Converse Rubber Tracks Partners with Newport Folk Festival

Photo by Olga Khvan

Continuing its mission to provide cost-free resources for emerging bands, Converse has partnered with the Newport Folk Festival to offer three artists a slot in the festival lineup, as well as two days of free recording inside the recently unveiled Rubber Tracks studio in Boston.

Registration is open now through July 17 on the Converse website, where artists are asked to fill out a questionnaire about their music. There’s no space to upload songs, but there is an optional space to provide links for social media.

“Kind of the last thing we do is actually listen to content. We have a really talented, small team of people who make decisions about who gets in, and it’s honestly not based on who’s going to be the next big thing, or who they want to work with,” said Brad Worrell, manager of the flagship Rubber Tracks studio in Brooklyn, during a media tour of the Boston location last month. “We’re here to give bands an opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have.”

The three selected artists will be notified on July 20. Just days later, they’ll head to Rhode Island to perform on the Museum Stage at the Newport Folk Festival, joining the Friday lineup featuring Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters, Tallest Man on Earth, Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell, The Lone Bellow, and others.

Then, during the week of July 27, each artist will head to Boston for two-day recording sessions under the guidance of Seth Manchester, an acclaimed producer from Rhode Island recording studio Machines with Magnets. Just as with all Rubber Tracks sessions, the artists will walk away with all the rights to their work.