S P O N S O R E D C O N T E N T
THE ARTS IN RHODE ISLAND
MUSIC
Rhode Island may be the summer home of Taylor Swift, but our music history extends far beyond contemporary artists who found inspiration here. Greats like Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane, Dinah Washington and Dave Brubeck have played at the Newport Jazz Festival. And Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, John Baez, Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash were among the early performers at the Newport Folk Festival. Both summer festivals continue to feature top-tier talent at Newport’ s historic Fort Adams State Park and sell out quickly each year.
Newport and adjacent suburbs are also home to the Newport Classical Music Festival( newportclassical. com), which features timeless music performed by both world-renowned and emerging talent. These immersive experiences are set in breathtaking and historic venues, including the Vanderbilt’ s“ Breakers” summer home; our country’ s first library, the Redwood Library & Athenaeum; and scenic King Park overlooking Newport Harbor. This year’ s festival runs from July 2-19.
In the northern part of the state, Chan’ s in Woonsocket has been a hot spot for live jazz and blues music( chanseggrollsjazz. com) for almost 50 years. Worldclass talent— including the likes of Duke Robillard Band, Buckwheat Zydeco and Livingston Taylor— plays weekends in this unassuming Chinese-American restaurant that is decorated with artifacts from decades of music history.
Outdoor concerts are plentiful throughout Rhode Island in summer months. Some noteworthy performances during the RI Summer of Soccer include The Chorus of Westerly’ s free Summer Pops Concert( chorusofwesterly. org), which will feature keyboardist-composer Bob Malone June 20 at 2 p. m. in Wilcox Park. Traveling north, stop at Blithewold Mansion in Bristol( blithewold. org), a beautiful country estate with exquisite landscaping and horticulture. Take advantage of the breathtaking views of Narragansett Bay that the site offers when it opens up the venue for Music at Sunset Concerts on Wednesday evenings, featuring food trucks and performances by local musicians. Parking begins at 5 p. m. but advance reservations are suggested.
If you’ re a fan of tribute bands, we’ ve got you covered! Travel north to Stadium Theatre in Woonsocket to watch live music. Shows honoring memories of Rush, Frankie Valli, Bad Company and so much more will be featured in this historic setting from June through July( stadiumtheatre. com). In West Kingston, the Courthouse Center for the Arts( courthousearts. org) will feature a plethora of tribute bands recreating the music of Elvis, the Allman Brothers and David Bowie. If you’ re in Providence, walk across the street from the Fan Zone to The VETS( thevetsri. com) to see a KPop tribute concert on June 19.
76 SUMMER OF SOCCER 2026