• BanjoRama comes to MerleFest 2014

    Have you ever thought to yourself... "There's just not enough banjo music at MerleFest?" Not a problem for 2014. The mega-festival's new Artist Relations Manager, Steve Johnson, has organized a special, one-time banjo geek-out show for Friday, April 25 on the main

  • Walker and Groopman Make It Home

    As a music critic, I’m used to folks occasionally wondering if I’ve been living under a rock. Now I find myself thinking the same thing. How else could I not have heard about Melody Walker, Jacob Groopman and their progressive

  • Avett Brothers close MerleFest 2013

    One last MerleFest 2013 gallery from Andy Garrigue, who also shared these comments. Heavy numbers poured in Sunday to see The Avett Brothers close down Merlefest 2013, despite the calls for rain throughout the day, and their late afternoon set was

  • Ten Reasons MerleFest 2013 Was Awesome

    MerleFest 2013 is now history, but the music, moments and memories remain to savor. This year’s festival posted aggregate numbers of 76,000 over the four days beginning April 25 and running through the 28th, on the campus of Wilkes Community

  • Yet more MerleFest 2013 images

    Here's another gallery of Andy Garrigue's photos from MerleFest 2013, this time focusing on The Avett Brothers and their flamboyant cellist, Joe Kwon. Andy shared these few words about their show. “While the attention is often focused on Scott and Seth

  • MerleFest photos from Andy Garrigue

    Our 2013 MerleFest correspondent, Andy Garrigue, has sent along a number of image galleries from last weekend's event. First up is Sam Bush, with his band, and in the Doc Watson Tribute set, with a few shots of Chris Smither.  

  • MerleFest instrumental contest winners

    Here are the winners from yesterday's (4/27) banjo and guitar competitions at MerleFest. Banjo 1st place - Steven Moore, Bethesda, OH 2nd place - Alex Edwards, Salisbury, NC 3rd place - Brandy Miller, West Jefferson, NC Guitar 1st place - Michael Ballard, Maiden, NC 2nd place -

  • Chris Austin Songwriting winners announced

    MerleFest has announced the winners in its prestigious Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. All winners receive cash and merchandise prizes, and a chance to perform on tonight's stage show. Bluegrass 1st - John Cloyd Miller (Asheville, NC) for Cloud of Dust 2nd - Todd Grebe

  • MerleFest 2013 is underway

    MerleFest 2013 has one day under its belt, and our new photo-correspondent Andy Garrigue is on the ground in North Wilkesboro collecting images. We'll have much more from Andy throughout the weekend.