN-approved crooner Nneka, New York folk-punk band O’Death, California psychedelic group Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, John Prine, and, of course, Pete Seeger.
Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers will play a pre-show at Newport’s International Tennis Hall of Fame Friday night.
Newport Folk Fest, best known as the place where Bob Dylan first went electric in 1965, was co-founded in 1959 by George Wein. Last year, Wein — and an all-star lineup including Fleet Foxes and Neko Case — celebrated the fest’s 50th birthday.
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Says Jim James: “There is something so perfect about being in Newport near the water and that old stone fort — all gathered in to sing with family and friends — that keeps me wanting to come back year after year. It’s like the walls of the fort are arms, and I feel secure when I am near them, protected by the spirits there — past, present, and future. And, I like to hear our voices bouncing off those old stone walls as my eye drifts to the sailboats on the seashore and the people just smiling and taking it all in.”
Tickets for the festival go on sale March 26 at 10 A.M. via NewportFolkFest.net.
See the lineup for George Wein’s 2010 Newport Folk Festival below:
Friday, July 30 pre-show:
International Tennis Hall of Fame, 194 Bellevue Avenue, 8:00 P.M.
Steve Martin & The Steep Canyon Rangers
Tim O’Brien
Sarah Jarosz
Saturday, July 31
Fort Adams State Park, Harrison Avenue, 11:30 A.M. – 7:00 P.M.
John Prine
Andrew Bird
Brandi Carlile
The Low Anthem
Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket
Doc Watson & David Holt
Calexico
Dawes
Nneka
O’Death
Liz Longley
Blitzen Trapper
A.A. Bondy
Sam Bush
Horsefeathers
Sunday, August 1
Fort Adams State Park, Harrison Avenue, 11:30 A.M. – 7:00 P.M.
Levon Helm’s Ramble on the Road
The Swell Season
The Avett Brothers
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings
Richie Havens
Justin Townes Earle
Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Punch Brothers with Chris Thile
The Felice Brothers
Tao Seeger Band
Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons
Ben Sollee & Daniel Martin Moore
Pokey LaFarge & the South City Three
