NEWPORT, R.I. — North Shore musicians made a strong showing at the iconic Newport Folk Festival, a three-day sold-out blowout at historic Fort Adams State Park that concluded yesterday.
Ryan Montbleau, a Peabody native, and Tall Heights, whose members hail from Beverly and Peabody, performed Friday as part of the Beantown Throwdown, hosted by Boston-based faves The Ballroom Thieves.
The tiny stage inside the park’s museum was jam-packed with instruments, amps, and microphones. There was barely enough room to accommodate the local musicians, who intermingled and played a mix of their own songs and cover tunes of artists who have performed at Newport through the years.
Montbleau has been an acclaimed singer, songwriter and bandleader for more than a decade. His most recent album, “I Was Just Leaving,” was recorded in New Orleans with producer Anders Osborne and engineer Mark Howard, who’s worked with U2, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and other superstars. Montbleau, a fine guitarist, is blessed with an expressive, soulful voice that sounded wondrous in this small space.
Indie folk duo Tall Heights, singer-guitarist Tim Harrington and singer-cellist Paul Wright, with strong backing by Peabody High grad Paul Dumas on electronic drums, offered intoxicating, hypnotic original personal songs they create in their Beverly home. Their glorious harmonies earned loud applause from the packed house, which endured stiflingly hot temps inside the museum during the three-hour showcase. They will be touring with Ben Folds this fall.
Harrington, Wright and Montbleau wowed with a cover of Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” The three shared a single mic, harmonizing like CS&N, and the mix of two acoustic guitars and cello was sublime.
The Ballroom Thieves (guitarist Martin Earley, cellist Calin Peters and drummer Devin Mauch) first performed at Newport in 2015. Their sound and songs have evolved since then, and they brought a cathartic power to their new material and collaborations with Montbleau and Tall Heights.
This festival, where in 1965 Dylan famously went electric and was allegedly booed off the stage by irate fans of traditional folk, was of course founded by George Wein, who was born in Lynn and studied piano with teachers in the city. Wein was backstage at the fest throughout the weekend: a sign at the entrance to the backstage area boldly announced “No carts allowed, except for George Wein’s when George is in it.”
The North Shore impact continues. Jay Sweet, the executive producer of the Newport Festivals Foundation, grew up in Essex and still lives there. He’s in charge of both the folk and jazz festival, which is this coming weekend at Fort Adams. Sweet was often seen running between the three main stages, clutching a walkie-talkie.
On Saturday, Sweet stood to the side of the main Fort Stage, with its breathtaking views of Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay, beaming during a wonderful tribute to Bill Withers, who is alive and well. The all-star Grandma’s Hands Band, which included Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers) and Alynda Segarra (Hurray For the Riff Raff) and others, electrified the place with its one-time-only performance of Withers songs “Use Me,” “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lovely Day” and “Lean on Me.”
“This is one of those ‘Newport Moments,’” said the jazzed producer, who also must’ve been pleased that the predicted thunderstorms and vile weather throughout the weekend never materialized.
Here’s a quick look at some of my favorite Newport Moments of Friday and Saturday:
• Joe Henry and Billy Bragg’s delightful set of such old-time railroad songs as “Railroad Bill,” “John Henry” and Gordon Lightfoot’s “Early Morning Rain.” Joe Henry’s performance of his song “Trampoline” was my single favorite 2017 Newport Moment.
• The band Joseph, which consists of three sisters from Portland, Ore., drew the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen at the smallish Harbor Stage. One acoustic guitar, one tambourine, one stomping foot and three voices in perfect harmony: absolute heaven! Zach Williams of The Lone Bellow joined them for a lovely version of Bonnie Raitt’s “I Can’t Make You Love Me.”
• Chicano Batman, with its visually stunning wedding band outfits, woke up the early arrivals on Saturday with an explosive, Latin-flavored, bass-heavy groove. With lyrics sung in both English and Spanish, this incredibly tight band mixed Santana smoothness with Los Lobos ferocity.
• Up-and-comers worth checking out: Jalen N’Gonda, a Maryland native now based in Liverpool, who played electric guitar and sang like Justin Timberlake; Nikki Lane, a Nashville bandleader, who yodeled about rednecks and the nighttime being the right time; her cowpunk songs sounded like tunes on those old Carlene Carter/Nick Lowe albums; Matt the Electrician, who delivered smart story-songs with a beautiful voice; Nashville’s Aaron Lee Tasjan, who has the rock star look (John Lennon hippie sunglasses, long hair, black suit), the John Hiatt/Bowie-like songs (“Beyotch Can’t Sing”), the guitar prowess and a top-flight band to warrant the buzz he’s been getting; folk rockers Blind Pilot; Hooray For the Riff Raff and their songs with a message, led by frontwoman Alynda Segarra who sounds like Chrissie Hynde and belts out resistance songs like John Fogerty’s “Fortunate Son” (“I ain’t no millionaire’s son”) which resonated with the NPR-adoring audience.