WASHINGTON 鈥� Almost 60 years since it began, the Newport Folk Festival continues to draw thousands to Rhode Island every summer.
And like the art form it celebrates, it has evolved over that time.
WTOP鈥檚 own Rick Massimo chronicled the festival鈥檚 history in his book
The festival itself originated in 1959, as an offshoot of the sixth annual Newport Jazz Festival, Massimo told WTOP鈥檚 Shawn Anderson and Hillary Howard.
鈥淕eorge Wein, the impresario of the Newport festivals, saw at the time that folk music was the most popular music of the day,鈥� he said. 鈥溾�� So he decided first to have a folk day at the jazz festival, and then he decided he could go it alone. He could split it off as a stand-alone festival.鈥�
The festival was something of a 鈥済ritty鈥� experience in its earlier days, Massimo said, with fans sleeping on the beaches and on porches 鈥� uninvited.
鈥淚t certainly wasn鈥檛 going to last any longer in its original form and in fact it didn鈥檛,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t disbanded from 1969 to 1985.鈥�
It has since moved from the center of Newport to nearby Fort Adams State Park, and it鈥檚 over by 7 p.m.
鈥淭his is both cause and effect of having a much better relationship with the town of Newport,鈥� said Massimo, who covered the festival for nine years at the Providence Journal.
One moment that stands out in the festival鈥檚 history is the 鈥淓lectric Dylan鈥� controversy, when the Bob Dylan and his band plugged in for a 1965 show, which goes against common folk music practices. How negative was the audience reaction, exactly? Massimo found several conflicting accounts, and realized that all these competing narratives actually were the story.
鈥淭he fact that there is no one truth about who said what and who did what 鈥� it was this experience that was refracted through all these different lenses of people鈥檚 experiences and preconceptions,鈥� he said.
Dylan鈥檚 choice to plug in back in 1965 speaks to a central question that still resonates today among fans: What constitutes folk music? It鈥檚 a tension, Massimo said, that has in fact existed since the festival itself began.
鈥淥n the second day of the first folk festival in 1959,鈥� he said, 鈥渢hey had a panel discussion about 鈥榃here is folk music going?鈥欌��
But the festival, Massimo said, has remained open to acts that have non-folk influences 鈥� such as the Avett Brothers 鈥� despite complaints from older listeners.
鈥淭he philosophy at Newport is that just because you were influenced by rock music doesn鈥檛 mean that you鈥檙e not still folk music,鈥� he said.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e writing songs that reach out to people and they are receiving them in that way, then that鈥檚 folk music.鈥�
