For their 2013 festival Newport Folk Festival organizers have expanded the offerings to a full three days – July 26th through July 28th at scenic Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island. Over the past few days, event organizers have announced the first three Newport Folk Festival ’13 acts.

HT faves Andrew Bird and Shovels & Rope as well as relative newcomers The Lone Bellow – who Jeff introduced us to earlier this month – are all set to perform at the legendary festival in 2013. Just on the strength of their past lineups, three-day Newport Folk Fest passes are already sold out. You can still buy passes to each of the three individual days as well as two-day passes, but don’t expect them to be around for very long.

Be sure to keep your eyes on @NewportFolkFest for additional lineup reveals.

In the last decade plus acts like The White Stripes, The Black Keys and JEFF the Brotherhood showed that you could make dynamic music as just a duo. The latest pair to throw their hat in the ring is the husband and wife pair of Michael Trent and Cary Ann Hearst, who go by the moniker Shovels & Rope.

The pair are putting a new spin on the minimal set up, playing an infectious foot-stomping brand of ramshackle, country-infused Americana. Last month the duo, who have put out a handful of records individually, released O’ Be Joyful - their debut album as Shovels & Rope. Let’s check out this live in-studio performance of the album’s lead track Birmingham that the pair did for the Minneapolis-based radio station The Current...

Shovels & Rope – Birmingham

Shovels & Rope, who have toured with the likes of The Felice Brothers, Justin Townes Earle and Hayes Carll, will kick off a three-week headlining tour on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.