nightmayer

Jottings from a pop culture junkie

The question strangers ask between sets at the Newport Folk Festival — and yes, strangers talk to each other at Newport! — is no longer “Is this your first?” The question is “How many have you been?” Since I’m older than most but not all of the attendees, I usually “win” noting that my first …

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Excited to see my good friend Marty Porter’s book “Buzz Me In: Inside the Record Plant Studios” hit #1 on amazon’s Pop Artist Biographies list, #1 in Music History & Criticism, and #4 in Popular Music (behind three Taylor Swift novelty books) following a phenomenal Bob Lefsetz review two weeks prior to publication! I can …

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Attending a Bob Dylan concert is essentially placing a $200 bet against yourself. He’s not Ella Fitzgerald, who gave a masterful performance every time she stepped out on a stage. With Dylan you never know if you’re going to get an on night, an off night or simply something totally inscrutable. You’re betting on the …

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NEWPORT, RI; July 31, 2019—If there is one musician who embodies the spirit of the Newport Folk Festival today it is Brandi Carlile. Within a one hour span on the opening day of this 60th anniversary festival Friday she sat (really sang) in with Amy Ray on the Harbor stage, with Sheryl Crow on the …

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If anyone wondered just how Patti Smith would close the Saturday concert at the Newport Folk Festival, where the guiding principle is “speaking truth to power,” it was with one lightening jolt after another. And I don’t mean the kind that lit the sky shortly after her sun-drenched set ended. Who else would even dream …

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