{"id":2446871,"date":"2019-07-28T03:11:05","date_gmt":"2019-07-28T09:11:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=864399"},"modified":"2019-07-28T03:11:05","modified_gmt":"2019-07-28T09:11:05","slug":"see-dolly-parton-join-the-highwomen-linda-perry-at-newport-folk-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/music-news\/see-dolly-parton-join-the-highwomen-linda-perry-at-newport-folk-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"See Dolly Parton Join the Highwomen, Linda Perry at Newport Folk Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
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There\u2019s no question: this year\u2019s Newport Folk<\/a> Festival belonged to women. In 2019, Newport boasted the highest number of female acts in its 60-year history, incorporating a broad spectrum of talent: From indie heroines Black Belt Eagle Scout, Our Native Daughters and Yola, to Grammy winners Kacey Musgraves and Sheryl Crow. And comprised of Amanda Shires<\/a>, Maren Morris<\/a>, Natalie Hemby<\/a> and Brandi Carlile<\/a>, country music<\/a> supergroup the Highwomen<\/a> made a stunning live debut<\/a> at the Quad stage on Friday \u2014 then on Saturday, an encore.<\/p>\n

Billed simply as \u201c\u2640\u2640\u2640\u2640: The Collaboration,\u201d Saturday\u2019s enigmatic headlining act turned out to be a Brandi Carlile<\/a> Variety Show, or a one-hour, female-centric set specially curated by the Highwoman herself. \u201cNewport has always been on the right side of history,\u201d said Carlile, recalling several footnotes in its storied history: from the 1963 performance by civil rights choir Freedom Singers, to Bob Dylan\u2019s controversial embrace of electric guitar. \u201cIn its 60th year, Newport is going to have its very first all-female, headlining collaboration,\u201d continued Carlile. \u201cThank you for being on the right side of history again!\u201d<\/p>\n

Apart from her own band, show host Carlile ushered in a stream of both the festival\u2019s veterans and virgins; among the first-time Folk Festers was, quite surprisingly, Dolly Parton<\/a>. Introduced by Carlile as an \u201cincomparable unicorn legend,\u201d Dolly herself emerged from backstage in a golden yellow pantsuit, embroidered with roses and sequin wagon wheels. \u201cMe and Rhode Island have a lot in common,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re little, but we\u2019re loud, and we do big things!\u201d<\/p>\n

With help from the Highwomen and a higher-hatted Linda Perry<\/a>, Parton opened her portion of the set with her 1991 ballad, \u201cEagle When She Flies.\u201d The band then eased into \u201cJust Because I\u2019m a Woman,\u201d after a quick story time from Parton. \u201cWhen you boys want to get married,\u201d she said, recounting her awkward wedding night with husband, Carl Dean: \u201cYou want us women to be pure as snow\u2026 and sometimes we\u2019re not!\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Parton and Carlile conjured many a tear from the audience with their chilling rendition of 1974\u2019s \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d \u2014 a song that, Parton noted, was re-recorded for a movie she jokingly renamed, \u201cThe Best Little Chickenhouse in Texas.<\/a>\u201d<\/em> Before the Highwomen returned to join her for \u201cJolene,\u201d Parton offered up another story, this time about a redhead bank teller who bewitched Dean \u2014 and inspired the timeless country-bluegrass hit. \u201cI told him, \u2018I know you work in [the] asphalt [business],\u201d said Parton. \u201cBut it\u2019ll be your<\/em> ass and your<\/em> fault\u2019 if I leave!\u201d<\/p>\n

Parton\u2019s surprise appearance may have stolen the show entirely \u2014 had the Fort stage not been flanked with multiple generations of country music talent. Paying homage to the great Folk Fest alumna Joni Mitchell, millennial starlets Courtney Marie Andrews, Lake Street Dive, Candy Carpenter and Molly Tuttle opened the showcase with a cover of \u201cBig Yellow Taxi.\u201d Then along with the First Ladies of Bluegrass \u2014 badass washboard player included \u2014 British blues powerhouse Yola followed with a fierce rendition of Aretha Franklin and the Eurythmics\u2019 feminist anthem, \u201cSisters Are Doin\u2019 It for Themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then came the Nineties block. Together with young gun Lucy Dacus, Amy Ray breathed new fire into her rousing 1995 song, the Indigo Girls\u2019 \u201cGo\u201d; and out came Sheryl Crow, who called up Maren Morris to reprise her 1996 hit \u201cIf It Makes You Happy\u201d from her Friday set. (\u201cWho likes getting stoned?\u201d polled Morris.) Crow also invited Yola and stellar newcomer Maggie Rogers to the stage for her Tuesday Night Music Club<\/em> ballad \u201cStrong Enough.\u201d Perry came tumbling after with her Gen X anthem \u201cWhat\u2019s Up?\u201d \u2014 but not without heavy audience participation. \u201cI want you to sing so high,\u201d said Perry, \u201cI wanna touch the fucking stars!\u201d<\/p>\n

Back for her eighth appearance at Newport Folk Fest \u2014 her first in 1963 \u2014 singer-songwriter Judy Collins flaunted pink satin and a \u201cResist\u201d necklace, before she and Carlile shared vocals on the Mitchell-penned song, \u201cBoth Sides Now.\u201d Evidently, Joni Mitchell\u2019s presence was very much missed on Saturday; \u201cI only got the song because my friend Al Kooper thought [Mitchell] was pretty and followed her home,\u201d recalled Collins. \u201cJust imagine, if he [dialed] Buffy Sainte-Marie\u2019s number instead!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Collaboration\u2019s set was all too short. After an hour of laughs and deftly-executed harmonies, the show closed with a jubilant, even if a little sobering performance of Parton\u2019s \u201c9 to 5.\u201d Although this year\u2019s Newport lineup was the closest it\u2019s ever come to feminist utopia, how many more years will it take until we achieve a wider-scale semblance of gender parity in music, much less any industry in the United States? And if the future is female, will it get any blacker, or browner, or more fluid in its expression? Will it speak languages besides English, and still play guitar?<\/p>\n

But before anyone could dwell too hard on the impact of Parton\u2019s working class anthem, or the potential aftershock of this much girl power at a country show, Parton hurriedly skirted the group\u2019s curtain call, and flitted back to the motorcade she rode in with. She said, \u201cI got a plane to catch!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2640\u2640\u2640\u2640: The Collaboration Setlist <\/strong><\/p>\n

Courtney Marie Andrews, Lake Street Dive, Candy Carpenter and Molly Tuttle<\/strong>, \u201cBig Yellow Taxi\u201d (Joni Mitchell cover)
Yola and the First Ladies of Bluegrass<\/strong>, \u201cSisters Are Doin\u2019 It for Themselves\u201d (Aretha Franklin and The Eurythmics cover)
Amy Ray and Lucy Dacus<\/strong>, \u201cGo\u201d
Sheryl Crow and Maren Morris<\/strong>, \u201cIf It Makes You Happy\u201d
Sheryl Crow, Yola and Maggie Rogers<\/strong>, \u201cStrong Enough\u201d
Linda Perry, Jade Bird and Highwomen<\/strong>, \u201cWhat\u2019s Up?\u201d
Judy Collins and Brandi Carlile<\/strong>, \u201cBoth Sides Now\u201d
The Highwomen, Sheryl Crow and Yola<\/strong>, \u201cHighwaywoman\u201d
Dolly Parton and The Highwomen<\/strong>, \u201cEagle When She Flies\u201d
Dolly Parton and The Highwomen<\/strong>, \u201cJust Because I\u2019m a Woman\u201d
Dolly Parton and Brandi Carlile<\/strong>, \u201cI Will Always Love You\u201d
Dolly Parton and The Highwomen<\/strong>, \u201cJolene\u201d
The Collaboration<\/strong>, \u201c9 to 5\u201d<\/p>\n

via:: Rolling Stone<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s no question: this year\u2019s Newport Folk Festival belonged to women. In 2019, Newport boasted the highest number of female acts in its 60-year history, incorporating a broad spectrum of talent: From indie heroines Black Belt Eagle Scout, Our Native Daughters and Yola, to Grammy winners Kacey Musgraves and Sheryl Crow. And comprised of Amanda […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2446871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-25 09:54:37","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley's Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2446871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2446871\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2446871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2446871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2446871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}