Five Artists to Catch at Newport Folk Festival

Words by Carson Huffer

An American music institution since 1959, Newport Folk is heading back to Fort Adams State Park with a stacked lineup of music's biggest stars and brightest new minds. With just a little over a week until this year’s sold out festival, Tongue Tied couldn’t be more excited to gear up for a weekend of incredible music at the Fort. Check out the sets Tongue Tied can’t wait to catch at Newport Folk below!

Slaughter Beach, Dog: Friday 2:25pm @ the Harbor Stage

Originally a solo side project by Jake Ewing and later becoming a fully realized band in the wake of Modern Baseball’s indefinite hiatus, Slaughter Beach, Dog comes to the Fort with an arsenal of indie rock made for the Newport Folk stage. The band is gearing up to release their new album Crying Laughing Waving Smiling, and lead singles “Float Away” and “Strange Weather” have commanded our playlists lately. Coupling the excitement of the looming new album with the pure magic of older tracks like “Acolyte” and “104 Degrees”, we’re confident Slaughter Beach, Dog is going to be one of the strongest sets of the weekend.

CAAMP: Friday 3:20pm @ the Fort Stage

Hailing from my home state of Ohio, CAAMP has long held a piece of my heart with their passionate croons and comforting indie folk styling. CAAMP was the first act announced to the Newport Folk 2023 lineup and for good reason – the band has only continually gotten better with time. Last year’s Lavender Days album feels like a warm hug created in music, and hit songs such as “By and By” and “All These Debts I Owe” pull out such raw emotion that listeners can’t help but fall in love. We can’t wait to catch the band Friday afternoon – and Taylor’s side project Sumbuck on Sunday! – for what’s certain to be a blissful masterclass into the indie folk genre of 2023.

Indigo De Souza: Saturday 2:25pm @ the Harbor Stage

Indigo De Souza has been absolutely smashing the indie rock sphere since releasing her newest album All of This Will End back in April. Dancing between topics of her emotions, her mental state, and relationship struggles, Indigo stands out with a strong vocal sense and incredibly unique musical stylings. We’re most looking forward to hearing “Time Back” and “Smog” from the new project, as well as hoping to hear “Sleep Talking” from 2016’s Boys. It’s Indigo De Souza’s first time performing at the Fort, but it most certainly will not be her last!

Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit: Saturday 4:55pm @ the Fort Stage

Jason Isbell’s career in music spans decades of rich performances, expressive songwriting, and various awards. Coupled with The 400 Unit, Jason and his band have graced the world for the last 15 years with arguably some of the best songs in the genre. We can’t wait to hear older tunes like the evergreen love song “If We Were Vampires”, as well as brand new songs like “Middle of the Morning” and “King of Oklahoma” from the band’s newest album Weathervane, which came out in June. The Fort Stage is almost guaranteed to be packed out with fans for the band’s 4:55pm slot and we can’t wait to catch the magic.

Remi Wolf: Sunday 2:50pm @ the Quad Stage

Remi Wolf’s music career has been nothing short of electrifying to follow thus far. Finding herself early in her career on tour with Still Woozy and Cautious Clay, Remi’s growth has been meteoric into major streaming numbers and festival sets at Coachella, Lollapalooza, and Newport Folk this year alone. Audiences can’t help but dance along to songs like “Disco Man” and “Photo ID”, and we particularly can’t wait to catch performances of “Liz” and her newest single “Perspectives”. Her set is certain to be a fun one to catch, and we’re predicting a big crowd and fantastic energy for the last day of the festival to be ringing out from her set. 

You can find the running lineup for Newport Folk here, with incredible acts all three days across five stages. While the festival has been long sold out, you can keep up with the fun on Newport Folk’s instagram as well as check out our running coverage on the Tongue Tied instagram during the festival!