Jim James performs as "Yim Yames" at the Newport Folk Festival in 2010. James returns this year with My Morning Jacket as the festival's headlining act.
Originally published on Thu August 2, 2012 9:39 am
The Newport Folk Festival has always championed a range of American music. From Muddy Waters to Pete Seeger, Joan Baez to Jimmy Buffett and a famously electrified Bob Dylan, the festival's curators have a knack for casting a wide net in their definition of folk.
Ask Me Another resident musician, Jonathan Coulton, keeps audiences entertained with his offbeat lyrics and entertaining covers of popular music. JoCo quit his day job writing software in 2005 to pursue a career in music.
Credit Steve McFarland / NPR
Jonathan Coulton, resident musician for Ask Me Another, backstage before the show's final taping during season one at The Bell House in Brooklyn, NY.
Saxophonist Ravi Coltrane is the son of jazz icons John and Alice Coltrane. His new album Spirit Fiction was released June 19.
Credit Courtesy of the artist
Alice Coltrane used to play this recording of Igor Stravinsky's Firebird Suite in the Long Island home she shared with John Coltrane. It now sits in her son Ravi Coltrane's studio.
Early in this show, fellow guest Tim O'Brien joked that the Ontario-based Great Lake Swimmers "had better get started" if they hoped to make it to the show on time. They didn't actually swim – but it was still great to have the Toronto band on an episode of Mountain Stage recorded on the shore of Lake Superior in Grand Marais, Minn.
