Folk Fest

I'm getting really excited for my vacation to Rhode Island; I keep having dreams about clambakes and sailing. First stop is also my first trip to the Newport Folk Festival (50th Annual!) this weekend. Pete Seeger and Joan Baez are among the headliners, no less! Different generations of the folk music revival they may be, but I can barely contain myself in anticipation of seeing these legends perform live. Several music docs come to mind including Pete Seeger: The Power of Song which chronicles the life of this iconic folk musician and activist. A great portrait of a poet and patriot still changing the world at 90. One of our true national treasures. I haven't seen a definitive doc on Joan Baez, although I think PBS may have done one on her eons ago. Probably time for an update.

The NFF itself has been featured in a few docs including Bob Dylan: No Direction Home, Martin Scorcese's revealing look back at Bob Dylan's revolutionary life in music. The '65 NFF was the legendary occasion when Dylan plugged in and heralded a new era in music, captured best in The Other Side of the Mirror: Bob Dylan Live at NFF '63-'65. Festival! - The Newport Folk Festival, also highlights the event with Seeger, Baez, and Dylan among others. Throw in the seminal DJ Pennebaker's Bob Dylan: Don't Look Back (albeit not about NFF '65 but the period leading up to it), and you've got yourself a folk music concert doc marathon right in the (hopefully air-conditioned) summer comfort of your own home. Without the beer lines and port-o-potties. Enjoy!