Photo by V. Nina Westervelt + Adam Kissick via Newport Folk’s Facebook page

Newport, RI’s famed Newport Folk Festival kicked off yesterday, continuing a tradition that began when George Wein, Pete Seeger and their associates founded the gathering in 1959. Hayley Williams & Friends, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Hot Tuna, Lucy Dacus and Courtney Barnett served as the day’s marquee bands but, as always, the festivities included a few other unannounced acts and special collaborations. Of note, it was Hot Tuna’s first time performing at the veteran festival, despite their deep reverence for roots music and a career arc that stretches back to the late 1960s. Jorma Kaukonen tracked his time at Fort Adams State Park on social media while onsite, posting pictures with younger musicians like Sam Grisman and Wednesday’s Karly Hartzman, the latter of whom he was familiar with thanks to his 20-something-year-old daughter Izze.

Rhode Island native Honest Charlie officially opened the main Fort Stage festivities with an appropriate version of “Good Ol’ Days,” and the sit ins commenced soon after when Berklee-schooled vocal harmony trio Tiny Habits brought out Medium Build for a track off their forthcoming album Keepers, shortly before covering Fleetwood Mac’s “Everywhere.” A little later in the day, Dacus also invited out Williams for “Bullseye,” Madi Diaz for her own “Heavier Metal” and The Killers’ Brandon Flowers, who is slated to play later in the weekend as he promotes a country-leaning album, for an unexpected cover of Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle.”

Toward the end of the day, two prominent sets billed as “and friends” offerings also fully delivered. Deer Tick, a Rhode Island-bred act who are associated with helping bring Newport Folk to a new, younger, indie-approved demographic, returned to Fort Adams State Park after a few years away. They kicked things off on their own but proceeded to bring out a slew of fellow musicians, including The Felice Brothers’ James Felice for “Hope Is Big/Tripping Up the Stairs,” Ben Vaughn—who will release a collaborative album with Deer Tick later this year—for “Too Sensitive for This World,” Kathleen Edwards for “Running From Love,” Felice Brothers’ Ian Felice for “ACI,” Dawes’ Griffin Goldsmith for “Mange,” and Courtney Marie Andrews for “Goodbye, Dear Friend” and “Once in a Lifetime,” the latter of which also spotlighted Johanna Samuels. Deer Tick frontman John McCauley’s Middle Brother collaborator, Dawes singer/guitarist Taylor Goldsmith, also appeared on “Candy Cigarettes,” and the members of Trampled by Turtles  joined Deer Tick for sing-along versions of the party anthem “Let’s All Go to the Bar” and their breakthrough tune “Ashamed.” The show came to a close with the musicians performing in the crowd.

Likewise, Williams opened up her stage to a mix of close friends and fellow festival performers. The Paramore singer, who previewed her current solo era with an unannounced cameo during Bleachers’ Ally Coalition Talent Show at Newport Folk last summer, offered a few tunes with just her band, and Williams then invited out Hartzman for “Mirtazapine.” Nate Amos, the musician who performs as This Is Lorelei and recently opened for Williams with his Water From Your Eyes project, emerged for his own “I’m All Fucked Up,” before seeding the stage to Joy Oladokun for her “I’D MISS THE BIRDS” and Liam Benzvi for his “Thin Air.” From there, Annie DiRusso emerged for Williams’ “Disappearing Man” and Jenny Lewis surprised the crowd by leading Williams and her combo through her Rilo Kiley cut “Silver Lining.” Soon after, cellist Kelsey Lu made her way to the stage as Williams offered the live debut of “Leave It Alone,” from her 2020 solo debut Petals for Armor, and the string player remained while Dacus returned to help Williams play another song from that LP for the first time, “Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris.” Remi Wolf was up to bat next, partnering with Williams for her new original “Twiggy Little Butt” while electronic musician Phoenix Rousiamanis appeared on “True Believer” and Diaz and Kelsey joined Williams for her first live reading of “Find Me Here,” from 2021’s Flowers for Vases / Descansos.

Adding to the excitement, unannounced festival performer Jack Antonoff appeared on an acoustic version of his Bleachers hit “I Wanna Get Better.” It was a full-circle moment for the two artists, closing a loop that began last summer when Williams debuted “Mirtazapine” with Bleachers on the same stage. Antonoff–who has made Newport a regular stop in recent years, even when not technically on the bill–remained for “Good Ol’ Days,” a Williams original that happens to have the same name as the song Honest Charlie christened the stage with at the start of the day. Wolf, Benzvi, Hartzman and Medium Build then all appeared on a show-closing cover of Bill Withers’s “Lean on Me.”

Friday’s festivities contained a number of other surprises as well. Most notably, The Lumineers, who are slated to headline Newport Folk’s main Fort Stage today, made a pop-up appearance on the cyclist-powered Bike Stage, stripping things back to the core duo of Wesley Schultz and Jeremiah Fraite for both signature originals ike “Slow It Down,” “BRIGHTSIDE” and “Hey Hoy” and covers of The Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” Bob Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues,” Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Walls (Circles)” and Leon Russell’s “A Song for You.” Meanwhile, Wednesday gave Phish fans in attendance a proper warning before launching into their pointed “Phish Pepsi” song, Irish act Amble covered John Prine’s “Angel From Montgomery” and Shannon and Jason Narducy opened their R.E.M. tribute set, which features Wilco’s John Stirratt, with three songs that kick off three different ’80s albums—“Harborcoat,” “Begin the Begin” and “Radio Free Europe.” Lauryn Hill also made headlines when she closed the Quad Stage not only by offering an acoustic-leaning set but also by starting her show at the normally precise festival over 30 minutes late. She did, however, bring out Philadelphia favorites Snacktime to play on “Doo Wop (That Thing),” after the funk/punk/soul/hip-hop outfit joined Quinn during his concert. And the collaborations continued later in the evening at Newport, RI’s Newport Blues club, when Williams, Lewis, Michael Shannon, Morgan Nagler and others sat in with Courtney Barnett.

Newport Folk continues today. The Lumineers, Vulfpeck, Dawes Duo, Cat Power, Punch Brothers, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings’ Reckoning project and The Barr Brothers, among many others, are slated to perform.