All Ages
$29.50
(not including fees)

https://www.facebook.com/events/479218185477125/?ref=22

An eclectic mix of high profile musicians comes together for a very special night of live music, in which they perform Beck Hansen’s unique album Song Reader.

The line-up includes: Beck himself; Pulp frontman and solo artist Jarvis Cocker, Glasgow’s finest Franz Ferdinand, singer-songwriter Beth Orton, French icon Charlotte Gainsbourg, Joan Wasser aka Joan As Police Woman, Villagers front man Conor J O’Brien, acoustic indie trio The Staves, indie mavericks Guillemots, soul stylist Michael Kiwanuka and singer-songwriters James Yorkston and The Pictish Trail, with more guests to be announced.

At the heart of the evening will be a specially-assembled house band featuring Seb Rochford (drums), Tom Herbert (bass), Dave Okumu (guitar), with music direction by Ed Harcourt and David Coulter.

Beck has always been one of music’s great pioneers and Song Reader is an experiment in what an album might look like in the digital age: 20 songs, including two instrumentals, existing only as a book of sheet music, never before released or recorded. The songs are meant to come to life in a new golden age of home performance, leaving the listener, essentially, to be the performer.

In the lead up to, and at the event, the Barbican and Faber Social will celebrate the life of Beck’s Song Reader so far, with an exhibition of the artwork and a presentation of a selection of some the very best amateur interpretations of the songs.

More than just a music festival

Folk music has been a presence in Newport since 1959, when the Newport Folk Festival was founded by George Wein. Backed by board members Pete Seeger, Theodore Bikel, Oscar Brand, and Albert Grossman, the Festival became renowned for introducing a number of performers who went on to become major stars, most notably Joan Baez (who appeared as an unannounced guest of Bob Gibson in 1959), and Bob Dylan, whose first Newport appearance, as a guest of Joan Baez in 1963, is generally regarded as his premiere national performance.

Always a step ahead, the Festival cultivated a broad range of folk music, and continues to stretch the boundaries to this day. In the 1960s, there were famous performances by Johnny Cash and Howlin’ Wolf, artists usually described as representing country music and blues respectively. The festival was associated with the 1960s Blues Revival, where artists “lost” since the 1940s (e.g. Delta blues singers) were “rediscovered”. And in the 80′s and 90′s, the festival brought in reggae, rock, and indie artists to broaden the Americana landscape.

Much of the history of the Newport Folk Festival has been preserved through a rich source of recordings. Murray Lerner directed the 1967 film Festival based on the 1963-1965 festivals, and there are 15 recorded albums of the festival from 1959 through 1990. Most recently, NPR has been on site to capture live broadcasts and streaming performances from the web.

Since 1959, we have been serving true musical omnivores, fans who crave innovation but appreciate tradition. Newport Jazz and Newport Folk are the grandparents of the modern-day festival, and have left an indelible mark on the landscape of music history.

www.newportfolkfest.net
www.newportfestivalsfoundation.org
newportfolkfest.tumblr.com

Beth Orton
7.30.13

Sugaring Season, Beth Orton’s first album in six years and her Anti- Records debut, is available now. Recorded in Portland, Oregon, with producer Tucker Martine (My Morning Jacket, The Decemberists), the album bears the fruits of a period of introspection & renewal.l: deeply lyrical songwriting, a newfound expressivity of voice, and, more than ever before, a daring synthesis of her broad musical influences into a powerfully individual artistic vision. “I stretched myself as a singer on this record and used voices I never have before as a writer,” she explains. “A lot of the writing on this record happened in the dead of night, when spiders mend their webs, with an infant asleep in the next room… as a result, my writing became a secret again: illicit and my own."

8pm doors // 9pm show // 18+

$30 advance
$35 day of show

For more information, please visit
http://www.lepoissonrouge.com/lpr_events/beth-orton-july-30th-2013/

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