This is one of those "off topic music posts" having little to do with Grace & Co so . . .

<!--more-->

The Newport Folk Festival took place Saturday and Sunday and the lineup was stellar. NPR in combination with Folk Alley streamed much of the show live and I got to see a bunch of it in between doses of "real life". Newport has morphed in the last few years, or maybe the music world has morphed, into something like a dream showcase for the kind of music I'm digging these days. Sure the headliners are amazing - The Decemberists, Emmy Lou, Gillian Welch, Elvis Costello but it's the other band that really excite.

Middle Brother, The Head and the Heart, Carolina Chocolate Drops, The Civil Wars, Typhoon . . . all awesome.

I wanted to highlight two of the smaller bands who are special to me, not just because they are amazingly talented but because they've actually played shows in my house in the last few months.  NPR has live streams of their festival shows up.

First off is <a href="http://www.davidwaxmuseum.com/">The David Wax Museum</a> who actually won a contest to appear at Newport last year and KILLED. Since then the bands rep is growing daily and for good reason. How can you watch these guys and not be simply happy? They returned this year to open Sunday's proceedings on the main stage in awesome fashion.

<a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/07/31/137184209/newport-folk-2011-david-wax-museum-live-in-concert">NPR Stream of Newport Folk Festival - The David Wax Museum</a>

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/17303464?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=ff9933" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/17303464">"Born With A Broken Heart"</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/anthemmultimedia">Anthem Multimedia</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

The next band I want to highlight is <a href="http://brownbird.net/">Brown Bird</a>. An up and coming band from the Providence RI area who did what great bands need to do. Given a crack at the opening slot on the smallest stage on Sunday they delivered in a big way. Just listen to the crowd react to their unique take on roots, blues, gypsy music.

<a href="http://www.npr.org/2011/07/31/137184250/newport-folk-2011-brown-bird-live-in-concert">NPR Stream of Newport Folk Festival - Brown Bird</a>

Here's an interview and song from the festival
<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ANsrrIWyjlU?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ANsrrIWyjlU?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

<object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/wqydc7_yHlQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/wqydc7_yHlQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
