Maine singer-songwriter Max Garcia Conover to make Newport Folk Festival debut
Bath singer-songwriter Max Garcia Conover will step onto the stage this month at one of the country’s oldest and most highly regarded musical gatherings, the Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island.
In 2017, when I wrote about Garcia Conover, I referred to him as Maine’s Bob Dylan. Nine years later, I stand by this because he continues to release music that has the lyrical depth of a true poet.
Heck, my fandom dates back to at least 2012, when we talked about his “Birches Lo” EP.
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Back then, he told me that writing songs was his favorite thing to do.
Here in 2026, it still is, as evidenced by the album “What of Our Nature.” It’s a collaboration with Portland, Oregonian-turned-New Yorker Haley Heynderickx, released last year.
The duo spent five days in a Vermont barn recording the album with producer and engineer Sahil Ansari. The end result is 10 songs, five written by each musician.
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The opening track is Garcia Conover’s “Song for Alicia” — about Puerto Rican independence activist Alicia Rodriguez — which he said is his favorite of the album.
Alicia was put into prison
No trial or charge or conviction
Her crime was living the one way there is
And that’s screaming to get the tape off your lips
Garcia Conover, who is half Puerto Rican, said that he connected with Rodriguez and got her blessing to put the track on the album. He added that playing the song live when Puerto Ricans are in the audience has been particularly meaningful.
Another standout track, written by Garcia Conover, is “Buffalo, 1981,” with its quick-flowing river of astute prose.
Hungry people want food so the wealthy make committees
And they say things like the problem is single parent families
And the parents they imprison weren’t gonna be good anyway
And the parents they employ should be grateful when they’re paid
It’s songs like this that helped “What of Our Nature” make the 2025 New York Times best album list.
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Cover of “What of Our Nature” by Haley Heynderickx and Max Garcia Conover. (Courtesy Fat Possum Records)
On the strength of that album, the duo was invited to play at the esteemed Newport Folk Festival. Their slot is on the Harbor Stage on July 24. It will be the first time Garcia Conover has gone to the festival, let alone perform at it.
I’ll be there cheering with the same enthusiasm as when fellow Mainer Dan Blakeslee performed there in 2023.
Garcia Conover, 39, said he never expected to play at the festival but is looking forward to it. “I’m trying not to have big expectations, but it seems like the people who have gone seem to know something that the people who haven’t don’t know.”
Garcia Conover and Heynderickx, who both sing and play guitar, will be joined by percussionist Sahil Ansari, drummer Dan Rossi and Dan Pappalardo on upright bass.
“What of Our Nature” is not the first time Garcia Conover has collaborated with Heynderickx. In 2018, they released the six-song “Among Horses III.” Garcia Conover said that Barcelona, Spain-based record label Son Canciones, which focuses on English language quiet folk music, paired songwriters together who didn’t know each other. He and Heynderickx spent a week together in Spain, and a key element of the project was to come empty-handed with no prepared songs.
“The way that they put it to us is that they thought it was funny that the United States has two Portlands, and that was part of the reason they paired us together,” he said.
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Although he was initially reluctant to participate because he’s used to writing on his own, the experience worked out well. “What I took away was that more interesting and more wonderful stuff happens when you make yourself uncomfortable and you actually collaborate,” he said.
Max Garcia Conover and Haley Heynderickx. (Photo by Evan Benally Atwood)
“What of Our Nature” was inspired in part by Heynderickx’s deep dive into the history and songwriting of Woody Guthrie. From across the country (Heynderickx only recently moved to New York City), the musicians spent a year penning songs while learning about Guthrie.
What began as a song exchange morphed into making an album. “I was happy to have reason to be writing and to be getting inspiration,” said Garcia Conover.
At the time, he knew little about Guthrie. “I assumed that his contribution to the form was overstated by virtue of being a white man playing folk music. I think historically he’s gotten a lot more attention than a lot of other people that contributed to folk music.”
However, as Garcia Conover uncovered more about Guthrie, his understanding of him expanded. “I didn’t realize how much work he left behind: stories, songs, drawings and letters and all kinds of stuff. I didn’t realize how joyful, sad, silly and angry and how complex he was, and also just how complex and deeply American his story is.”
Conover said that, after Newport Folk Festival, he’ll continue collaborating with Heynderickx while working on his next solo release. He also hopes to do more touring. Keep tabs at maxgarciaconover.com.
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Aimsel Ponti is a music writer and content producer for the Portland Press Herald. She has been obsessed with – and inspired by – music since she listened to Monkees records borrowed from the town. More by Aimsel Ponti
