Chris and I went to Merlefest in Wilkesboro last weekend. We were there for the whole four-day festival. We saw a lot of great bluegrass, old-time and Americana music. The festival is in memory of Merle Watson and honors his father, Doc Watson. The Watsons were from Deep Gap, NC, and the festival is on the campus of Wilkes Community College. There are multiple stages all over the campus, including the Watson stage, where the headline acts play. Between the big acts on the main stage, other acts play on the Cabin stage to the right of the main. The festival offers a chance to see well-known musicians but also a chance to see rising acts.
One of Chris' favorite groups, the Waybacks, played Thursday. He calls them "progressive acoustic." A big act on Thursday night was Cherryholmes, a remarkable family bluegrass band. The parents were home-schooling their four children and decided to make music the focus of their education, but it turned out that they could make money at it. Elvis Costello and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band headlined Friday night. The Dirt Band played their old songs. Sam Bush and Tony Rice with Alison Krauss and Union Station were the big names Saturday night. Krauss sings like an angel, but I also like her bandmate, Dan Tyminski, who was George Clooney's singing voice in "O, Brother, Where Art Thou?"
All of those acts were entertaining. Of course, we enjoyed Doc Watson and the musicians who played with him. He's still remarkable at 84.
Chris was impressed by the Lovell Sisters, three young women from Georgia who play well and sing lovely harmonies. I liked Jim Lauderdale, a singer-songwriter who is adept at country, bluegrass and twangy rock. He has a great song called "The King of Broken Hearts," which he sings with a voice that sounds like George Jones. One of the best sets that we saw was Lauderdale with Donna the Buffalo.
We camped at the YMCA and rode the shuttle over to the festival. We were lucky, for the most part, in the weather. It rained Thursday night, but the other days were clear and warm. The nights were cool. We were able to use the Y showers. It was a little crowded a few times.
The festival was most crowded on Saturday, of course, when the big main field was a sea of people, and it was hard to get close to the bands on the other stages sometimes. We carried food and drinks in with us and that helped save us money and time. The food lines were outrageously long, and so were the toilet lines.
I have to say, though, I was a bit burned out after four days of music. I liked everything we saw, but it was all too much. I might change my mind by next year, though.
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