MerleFest 2011, presented by Lowe's, has now come to a close for another year. Initial figures show that, from its start on Thursday, April 28 to its close on Sunday, May 1, aggregate participation over the festival's four days' celebration of "traditional plus" music exceeded 80,000, slightly more than last year. MerleFest, held on the campus of Wilkes Community College, is the primary fund-raiser for the college and funds scholarships, capital projects and other educational needs. ENN publisher, Roger Greenway, and editor Chris Allyn represented ENN at Merlefest for the second year. We were impressed with the commitment to recycling and to reducing waste going into landfills. Recycling containers were everywhere. LED lighting was prominent in stage lighting. Performers who turned in riveting performances at MerleFest 2011 include Doc and Richard Watson, Randy Travis, The Doobie Brothers, Lyle Lovett, Zac Brown Band, Robert Plant and Band of Joy, John Hartford String Band, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Tim O'Brien, Sam Bush, Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, Cadillac Sky, Balsam Range, Sarah Jarosz, Crooked Still, Sonny Landreth, Jerry Douglas featuring Omar Hakim and Viktor Krauss, Alison Brown Quartet with Stuart Duncan, Del McCoury Band, Tut Taylor, Scythian, The Emmitt-Nershi Band, The Wailin' Jennys, Roy Book Binder, The Kruger Brothers and many more.
MerleFest 2011, presented by Lowe's, has now come to a close for another year. Initial figures show that, from its start on Thursday, April 28 to its close on Sunday, May 1, aggregate participation over the festival’s four days'celebration of "traditional plus" music exceeded 80,000, slightly more than last year. MerleFest, held on the campus of Wilkes Community College, is the primary fund-raiser for the college and funds scholarships, capital projects and other educational needs.
ENN publisher, Roger Greenway, and editor Chris Allyn represented ENN at Merlefest for the second year. We were impressed with the commitment to recycling and to reducing waste going into landfills. Recycling containers were everywhere. LED lighting was prominent in stage lighting.
Performers who turned in riveting performances at MerleFest 2011 include Doc and Richard Watson, Randy Travis, The Doobie Brothers, Lyle Lovett, Zac Brown Band, Robert Plant and Band of Joy, John Hartford String Band, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Tim O'Brien, Sam Bush, Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, Cadillac Sky, Balsam Range, Sarah Jarosz, Crooked Still, Sonny Landreth, Jerry Douglas featuring Omar Hakim and Viktor Krauss, Alison Brown Quartet with Stuart Duncan, Del McCoury Band, Tut Taylor, Scythian, The Emmitt-Nershi Band, The Wailin' Jennys, Roy Book Binder, The Kruger Brothers and many more.
The highly anticipated Hillside Album Hour on Saturday evening, hosted by The Waybacks with special guest Joan Osborne, featured the classic Allman Brothers' album Eat A Peach. A record-setting crowd - estimated at 5,000 fans - filled the hillside to find out the album that would be featured, which is always a closely held secret until the show begins.
The legendary Doc Watson performed throughout the weekend including the memorable "Docabilly", featuring Doc and friends applying their style to classic pop tunes. The fan-favorite "My Friend Merle" set included friends of Doc's late son Merle sharing special memories between their favorite songs.
The Midnight Jam on Saturday, hosted by Casey Driessen and the Colorfools, featured Zac Brown, Jim Lauderdale, The Infamous Stringdusters and many other surprises for audience members who stayed up late to enjoy the Jam.
One of the groups new to Merlefest was Harper and his band "Midwest Kind" combining roots, jam music through the use of the harp and didgeridoo was a showstopper in a number of performances, and was one of ENN's favorites! The amalgamation of blues, rock, world, funk, soul was very unique, and infectous.
Photo by ENN editor Chris Allyn.
A significant part of MerleFest's mission is to give back to the community. In that spirit, the outreach program took place on Thursday, with more than 20 of the artists at MerleFest giving performances at local schools. In addition, on Friday morning over 3,200 school children from Wilkes and surrounding counties were invited to attend.
Volunteers are integral to the success of MerleFest. Over 600 individual volunteers, 150 volunteer stagehands, and over 70 volunteer groups, including college and community organizations, helped to make the festival a success. Also, each food vendor at MerleFest supports a local non-profit, with proceeds going to further their work and mission. "Quite simply, MerleFest would not be possible without the support of our 4,000+ volunteers," says festival director Ted Hagaman. "Some of these individuals and organizations have given of their time since the festival began, and we are so grateful to them."
Plan ahead for next year's Merlefest next year for MerleFest 25: April 26–29, 2012 This will be the 25th Anniversary event, so who know what great surprises might be in store. In my experience, each year surpasses the last!
For more information on this amazing event link to: http://www.merlefest.org
