THROUGH THE LENS: The Many Memories of the Newport Folk Festival

July 28, 2020

No Depression, one of the foremost sources for Americana and roots music coverage, asked if I’d provide a retrospective of my Newport Folk Festival work for their Through the Lens Column, ahead of what would have been 61 years since the inaugural festival. If you have followed this blog at all, you’ll know I jumped at the opportunity to share a selection of images with the musical community No Depression speaks to.

I’ve been damn lucky to get there since 2014, one of the few photographers from out west to do so. It’s been a highlight of my creative career, to be in the pit at Newport, alongside some of the best in the business, including Henry Diltz, Danny Clinch and Jay Blakesberg. But that pales to the spirit of the place, where songs as resistance and power loom as large as Pete Seeger’s presence, and especially this year, John Prine’s. This is a year like no other, stopping many of us in our tracks with challenge and loss, at many levels. But Newport Folk has weathered so much history and we will be back at the Fort sometime down the road. Because Newport Folk is bigger than any of us. It’s all of us.

https://www.nodepression.com/through-the-lens-the-many-memories-of-the-newport-folk-festival/