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Fest fans get fired up for 'folk' at the Fort

by Bob Gulla

Wilco

OK, so yeah, it's changed since the '60s. This weekend, you probably shouldn't expect something revelatory at the Newport Folk

Festival down at the fort. I mean, Dylan won't be there with his electric guitar, pissing off placid folkies like he did in '65. Chuck Berry won't be there either, like he was in 1959 (or was that the Jazz Fest?) doing his duck walk for the first time in front of a major audience. Neither will Led Zeppelin, who counts among its gigs an appearance at the "folk" festival in the more open-minded early '70s. No, the Indigo Girls' singalongs don't count.

The venue's different, too. For much of its history, the Newport Folk Festival used to take place inside the blustery Fort Adams, the stage set on one end of the inner oval arena-style, chairs and bleachers spraying back from it. Today, as its been since the early '80s, the festival abuts the back of the fort on the harbor side, resulting in a spectacular view for the musicians, who look out over the audience and across the bay to the bridge. Unfortunately for the rest of us, a hot summer day spent watching the show from the baked clay festival grounds is like sitting on a preheated cookie sheet. Still, the day can be a treat if the offshore breeze is right and sun merciful. A good soft blanket or a beach chair can cushion the hard-packed earth, and a wisely-stocked cooler -- no glass, please -- will pluck the beams right off the sun.

And, of course, there's the music, which this year should make for some cool listening. Watching a great performance -- like Randy Newman a few years back, or Richard Thompson three or four years ago -- can make you forget all about everything except the song you're hearing. Even the heat. This year, with a strong line-up across both days, should provide some check-that-out highlights. But get there early. The capable talent starts before noon and the swarms of festival faithful hit the gates before most of you even wake up. You can also get that sweet blanket berth right up close to the stage. If you get there too late and there's no room on the near side of the walking path, the music becomes an echoing afterthought as a constant parade of strollers plagues the view.

If you're one of those wake-up-at-11, get-there-by-1 kinda people, and the festival is merely an excuse to grab a Peace Pop and some shut-eye, then skip to the classifieds. If the music comes first, here's an artist by artist look at Rhode Island's most enduring musical occasion.

Mary Black

Saturday

New England voice Martin Sexton is sure to open some bleary eyes early on Saturday. He's a vibrant, captivating showman and his new-ish Atlantic album, American, will likely get serious play live. He's the most soulful Caucasian troubadour since Van Morrison, and he weaves a tasteful tapestry of folk, rock and R&B with a liquid smooth tenor that's both sensual and tender. Though he's a skilled, tactile folksinger in his own right, Cliff Eberhardt will have a hard time following Sexton. His songs are subtle and less showy, requiring the kind of attention most early audiences can't muster. With a great new album on Rykodisc, A Crash Course in Roses, Catie Curtis, should she arrive in town with her band -- which includes occasionally, area guitar star Duke Levine -- might toss off one of those should-have-been-there sets. Over the last few years she's come up through the ranks as a charming, but rather retiring folk singer. Her new album, though, goes miles in turning that rather staid image around. Austin favorite son Robert Earl Keen brings some serious songwriting chops to Newport, the kind of dusty, shitkicker Texan chops that recall Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt. Londoner Beth Orton may have the benefit of being the alt-folk star of the moment, but that doesn't take away from her significant growth as a performer and songwriter. Her latest album Central Reservation is impressive, though it remains to be seen whether her artful rootsiness will translate in front of a trad-folk crowd. Celtic wonder Mary Black follows Orton and could be the show's biggest surprise. Her soaring songbird of a voice always brings the heart home to roots, and with a touch of blarney at that. Another set that could take the mid-afternoon crowd by surprise is Wilco's, the pop-rock ensemble led by former Uncle Tupelo co-leader Jeff Tweedy. Their album, Summer Teeth, is a killer mix of symphonic pop and rootsy pretense. Tweedy, a hot/cold performer live, doesn't always pull off his set, and the midday time slot might be a little early for him. Let's hope the sea breeze hits him just right. Joan Armatrading closes the show with high energy and crowd-pleasing favorites.

Sunday

Of the two days, Sunday is a tad more suspect. Patty Griffin and Ellis Paul start the day off promisingly enough. Griffin has recently shifted from acoustic singer to an emotionally electric harridan in the course of one album, and Paul has come up with some startlingly good and memorably melodic folk pop last heard on last year's Translucent Soul. Get there early. Blues guitar goddess Susan Tedeschi, a festival veteran at a tender age, should sting everyone awake with rollicking set of gruff 12-bar originals. Ladysmith Black Mambazo follows Tedeschi in one may be the weekend's oddest one-two punch. The South African ensemble knows how sing a song about as sweetly as Newport harbor's ever heard. It just might be a little jarring to hear these acts back to back. Steve Earle and Tim O'Brien will be a treat. Chances are Earle, who's on a bluegrass kick these days, will take a back seat to O'Brien's adept, rootsy picking. Earle, a former badboy who uses music as a rehabilitative tool, can sing rock, roots, folk, blues, and bluegrass with the best artists in those genres. Here's hoping he gets some space for himself in front of a crowd who might not know that. Suzanne Vega's been at the festival before. A couple of years ago she appeared to support Nine Objects of Desire, an excellent batch of canny folk pop tunes, and she pulled off an endearing set. As far as I know, there's no new album this time, though I'm sure she's back in the songwriting swing of it after bringing up babies. Let's remember she began her career as a folksinger in New York City. In front of Newport's folk savvy audience, she's come home . . . Frequent festival headliners the Indigo Girls close the show Sunday. Always a big draw, the duet customarily sells-out the day of their appearance, which is why they seem to be perennial closers. Though it's getting a little wearisome -- not to mention repetitive -- having them show so regularly. You can't tell me there aren't other headliners out there.

Anyway, pack your cooler, bring a wallet full of cash for cool T-shirts, a couple of CDs, and some falafel, and, yeah, don't forget the sunscreen.