Sweet traces the festival’s influence back to a scene in the rock documentary, It Might Get Loud. Jack White holds up Son House’s 1965 record for Columbia, Father Of The Folk Blues, and talks about how the a capella song “Grinnin’ In Your Face” changed his life.
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Most of the world knew Son House through Newport, say Sweet. He played the festival in 1964, less than a year after the promoter Dick Waterman, Yazoo label head Nick Perls, and Phil Spiro found the bluesman in Rochester, New York.
Sweet says he’d love to have more blues at today’s festival. Perhaps, one day, someone of Jack White or Dan Auerbach’s stature will be inspired to play the festival in the same spirit as Son’s 1964 performance, or Booker White’s in 1965.
But what it may lack in blues this year, Newport gains in other great acts, like Emmylou Harris and Elvis Costello. The festival even sold more pre-sale tickets this year before announcing the lineup than ever before.
But Newport is also a place where artists have to work to win over the fans. It’s for “people who love music,” says Sweet.
“Newporters will sit on their hands if you’re not ‘there.’ They are very studious,” says Sweet. “They will sit on their hands and you will hear the crickets. Or if you’re trying to get them to be absolutely still and hushed, they will do that if you command them.”
Sweet tells the story of a nervous Sam Beam, who in 2009 went on stage for a solo acoustic Iron & Wine performance. Beam wasn’t sure the solo show would go over well, but it was a huge success, with four times as many people listening outside the tent than could fit inside.
Sweet says for that reason and because of the festival’s legacy, the stage at Newport is incredibly intimidating and, for a lot of performers, it’s also the quietest festival they’ve ever played.
During Iron & Wine they had to shut down the photo pits early because the camera clicks were coming through the mic. Sweet says a photographer who had shot in wars came out balling.
“I said, ‘What’s wrong,’ and she said, ‘I don’t know.’ One guy with a guitar had touched her in such an emotional way.”
Those are the moments that make Newport what it is.
“I always say Newport is where Dylan went electric and Iron & Wine went acoustic.”
