Merlefest 2014 will be happening on April 24 - April 27th
in case anybody here might want to go. Tickets tend to get sold out early, so I thought it was worth mentioning now while good tickets are still available.

If any of you plan to attend, please let me know, since Merlefest is in Wilkesboro NC (easy driving distance from Winston-Salem.)

Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and Alan Jackson are just a few of the artists who will be there...

http://www.merlefest.org
http://www.merlefest.org/lineup

Thursday on the Watson stage:

Junior Sisk & Rambler's Choice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se-53VDrqWE

The Duhks (Canadian group, I liked everything they played)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYrjiwLngbo

Scythian (these guys can really work a crowd!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5twnqNRg5As

Carolina Chocolate Drops (the female singer who fronts for them is a real gem of talent and personality... I really enjoyed this group)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3XsHMOEQGc

Holly Williams (talented and not hard to look at either)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QW5t9w0j1w

Alan Jackson (all-star band and surprise accompaniment artist: Sierra Hull)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5s-k8Q_40cA

Pat,

Just listened to.

What wonderful music and talent. The story in the song and your dead on for her abilities.

Watching part of their LiveSet now.... They are fun to watch, as well as their talent.

Thanks for sharing.

that gal can not only sing and work the crowd, she also plays a killer fiddle and banjo.

One of the members of Carolina Chocolate Drops said that when his mother heard they would be playing with Alan Jackson, she wanted to know which one of the Jacksons he was... did he come before or after Tito...? ;-)

That sounds like a great lineup.

yeah, and I almost skipped the opening day!

Friday's lineup includes 95 different acts, and Saturday features 92 acts spread across 13 stages!

I'm not familiar with most of them (yet)

Sam Bush plays today and tomorrow. So do Steep Canyon Raiders, which is a band Steve Martin frequently joins on stage. I'm hoping he shows up today.


Sunday Jerry Douglas performs, and it wouldn't break my heart if Alison Krauss wandered in too

Pat,

Here's hoping you'll continue your updates of the Merlefest activities. I've really enjoyed reading them.

Thanks Jim! Rather than posting video snippets and information that's probably already available on the Merlefest site, I'm just going to make some personal observations about the festival.

This was my first Merlefest, and I expected a much more traditional bluegrass event. I'd say maybe 1/4 of the songs were bluegrass classics, another 1/4 were original numbers in classic bluegrass style... but all in all the bands were more progressive than I expected. Sam Bush's band even used a MIDI guitar in two songs, and they weren't BG songs, they were 70s covers.

Many of the bands used electric Bass, some used electric guitars and effects pedals were on stage almost the whole time.

I thought it was interesting that the up and coming bands all played originals, but people who had already made a name for themselves frequently resorted to cover songs that the overwhelmingly baby boomer audience loved. I interpret that to mean that the know their demographic, and have changed their set to play what the audience likes. Sam Bush of all artists at the festival has plenty of original songs that the audience knows and loves... yet they set down their acoustic instruments and played rock and roll for several songs.

Many of the younger artists played original songs that only resemble bluegrass because of the instruments played. The structure and patterns were drawn from many other genres, such as folk, alternative, rock, even classical.

There was a lot of influence from artists like Bela Fleck, with interesting time signatures, crazy transitions and banjo rolls that are recognizably different than the classic rolls

Pat,

I’m glad you finally made it to Merlefest, especially considering it's practically in your backyard! I attended the first 7 or 8 festivals there.

You’ve made numerous comments on here about how “bluegrass” isn’t open to new ideas and they demand rigorous adherence to tradition. That hasn't been true for at least the last 20 or 25 years, … maybe longer.

Hopefully the festival was an eye opener for you. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

Bob,
the festival was an eye-opener for sure... in a good way. I thought about you the whole time. Wanna move to Winston-Salem and start a bluegrass band?

And I plead guilty to the charge of judging the genre regarding tradition. But in my defense, there are several camps in the bluegrass world, and not all of them are as progressive as the Merlefest crowd. Local fiddler's conventions (like the one in Galax Va.) remain quite resistant to electric instruments. And I've heard from many local musicians that its a waste of time trying to play bluegrass locally unless you walk in with acoustic instruments... right down to the brand name... guitar better be a Martin, Mandolin better be a Gibson F style, banjo better be one of several blessed models... etc

The Merlefest crowd, on the other hand, tends to play a more global circuit... Berkely to Boston to Brussels... to audiences that not only accept, but require new ideas.


At least that's my quick & dirty observation. As always, there's the disclaimer of tunnel vision and biased information from my sources.

question for BobCFlatpicker...

I noticed that most of the people who were flatpicking did not pivot the motion at the wrist... instead they moved their whole forearm from the elbow. Same for most mandolin players. Is there a reason for this? Strength of playing? More endurance? At first glance it seems to defy the idea of economy of motion... but it sure sounds awesome, so they must all be doing it that way for a reason.