Where star power isn't necessary
Unlike Newport, smaller festivals keep it eclectic
After years dancing uncomfortably between the worlds of folk and pop, the Newport Folk Festival is reinventing itself as a full-tilt rock and pop show this summer. If New England's most stellar and storied folk event is abandoning folk, you'd think the region's folksier and less-stellar festivals must be faring even worse.
Think again. Falcon Ridge, the Northeast's premier songwriter festival, had a total attendance of 32,000 last year, up one-third from 2006. Last year's Lowell Folk Festival drew 200,000, according to city estimates, down from 220,000 in 2006. But food sales, often a better barometer at a free festival, were up 10 percent. The annual attendance for New Bedford's Summerfest has averaged 20,000 for the past four years.
Examining why these low-key, non-star-driven festivals do well, when the pop industry is in historic decline, reveals how completely folk music exists within its own economy, with vastly different business models for presenters and career models for performers.
Uber-fan Doug Ashford, a manager at
"For an event like Newport, it's all dependent on who's playing," he says. "But Summerfest and Lowell have really developed reputations for interesting, eclectic lineups; so you attend almost out of habit, knowing you're going to see something new and surprising. They're very well designed, set in small, friendly, walkable cities, offering a fun experience for a wide range of people."
When Summerfest organizers say "the more the merrier," they mean people, not ticket prices. They charge $10 a day, $15 for the weekend (with children under 12 admitted free), and make up the balance through a combination of civic and business support. The emphasis on affordability creates an entirely different vibe, according to artistic director Alan Korolenko.
"People come to Summerfest for Summerfest, not for who's headlining," he says. "We just look to create the same experience every year, the same general mix of traditional and singer-songwriters, blues, Celtic, Americana, English. For us, the festival is the star."
That inclusiveness is important to folk performers, whose careers are built on longevity, not hits. Veteran bluesman-songwriter Chris Smither has appeared several times at Newport, Falcon Ridge, and Summerfest.
"There's a certain cache to playing Newport; it looks good on the resumé," he says. "But in terms of practical, count-it-on-your-fingers economic advantages, the other festivals are better. I walk away with more money and more new fans, because people come to Falcon Ridge and Summerfest knowing they'll hear people they've never heard before. That's actually part of the draw, which is not the philosophy of a pop festival that depends on huge names."
Most folk artists sell albums at shows, pocketing the retail profits that otherwise go to record stores. Both Smither and New York songwriter Lucy Kaplansky, who has also appeared at Newport, Falcon Ridge, and Summerfest, estimate that a third of their income comes from albums sold at shows. And sales are much better at a place like Summerfest than at more expensive festivals. More importantly, those sales represent new fans.
"At Summerfest, I definitely pick up more new fans than at a more headliner-driven event," Kaplansky says. "You play for a lot of tourists, families up for the weekend, people who are just exploring."
Summerfest enhances that browsing spirit by tossing acts together in smartly conceived song-swaps called workshops. Celtic fiddlers appear with urban songwriters, bluesmen with Quebecois bands, on themes like "The Bitter the Blues, the Better They Keep" and "My Sweet Embraceable You."
That's a huge draw to Ashford, who says he's much more likely to be surprised at Summerfest than at a headliner-driven festival.
"At Newport, you're usually going to hear a truncated version of what performers do at concerts," he says. "I always come home from Summerfest and Lowell with new music I'm excited about and fun stories about spontaneous things that happened. So if expanding your musical horizons is what you want, those are the places to go."
Summerfest happens July 5-6, and performers include Smither, Kaplansky, Eileen Ivers, the Kennedys, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Malinky, and Richard Shindell. For more information, call 508-979-1745 or go to newbedfordsummerfest.com.
