The Lone Bellow certainly know something about playing music in Newport.
The Nashville, TN, by way of Brooklyn, NYC, trio has played the Newport Folk Festival several times in the modern era, going back to their first appearance at Fort Adams in 2013. This weekend, they return to the Jane Pickens Film and Events Center on Sunday, October 20th, for a special “By Request Only” show.
Guitarist and songwriter Zach Williams is looking forward to being back in Newport.
“You guys have fostered a storytelling community for decades,” said Williams in a recent phone chat. “We have the honor of being affiliated with you, and the work the festival and your town has done all these years. Not to mention Deer Tick, love ‘em, fun guys!”
Although the deadline has passed for online requests, you may still have a chance to request your favorite Lone Bellow tune. “We usually take requests during the show,” said Williams. “We’re six records, about 88 songs in; it’s hard to make a setlist. We got a couple of songs we sing every night; it’s been really fun seeing what our people really want to hear.”
During the pandemic, the band, which includes fellow songwriters Kanene Donehey Pipkin and Brian Elmquist, made a video on collaborative songwriting for the Newport Festival Foundation. Click here to view it. The video was a lifeline to keep NFF folks connected when touring was suspended. Williams reflected on how he sees the creative process.
“I think that collaboration can lead to different types of creativity,” he noted. “I can be a very selfish, insecure person who needs to be the center of attention. Being in the band with these other two incredible songwriters, singers, musicians… it’s just like being a spoke on a wheel. It’s been a real gift in my life. The hardest and most rewarding work has been learning how to fight fear, collaborating, and trying to look out for each other over the past 14 years. It’s been an honor.”
Working on lyrics together is particularly challenging, Williams explained. “That’s where the real feelings can get destroyed. You have to be honest with yourself and with your band. I think we have, over the years, individually curated our own sensibilities, what we think is worth singing. We bring that to the table whenever we work, whenever we write. There’s a mutual respect.”
How does The Lone Bellow fit into the wider folk tradition?
“I’ve been reading this book by David Brooks called The Art of Knowing Someone. It’s a beautiful explanation of how to try to listen. Think about John Prine – after he died, his brother was interviewed by the New York Times. He said ‘you would have never known my brother would be a songwriter, because he was so quiet, because he was listening all the time.’ I think that’s what folk and Americana are trying to do. We’re trying to listen. And maybe a little more than the other genres are.”
Williams is looking forward to the release of two new albums, one of original material and another of a live album of the band playing alongside the Nashville Symphony, a career highlight for Williams.
“You can’t screw up, you can’t fall off the map when you’ve got 75 actual musicians playing with you,” he explained. “I was pretty zoned in. It was a really beautiful moment of feeling like you were just a piece of the puzzle.”
About two dozen tickets remain for the Sunday show – get ‘em now, this show will sell out.
“It’s a request-only show, in an intimate setting, singing around one mic,” added Williams. “We love Newport, and we can’t wait to be there. Let’s create a night that should exist. Come and hang!”
Click here for details on the show.
