“Music is made out of nothing but some fairly simple rules . . . The notes themselves amount to almost nothing. But why some particular arrangement of these notes should have such a profound effect on our emotions is a mystery beyond even the hope of comprehension.”
― Cormac McCarthy, Stella Maris
“A whole lot of magic has to happen to make music. A whole lot of minds have to see something invisible. The act of making music — that could be spiritual. You’re taking something that’s not physically seen and you’re bringing it from nowhere, pulling it from thin air, so people can experience it.”–Valerie June, 2021
As described in our “About”page, this blog was born out of the experience that is the Newport Folk Festival. The idea was to spread the festival’s pervasive sense of joy, good will, and community as widely as possible, throughout the year. Of course, this year the “folk family” stayed home. Nevertheless, via social media, the tremendous efforts of the Festival Foundation, Jay Sweet, and numerous other organizers and musicians, we all managed to be together even while apart. Thank you Jay Sweet, Caps, and everyone else for making the weekend happen.
“No true musician can claim to embrace the music of someone without accepting as equal the human being from which it came. It is impossible to regard the influence of someone else’s creativity as great while judging the person who created it as somehow inferior.” — Warren Haynes, Newsweek, 6/24/2020
“How have you been coping with COVID? If not the illness itself, then the whittled-down existence it has demanded?
I have a suggestion.” –David Handelman
click to read David’s blog post
“I’m hoping to offer a brief moment of comfort or distraction or beauty.” —Michelle Ross, violinist in Manhattan
click here to read the full NY Times article
“I guess I just process death differently than some folks. Realizing you’re not going to see that person again is always the most difficult part about it. But that feeling settles, and then you are glad you had that person in your life, and then the happiness and the sadness get all swirled up inside you. And then you’re this great, awful candy bar, walking around in a pair of shoes.” —John Prine, quoted by Pitchfork, 2018
read rememberances in Rolling Stone and The New York Times
“Here’s another one from our tiny attic sessions we did in January. We miss playing together and we miss playing for our fans but we feel inspired by the connection and community that’s resulted from everyone trying to get thru this together. This song is a good reminder not to sweat the small stuff. Enjoy and be safe!”
