RANDOM THOUGHTS ON FESTIVALS

Merlefest

I had attended many festivals before we got to Merlefest.  I was not prepared for what was there.  This place had 14 stages spread across a small junior college campus in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  There are so many musical choices.   From Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon there was nonstop great music.   Choosing which stage and performance to go to at any time was usually difficult.

There is virtually no camping on the Wilkes Community College campus.  The festival does let a limited number of RVs park on an asphalt lot with no facilities for a fee in addition to the ticket and reserved seat costs.  There is a lot of camping provided by the local fire companies.  The Boy Scouts have buses and provide shuttle service to the various off site campgrounds.  One campground is located adjacent to the local sewage treatment plant.  This camp ground, known for its all night jams, is affectionately called ‘Sewerfest.’  My family has always paid the fee to be able to have a base camp on site near the music.  It is a choice we made the first year and we have continued to pay for the premium location.

There are several thousand nice plastic chairs set up directly in front of the large Watson stage.  These are reserved seats which cost an additional fee.  During the day, a reserved seat is open to anyone until the owner returns.  After 6PM, only those with wristbands indicating they paid for a reserved seat are allowed in the seating area.  This means that thousands of festivarians set up their blankets, tents and chairs each morning out in the grass beyond the reserved seats far from the Watson Stage and its partner, the Cabin Stage.  There is a large television screen set up so the folks in the back can get a good look at the performers.  There are also speakers located about 200 feet out from the stage on the lawn with time delay to eliminate echo.  We have always gone for the reserved seat.  It just eliminates so many issues having a place to always go back to.   Most of the other stages require bringing your own lawn chair or sitting on the ground. All chairs and blankets have to be picked up each night.  The Traditional Stage, Walker Center and the Learning Workshop Stage also have seating for the audience.

Watson Stage

The Merlefest crowd is probably the most knowledgeable of all of the festivals that my wife and I attend.  The folks in the southeast in general, and the plateau and mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, are incredibly tuned in to acoustic music of all types.  Being the first festival of the year, anyone who has an interest in bluegrass, old time, and generally any type of acoustic music tries to get to Wilkesboro, NC the last weekend in April.  Typical of virtually all non-jam band festivals, the crowd tends to be older.  Merlefest is no exception.  There are some college age folks, but very few children.  The exception were years when the Avett Brothers (from North Carolina), performed.

I should mention that Merlefest directly caters to the local schools by having artists perform for assemblies at various local schools.  Thursday, the first day of the festival, is also when many other local schools bus their children to the festival grounds to enjoy a day of music, arts, vendor row, and each other.  The festival grounds are usually busy Thursday up until about 3PM, then, the grounds thin out a bit.

The Honeycutters on the Cabin Stage

There is an incredible list of artists who have appeared at Merlefest.  To be invited to perform at Merlefest is an honor for most musicians.  Acts as diverse as Little Feat, Elvis Costello, Lyle Lovett, Bob Weir, Doobie Brothers, and even Linda Ronstadt singing Canciones de mi Padre in Spanish all have performed on the Watson Stage.  Some really fine artists never get to perform on Watson Stage.  Instead, they get to perform multiple times on the other stages over the weekend.  This kind of venue is where I first heard people like Matt Flinner, the Waybacks, and Steelwheels.

Apparently, the song, ‘Same Old River,’ performed by the Sam Bush Band is one of my favorite tunes.  I can remember two times where Sam’s performance of this tune was better than usual.  Recently, because of some personal issues I was having, the performance of the song was very moving.  Another time, the band played the tune with as much feeling as I’ve ever felt.  Byron House’s fretless bass solo was incredible that night.

The first time we attended Merlefest, our son was 14.  I vividly remember him giggling non-stop during the Hot Rize and Red Knuckles performance.  I’m not sure that he knew that Americana music was enjoyable to listen to, until that night.  It was our first time to see Hotrize and was one of the last performances with Charles Sawtelle.  Tyler just couldn’t get enough of Slade!

Also during our first year on Sunday afternoon the David Grisman Quintet entertained with a fabulous set.  They were great as we had come to expect.  What was interesting that day was seeing 17 year old Chris Thile sitting alone on the Cabin stage porch, legs crossed, watching David Grisman.  This was when Nickel Creek was just starting out.  Seeing Chris Thile when he was being ‘not on,’ is rare as we would find out over the years.  Everyone who saw him with Nickel Creek that weekend knew he was going to be great.  This year, he was named a 2012 MacArthur Foundation Genius.

The largest crowd that ever attended Merlefest was the day that Dolly Parton performed on the Watson Stage.  Every reserved seat was filled.  A rare occurrence.  Dolly gathered a band of Americana all-stars including Sam Bush, Chris Thile, Claire Lynch, Bryan Sutton, Jim Mills, Rhonda Vincent, Jerry Douglas and many others.  The show was Saturday evening.  Dolly had the band gather on Friday to rehearse the show before taking it to the Watson state.  Since she grew up in Sevierville, TN not far from Wilkesboro, she wanted the show to be perfect.  Music stands and sheet music were set up on the stage for each musician.  There was even a band director standing out front.  The band didn’t need the sheet music; they were great playing Dolly’s bluegrass material.  She was great.  One amazingly funny moment occurred when Dolly accidentally swallowed a bug while inhaling during singing.  She stopped singing and said to the crowd, “I swallowed a bug.”  She got a drink and then mentioned filming the show and restarted the singing the tune from the beginning.  Who else could swallow a bug mid-song and pull of a very funny moment while vamping until she could start again.  Getting Chris Thile to sit on her lap was funny too.  Thile was a teenager at the time.

One of the new traditions that has evolved during the time we have attended Merlefest is that James Nash and the Waybacks organize a pickup band of Americana all stars to learn, practice, and perform  a selected album from cut one through the end.  The Album Hour, as it is formally shown on the program, always takes place at the Hillside Stage with probably 2,000+ jammed on the steep hillside to hear an unannounced classic rock and roll album.  Previously selected albums have been:  Abbey Road, Are You Experienced, Eat a Peach, Led Zep II, and Sticky Fingers.   Abbey Road was my favorite.  Elvis Costello sang ‘Octopuses’ Garden.’  John Cowan, singing the lead parts for Led Zep II, was really great too.  Towards the performance of Are You Experienced, James Nash pretended to light his guitar on fire.  That followed some on fine electric guitar playing between him and Sam Bush.

When we started attending Merlefest in 1998, there were 14 stages and perhaps 130 artists.  The festival infrastructure has undergone some major changes.  The festival has gotten more aggressive with value added pricing for on site parking and limited on site RV parking.   People typically either use one of the few local motels or camp at a local fire company campground.   Many of the people live nearby.

With changes occurring over the years, including the folks who pick the bands (Claire Armbruster), leaving for other jobs, unfortunately the overall quality of the show has dropped.  There are now 11 stages and not even 100 acts anymore.  We have loved going to Merlefest over the years.  But we are now rethinking Merlefest because the level and types of talent has decreased.  After the 25th anniversary show in 2013, when Doc, Rosalie, and Merle Watson will be celebrated, we will re-evaluate and probably look at other festivals to take Merlefest’s spot.

 

Permalink

Comments are closed.