The Newport Folk Festival has released the first half of its lineup—borrowing from the trend in EDM of releasing lists of performers in "phases"—announcing that Courtney Barnett, Sturgill Simpson and Dinosaur Jr's J Mascis will be among the performers. Granted, none of the performers named thus far will serve as headliners, but the list should tide over those waiting for information on the long-running Rhode Island music festival (from SPIN).
Last year's festival, for a point of reference, featured headlining sets from Jack White, Ryan Adams and Mavis Staples.
Some smaller names from those announced that'll be worth checking out: Laura Marling has been a critical favorite over the course of her last few releases, Shakey Graves is a superb songwriter (although he'll be making festival stops all over the country this summer) and Traveller features Robert Ellis, the man behind your correspondent's favorite country album of 2014: The Lights From The Chemical Plant.
The Newport Folk Festival is one of the most renowned music events in American history thanks to its prominence among the popular folk scene of the '60s. It was here that Bob Dylan shocked the world by playing an electric guitar during 1965. The event shut down following 1971 but was revived during 1985.
The full list of names announced thus far can be found below. The festival will go down July 24 through July 26.
The Lone Bellow, Calexico, Heartless Bastards, Bahamaas, Leon Bridges, Haunt The House, Brandi Carlile, Sturgill Simpson, Courtney Barnett, Langhorne Slim & The Law, Traveller (Cory Chisel, Jonny Fritz & Robert Ellis), Nikki Lane, Madisen Ward & Mama Bear, The Suffers, First Aid Kit, Laura Marling, Shakey Graves, J Mascis, Blake Mills, Field Report, The Jones Family Singers.
Stay tuned for updates on the rest of the lineup as it becomes available.
