NPR Music to livestream Folk Festival July 30 and 31 and Jazz Fest Aug. 6 and 7

Imagine having the best view of a stage hosting the groove of Esperanza Spalding, The Decemberists’ storytelling, the rowdy stomp of Gogol Bordello, the smooth Anat Cohen and the slow burning M. Ward. Now, that’s a reality (from virtually anywhere). Continuing its tradition of bringing listeners the best live music from across the country, NPR Music, together with six partner radio stations, is exclusively live webcasting and broadcasting dozens of performances from George Wein’s Newport Folk Festival and Newport Jazz Festival, offering four days of music from leading bands, singers and artists.



For the Folk Festival on July 30 and 31, NPR Music and WFUV New York, FolkAlley.com (WKSU) Kent, Ohio, and mvyradio in Martha's Vineyard and Newport are live video streaming many acclaimed acts. At the Jazz Festival on August 6 and 7, NPR Music with WBGO Newark, 89.7 WGBH Radio Boston and WICN New England are broadcasting and audio webcasting line-ups from three stages.



For the fourth straight year, festival concerts will be accessible through free, live audio webcasts at NPR Music, and live station broadcasts. NPR Music's folk and jazz festival coverage will be available at www.npr.org/newportfolk and www.npr.org/newportjazz Follow @allsongs and @blogsupreme for on-the-scene reports and commentary. NPR Music will archive all content and provide podcasts of many performances; audiences can also relive both festivals from the past three years, with on-demand listening and free downloads of dozens of folk and jazz sets. Watch all of NPR Music's festival coverage live on the NPR Music App for iPhone and iPod Touch (available for free download now in the App Store). This year, users of the blogging platform Tumblr will be able to easily share NPR Music Festival coverage through NPR Music Tumblr page at: http://nprmusic.tumblr.com/



NPR Music, together with WFUV, Folk Alley and mvyradio, will video webcast and broadcast from all three stages at the Folk Festival on July 30-31 from 11:30AM to 7:30PM (ET). Many performances from the festival will be available to stream on demand at NPR Music and the station websites, and download through NPR Music's "Live in Concert" podcast. Performers during these two days include The Decemberists, Emmylou Harris, Elvis Costello, Gogol Bordello, M. Ward, Mavis Staples, Tegan and Sarah, Typhoon and Gillian Welch.



The next weekend, August 6 and 7 from 11:30AM to 7:30PM (ET), NPR Music teams with WBGO, 89.7 WGBH and WICN to live audio webcast and broadcast three stages from the Jazz Festival. Audiences will hear selections from Saturday’s and Sunday’s bills, which may include Avishai Cohen’s Triveni with Anat Cohen, Esperanza Spalding, Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Randy Weston’s African Rhythms Trio and Wynton Marsalis.



Hosting NPR Music's coverage of the Folk Festival are Bob Boilen, host and creator of the popular show All Songs Considered and its "Live in Concert" series, NPR music critic Ann Powers and WFUV host and music director Rita Houston. Josh Jackson, WBGO special projects producer and host of The Checkout and creator of the new series The Checkout: Live at 92Y Tribeca, and Andy Bienstock, WYPR Baltimore program director and on-air host, will anchor all Jazz Festival coverage.



NPR Music regularly broadcasts and webcasts a slew of sets from music festivals across the country, including South By Southwest, the Sasquatch Festival and All Tomorrow's Parties. A full archive of past concerts from NPR Music is available at the site: www.npr.org/sections/concerts and in the NPR Music app.



NPR Music celebrates great music in every genre and is an industry leader in music discovery. The free, multimedia web site at www.npr.org/music offers 300 new features monthly and an extensive archive, in collaboration with NPR's newsmagazines, 12 public radio member stations and the passionate NPR community. NPR Music creates and distributes inventive music coverage across multiple platforms – from web, to radio, to podcast, to mobile, to social media, to live events – with first listens to new albums, live performances, concerts at the Tiny Desk, interviews, reviews and blogs.