Credit: Alex LakeHozier played last year's Newport Folk Festival, and he'll do it again this weekend at the 2015 festival, taking place July 24-26. The Irish singer-songwriter had always dreamed of playing the famed festival, and his 2014 Newport set was one of his first shows in America.
"One of my first experiences [playing in America] was doing Newport Folk Festival, which for me was a huge, huge influence growing up," Hozier tells ABC Radio.
Founded in 1959, the Newport Folk Festival has hosted many legendary performances, including when Bob Dylan infamously "went electric" in 1965. Watching footage of all those performances helped inspire Hozier to become a musician himself.
"I think one of the reasons that I started playing music and continued writing music was discovering more acts by watching old Newport footage," Hozier says "So [playing Newport] was one of my fondest memories of the last year or so."
The 2015 Newport Folk Festival will be held July 24-26 at Fort Adams State Park in Newport, Rhode Island. Along with Hozier, Pink Floyd's Roger Waters, The Decemberists, Band of Horses' Ben Bridwell and Courtney Barnett will play the festival.
Copyright © 2015, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.