Newport Folk 2026: Hill, Misty, CMAT Steal Weekend
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- Father John Misty, added last-minute after Tedeschi Trucks Band's health-related cancellation, debuted unreleased material including a doomsday-prepper dystopia song, a track about a father who may be a CIA spy ('Josh Tillman, His Father, and the Scottsdale Experience'), and a xenophobia-themed song featuring the lyric 'We need walls that never end.'
- Lauryn Hill arrived 25 minutes after her scheduled start time but closed with what the review called the festival's most electrifying three-song run in recent memory: 'Doo Wop (That Thing),' 'Killing Me Softly,' and 'Ready or Not,' running well past her allotted set time.
- CMAT delivered what the recap calls her 'star-making turn,' with a six-piece backing band, a Brandi Carlile duet on the 'sapphic torch song' 'I'd Want U,' and a finale of 'Stay For Something' that left the reviewer predicting she'll headline Newport next time around.
- Wednesday opened a folk-festival mosh pit at an early-afternoon mainstage set; frontwoman Karly Hartzman introduced 'Bull Believer' as 'the next song I would like to scream in celebration of the death of Lindsey Graham' and compared the band to Dylan going electric.
- Hayley Williams used her Friday headlining slot to showcase collaborators rather than herself, including Jenny Lewis on 'Silver Lining,' Karly Hartzman on 'Mirtazapine,' Lucy Dacus on 'Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris,' and Remi Wolf debuting an unreleased song — closing with a Bill Withers singalong featuring all guests.
- Tom Morello delivered a set framed as 'righteous fury' and 'working-class solidarity,' reprising his Bruce Springsteen duet on 'The Ghost of Tom Joad' and a Rage Against the Machine instrumental medley that sent the crowd 'berserk.'
Why it matters: The recap explicitly frames Newport's value as a counterweight to 'a music industry moment of increased consolidation and homogeneity,' where unreleased songs (Father John Misty's political material, Remi Wolf's debut), unannounced guests (Dave Matthews), and cross-generational pairings (Baez dancing during Nathaniel Rateliff) actually happen live rather than being pre-packaged — making the festival a rare venue for organic collaboration.
