The other day I heard a startling statistic - over 200 people move to Austin every day. As a native Austinite, this doesn’t rattle me in any way… it just gives me a sense of unease for the future of my city. There’s a reason that droves of people are attracted enough to this energy to move here every day, but will too many people dilute that essence, that thing about Austin that gets into your bones? I don’t know.

The revival of the venerable Newport Folk Festival continued with a very strong roster of artists this year that expanded once again the boundaries of what is “folk music.” Folk purists – the kind of people who booed Dylan when he went electric at the 1965 festival (this year was the 50^th anniversary of that iconic set) – would probably have seen their heads explode if they caught My Morning Jacket’s surprise set on first night of this year’s gathering.

The inaugural Ride Festival - happening August 25 and 26, 2012 in Telluride, Colorado – today announces Lucinda Williams and Jimmy Herring to the already stellar lineup.