Live In Concert from NPR's All Songs Considered Folgen

Canadian twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin usually traffic in fizzy, punky pop music, so it's a refreshing twist to see them pop up at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I. The smart and outspoken pair will throw an extra curveball when they show their faces Saturday: They're translating their spiky music into acoustic arrangements. The mission is to highlight the sturdy songcraft behind Tegan and Sara's cultishly adored music, without sacrificing any of the hard-earned potency.

Mountain Man is significantly less burly than its name suggests: Founded at Bennington College in Vermont, the mostly a cappella trio of Molly Sarle, Amelia Meath and Alexandra Sauser-Monnig weaves its voices into a stark, reverent and unadorned sound that can be hauntingly beautiful. Tours with Jonsi and The Decemberists helped put the group on the map last year — as did a spot at the Glastonbury Festival, which preceded the release of Mountain Man's debut album — and it's just followed that breakthrough with a live set called Live at the Wiltern. Mountain Man brings its gorgeous three-part harmonies to the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I.

It almost goes without saying that Pokey LaFarge is a man out of time: With his slicked-back hair and vintage clothing, he looks like a grown-up street urchin from early in the previous century. His music matches his look: Recorded with his band The South City Three, the new Middle of Everywhere could have emerged from a decades-old field recording, even as it exudes modern whiz-bang energy. (It's no surprise that the man is putting out his own 78 RPM record.) LaFarge and his players put on a tremendously tight live show at the 2011 Newport Folk Festival in Newport, R.I., the result of years spent busking and wandering.