Newport Folk Festival Hits the Road to Ask One Big Question

Long before the first guitar chord rings out at Fort Adams each summer, Newport Folk Festival has always been about something bigger than the lineup. For more than six decades, the festival has created moments where strangers become neighbors through music. Now, it’s taking that spirit far beyond Newport.

The Newport Festivals Foundation recently announced Sea To Shining Sea, a new interview series hosted by Executive Director Jay Sweet and singer-songwriter Devon Gilfillian. Supported by The Hearthland Foundation, the project sent the pair across the country in an RV to explore how music shapes communities, creates common ground, and helps people connect.

The journey drew inspiration from folk icons Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, who traveled  America searching for music in the places where communities gathered.

“My role at Newport Folk Festival is a role that was once held by Pete Seeger, who wasn’t just my predecessor, but my mentor,” said Sweet. “Pete used to tell me about all the road trips he took with his own mentor, Woody Guthrie, chasing the real music of America through juke joints, churches, county fairs and roadside taverns, wherever a community depended on it.”

Sweet and Gilfillian decided to follow their lead.

“We wanted to emulate Pete and Woody,” said Gilfillian, “so we hopped into an RV. They didn’t wait for the music to come to them, they went out and found it. We not only found it too, but we found out way more about humanity along the way.”

During the trip, the pair spoke with artists including Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Chuck D, Lucinda Williams, Tyler Childers, Leon Bridges, Sierra Ferrell, and Julien Baker. They also met musicians without famous names or national platforms. Some of those discoveries have since received invitations to perform at this year’s Newport Folk Festival.

Still, the project’s biggest revelation wasn’t its guest list. It was what happened when every conversation began with music.

“We connected with people across the country, every age, race, political stripe, background you can imagine, and started every conversation with music instead of anything else,” Sweet said. “And it was like music let us bypass people’s defenses about identity differences entirely. Every single conversation wasn’t just civil, it was ultimately heartfelt.”

As those conversations unfolded, Sweet began noticing music everywhere, connecting people across places and backgrounds.

“We noticed music seemed to be everywhere, connecting everything,” he said. “That’s not entertainment. That’s how a community puts itself back together.”

As the United States marks its 250th birthday, Sea To Shining Sea looks at the role music continues to play in American life.

“If there’s one thing I came home with, it’s that music isn’t just the soundtrack to American life,” Sweet said. “For a lot of people, it’s the actual mechanism that holds community together when everything else gets complicated.” New interviews will roll out weekly on the project’s official Instagram. Visit Newport Folk Festival online for more information about Sea To Shining Sea and this year’s festival.