Festival Circuit Newport Folk E2: It Became a Utopia (Re-Release)

Undermine

Matt Dwyer

Music History, Music

5 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 6 February 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Now that you’ve heard what a special place Newport Folk has become, let’s go back in time to learn a bit more about how we got here. Guided by the founder of the Newport Folk Festival, the legendary George Wein, we’ll take you to the roots of the festival with one-time Newport board member Judy Collins, and we'll hear from Preservation Hall’s Ben Jaffe about the role Newport played in developing the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, which you may have learned about in Season 1. We’ll travel from legendary moments from the festival's early history, including Mavis Staples’ first opportunity to meet Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, to Newport’s return from hiatus in 1985, all the way to Jim James and current Executive Director Jay Sweet first approaching George Wein with a vision for the future of the festival, which simultaneously brought it back to its roots. All of these moments have led to a stronger Newport community than ever, a place where veterans and newcomers alike are constantly working together, influencing each other, and inspiring us all to strive for a spirit of unity and a better world. Festival Circuit: Newport Folk is presented by Osiris Media, and hosted by Carmel Holt. It is co-written, co-produced and edited by Carmel and Julian Booker, who is also the series' audio engineer. Production assistance from Zach Brogan. Executive producers are RJ Bee and Christina Collins. Show Logo and Art by Mark Dowd. The theme music is "Ruminations, Pt. 3 (Afternoon Haze)" by Stephen Warwick. Thanks to Billy Glassner of the Newport Festivals Foundation for providing archival audio. Additional archival audio provided by the Alan Lomax Collection at the American Folklife Center, Library Of Congress, Courtesy of the Association for Cultural Equity. Many thanks to our folk family guests: Ben Jaffe, George Wein, Judy Collins, Phil And Brad Cook, Kari Estrin, Amy Ray, Emily Saliers, Jim James, Jay Sweet, Kristian Mattson, Margo Price, Brittany Howard, Danny Clinch, Jess Wolfe, Holly Laessig And Yola. --------- Visit SunsetLakeCBD.com and use promo code FESTIVAL for 20% of premium CBD products Visit Melophy.com and use promo code FESTIVAL for 20% off your first virtual lesson. Visit GarciaHandPicked.com to find Garcia cannabis products near you and to learn more. Have you heard Black Pumas self-titled debut album? Don’t miss a chance to see Black Pumas live if they come to your town and pick up a copy of their album wherever you purchase or stream music. Visit TheBlackPumas.com to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:31.4	Osiris.
0:36.5	We have a responsibility. I have a responsibility to my dad and to Pete Seeger and I got a
0:42.8	responsibility to Bob Dylan. I got a responsibility to George. Those are big, big shadows,
0:49.7	you know, big shoes to stand in. And thank God, just thank God that we've had them.
0:54.7	I mean, you know, there's a lot of people you've got to include in that group,
0:58.2	but it's still a very small group that did it and that showed us the way.
1:03.1	Once a musical tradition has been around for decades and decades,
1:08.9	there's going to be a moment where it is handed to the next generation.
1:13.0	You know, there was the symbolic handing of the torch from, you know, Pete Seeger to Bob Dylan,
1:18.0	and people can't wait to grab the torch and run with it.
1:21.7	That's what makes Newport important.
1:24.2	Those are the times and places where the torch gets to burn brighter. And it's also
1:29.8	where the torch, you know, where Joan Baez gets to say, hey, you all, here, I'm handing you the
1:35.2	light. Okay, I'm handing you the light. You know, that's a big thing. That doesn't happen. And it doesn't
1:41.5	happen sometimes unless somebody brings people together to make it
1:46.2	happen. The passing of the torch over the decades and the people that make it possible for that to
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