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Newport Folk Festival Names Jim James, Colin Meloy, Gillian Welch, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott and Ben Knox Miller as Advisors

The iconic Newport Folk Festival has appointed an official Board of Advisors. According to the festival’s representatives, “The panel of musicians will help ensure that the Newport Folk Festival remains a significant, viable, and influential institution for years to come.” Newport Folk Festival’s in initial board of advisors will mix folk legends with modern troubadours, including (The Low Anthem). “The Newport Folk Festival’s Board of Advisors is comprised of very special performers and we’re pleased that they have agreed to join us as we return to our roots as a non-profit organization,” says George Wein, Chairman of the Newport Festivals Foundation and festival co-founder along with Pete Seeger. “Each of these musicians personifies and enhances the spirit of the Newport Folk Festival, which honors past, present, and future icons of the ever-changing folk scene.”

The five founding members have all previously appeared at the Newport Folk Festival, and, in a further testament to their importance to the advisory board and in true Folk Family fashion, each has a special connection that has bonded them to Newport.

“To attend the Newport Folk Festival is to be part of the unbroken chain of American music that connects Mother Maybelle Carter and Mississippi John Hurt, to Bob Dylan and Bill Monroe, and Emmylou Harris and Mavis Staples,” Gillian Welch said in a statement. “The scene is vibrant and diverse, the faces of folk change; and yet for 52 years, the Newport Folk Festival has succeeded in keeping us connected to our own living tradition.”

Jim James added, “Every time I find myself within her loving arms, ye old festival de Newport Folk sweeps me off to a special land of music and reverie where all things are possible. Way back when, right now, and way off into the future her power is a mirror: all-encompassing and real, reflecting back to us a vividly truthful vision of our times. I am honored and humbled to be in her presence and at her service.”

Last year’s festival lineup featured: The Decemberists, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Gillian Welch, Amos Lee, Earl Scruggs, Ramblin’ Jack Elliot, Gogol Bordello, M. Ward, Wanda Jackson, Mavis Staples, Tegan & Sara, The Felice Brothers, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Justin Townes Earle, Delta Spirit, Middle Brother, The Wailin’ Jennys, Freelance Whales, The Secret Sisters, Trampled by Turtles, The Civil Wars, The Head & The Heart, Pokey LaFarge & The South City Three, The Cave Singers, What Cheer? Brigade, Mountain Man, David Wax Museum, Devil Makes Three, Song Circle with Dar Williams Ellis Paul John Gorka & Liz Queler, Typhoon, Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, Chris Thile & Michael Daves, The Seeger Clogging All-Stars, BrownBird, River City Extension and PS22 Chorus.