Black Pumas walk away with high marks
Fort Adams State Park, Newport, R.I., 2021
Reviewed by Jeffrey B. Remz and Marc Cantor
The Newport Folk Festival schedule listed the mid-afternoon slot on the schedule To Be Determined.
Whoever made the determination to put the Austin-based band on the roster of artists on closing day deserves a big raise.
Black Pumas pretty much walked away with the festival with their mid-afternoon gig on the main stage of high energy funk, soul and psychedelically-tinged blues. Lead singer Eric Burton easily overcame early microphone issues with confident swagger quickly connecting with the enthusiastic fandom.
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made the songsmith an instant sensation. Baker was an undergrad at Middle Tennessee State University at the time, writing emotionally charged, Telecaster-and-pedalboard-powered tunes from her unique point of view as a queer punk rocker from a Christian family raised in Germantown, Tenn. â a Memphis suburb and a conservative pocket in a county that leans blue.Â
For Baker,
Sprained Ankle attracted a congregation of folk, indie, emo and post-rock appreciators, striking a particular chord with other young adults from religious backgrounds striving to define spirituality for themselves. She and her band â a mix of Music City and Bluff City players that includes guitarist Mariah Schneider, bassist Calvin Lauber, keyboardist Noah Forbes and drummer Matthew Gilliam â have also endeared themselves to Gen-Xers with Jawbreaker and Death Cab for Cutie covers. In a KEXP session taped recently at Third Man Records, Baker busted out a haunting solo rendition of Soundgardenâ�