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the-record-newspaper · 5 years

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MERLEFEST WEEK BEGINS

Mike Rominger and Christine Hammel played an eclectic mixture of music and songs, ending with Roy Orbison's "Pretty Woman" which the entire crowd seemed to be singing along with.

On hand to enjoy a beautiful Easter Sunday of music were, Ed Sturdivant, his wife Tricia, and their son Carter.

The tent was eerily quiet as Benjamin Barker played "The Old Rugged Cross" on his harp.

Dr. Bryan's daughter, Pam Terrell, emceed most of the event.

The annual event is hosted by the Wilkes Acoustic Folk Society, and is always held the Sunday prior to MerleFest on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro.

MerleFest begins Thursday and will run through Sunday.

Bryan passed away in 2011. He was a well-loved physician, who delivered thousands of babies, as well as an avid fan of Americana music. He was also a supporter of the musicians who performed this genre, particularly those from the area.

Bryan hosted these jams for years, and since his death they have been continued as a tribute to his memory.

Performers at the tribute included: Mill Road, Ernest Johnson and Ralph Clanton, Catawba Bluegrass Boys, David Russell and Benjamin Barker, Horseplay, R.G. Absher and Friends, Christine Hammel, Mike Rominger, The Ya-Ya's, The Trailblazers, Backporch Bluegrass and The Kruger Brothers.

The concert, which will end after the last group performs, is free to the public.

The Wilkes Acoustic Folk Society (WAFS) will also host free jams, which began during their monthly meeting on Monday.

Pre-MerleFest Jams were set to be held from Monday through Wednesday evening, starting at 6 p.m., at the Wilkesboro campus. Various tents will also be set up for the jams. The jams prior to the festival are free and no wristbands are required.

During MerleFest anyone with an admittance wristband can bring instruments and participate in the various jams that are hosted by WAFS, which will be held throughout festival hours.

This year’s MerleFest lineup includes: American Aquarium, Andy May, Ana Egge & The Sentimentals, Ashley Heath and Her Heathens, AZTEC SUN, Banknotes, Bob Hill, Cane Mill Road, Carol Rifkin, Carolina Blue, Casey Kristofferson Band, Catfish Keith, Charles Welch, Chris Rodrigues with Abby the Spoonlady, David LaMotte, Dirk Powell Band, Donna the Buffalo, Driftwood, Elephant Sessions, Elizabeth Cook, Ellis Dyson & The Shambles, Gordie MacKeeman & His Rhythm Boys, Happy Traum, Irish Mythen, Jack Lawrence, Jeff Little Trio, Jim Avett, Jim Lauderdale, Joe Smothers, Jontavious Willis and Andrew Alli, Josh Goforth, Junior Brown, Junior Sisk, Larry Stephenson Band, Laura Boosinger, Lindi Ortega, Mark Bumgarner, Mark & Maggie O’Connor, Maybe April, Michaela Anne, Mile Twelve, The Milk Carton Kids, Mitch Greenhill and String Madness, Molly Tuttle, Nixon, Blevins, & Gage, Pete & Joan Wernick and FLEXIGRASS, Presley Barker, Professor Whizzpop!, Radney Foster, Roy Book Binder, Salt & Light, Scythian, Sean McConnell, Shane Hennessy, Si Kahn & The Looping Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, Steve Poltz, T. Michael Coleman, The Black Lillies, The Brother Brothers, The Gibson Brothers, The Harris Brothers, The InterACTive Theatre of Jeff, The Kruger Brothers, The Local Boys, The Trailblazers, The Waybacks, Todd Albright, Tom Feldmann, Tony Williamson, Uncle Joe and The Shady Rest, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, Wayne Henderson, Webb Wilder, and Yarn. The lineup and performance schedules are accessible viaMerleFest.org/lineup.

MerleFest is pleased to partner with Come Hear NC, a promotional campaign of the North Carolina Department of Natural & Cultural Resources and the North Carolina Arts Council, to celebrate 2019 as “The Year of Music,” a designation Governor Roy Cooper announced in November of last year. MerleFest, honoring its locale, has programmed over 40 artists who currently call North Carolina home, each artist representing a different aspect of the state’s great musical history. Come Hear NC was designed to celebrate North Carolinians’ groundbreaking contributions to many of America’s most important musical genres — blues, bluegrass, jazz, country, gospel, Americana, rock and everything in-between. It’s fitting then, with 2019 as “The Year of Music,” that the Steep Canyon Rangers, also proud North Carolinians, would debut their North Carolina Songbook set at MerleFest.

About MerleFest

MerleFest was founded in 1988 in memory of the son of the late American music legend Doc Watson, renowned guitarist Eddy Merle Watson. MerleFest is a celebration of "traditional plus" music, a unique mix of traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region, including old-time, classic country, bluegrass, folk and gospel and blues, and expanded to include Americana, classic rock and many other styles. The festival hosts a diverse mix of artists on its 13 stages during the course of the four-day event. MerleFest has become the primary fundraiser for the WCC Foundation, funding scholarships, capital projects and other educational needs.

About Window World

Window World®, headquartered in North Wilkesboro, N.C., is America’s largest replacement window and exterior remodeling company, with more than 200 locally owned offices nationwide. Founded in 1995, the company sells and installs windows, siding, doors and other exterior products, with over 15 million windows sold to date. Window World is an ENERGY STAR® partner and its windows, vinyl siding and Therma-Tru doors have all earned the Good Housekeeping Seal. Through its charitable foundation, Window World Cares®, the Window World family provides funding for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital®, which honored the foundation with its Organizational Support Award in 2017. Since its inception in 2008, the foundation has raised over $8 million for St. Jude. Window World also supports the Veterans Airlift Command, a nonprofit organization that facilitates free air transportation to wounded veterans and their families. Window World has flown over 100 missions and surpassed $1 million in flights and in-kind donations since it began its partnership with the VAC in 2008. For more information, visitwww.WindowWorld.com or call 1-800 NEXTWINDOW. For home improvement and energy efficiency tips, décor ideas and more, follow Window World on Facebookand Twitter.

About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NCDNCR) is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state's natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. NCDNCR's mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state's history, conserving the state's natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.

NCDNCR includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette's Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the nation's first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship. For more information, please call (919) 807-7300 or visit www.ncdcr.gov.

About the North Carolina Arts Council

The North Carolina Arts Council builds on our state’s long-standing love of the arts, leading the way to a more vibrant future. The Arts Council is an economic catalyst, fueling a thriving nonprofit creative sector that generates $2.12 billion in annual direct economic activity. The Arts Council also sustains diverse arts expression and traditions while investing in innovative approaches to art-making. The North Carolina Arts Council has proven to be a champion for youth by cultivating tomorrow’s creative citizens through arts education. http://www.NCArts.org

For more information, visit www.MerleFest.org.

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the-record-briefs · 5 years

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Jan. 16, 2019: In other news

MerleFest adds The Avett Brothers, others

The Avett Brothers

MerleFest, presented by Window World, has announced new artist additions for MerleFest 2019: The Avett Brothers, Molly Tuttle, and Sean McConnell. The annual homecoming of musicians and music fans returns to the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, April 25-28. MerleFest is pleased to welcome these three distinguished artists to the 2019 lineup:

The Avett Brothers: The Avett Brothers first made mainstream waves with their 2009 major label debut, I and Love and You, landing at #16 on the Billboard Top 200 and garnering critical acclaim fromRolling Stone, Paste, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, andTime. In 2012, The Carpenterhit #4 on the Billboard Top 200, while People, USA Today, and American Songwriter lauded the album, the band appearing on Jimmy Kimmel LIVE! twice in a few months' time. The eighth studio album, Magpie and the Dandelion, debuted at #5 on the Billboard Top 200 and the band performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, and accompanied Chris Cornell for a Pearl Jam tribute on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

True Sadness, the record that followed, achieved The Avett Brothers’ highest career debut to date and dominated multiple charts. The Rick Rubin produced album hit #1 on Billboard’s Top Albums Chart, #1 Top Rock Albums Chart, #1 Digital Albums Chart, #3 on the Billboard Top 200 and scored two GRAMMY nominations. The Avett Brothers were inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2016. 2018 brought the HBO premiere of “May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers,” a documentary co-directed by Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio. Days after this debut, True Sadness launched to #3 on the iTunes Album Chart and #1 on the Rock Albums chart. In October of ‘18, The Avett Brothers debuted a new song, “Roses and Sacrifice,” live on Late Night with Seth Meyers and then released the track officially in November ‘18, Rolling Stone calling it a “joyous sing-along.” Also, in November of last year, the band headlined the Concert for Hurricane Florence Relief in Greenville, North Carolina, raising $325,000 to help those affected by Hurricane Florence. The Avett Brothers continue to be revered as one of the top folk-rock acts in the country and will perform on Sunday at MerleFest.

Molly Tuttle: Molly Tuttle speaks softly. Her voice is both lilting and lucid, and when she says that she wants to create music that is truly original and unmistakably hers, her quietness shifts into a steely audacity that’s charming and almost funny––she’s only 25 after all. But then you remember her songs and her playing. And it hits you: brash beautiful originality is exactly what Molly is doing. The 2017 release of her debut EPRise further introduced Molly to a roots music audience who had already enthusiastically embraced and elevated her. Her 2017 and 2018 wins for IBMA Guitar Player of the Year were history-making as the first woman to be nominated for the honor. The accolades kept coming in 2018 when Folk Alliance International’s International Folk Music Awards awarded her Song of the Year for her song “You Didn’t Call My Name,” and she was named Instrumentalist of the Year by the Americana Music Association. With all of this recognition, it might be easy to forget that Tuttle has yet to release a full-length album. Her eagerly-anticipated debut album is scheduled to be released in early 2019 on Compass Records. Molly Tuttle will make her MerleFest debut on Saturday afternoon.

Sean McConnell: “I think embracing the blurry lines is a sign of getting older and just having more life experience,” Sean McConnell says. “It can be healthy to break your own boxes.” Sean is home in Nashville, reflecting on the path he’s taken to recording Secondhand Smoke, his 13th album. A cohesive collection of modern folk music, Secondhand Smoke asks provocative questions about how we become who we are, what and whom we love, and the growth, pain, and freedom that come with accepting that some answers might elude us forever.

Tim McGraw, Martina McBride, Brad Paisley, Brothers Osborne, and more have all recorded his songs. Sean earned his first Number 1 single on the country charts in 2018 with Brett Young’s delivery of “Mercy,” which the two co-wrote. As a performer, he packs listening rooms and quiets unruly bar crowds. His sound––a warm tenor painting vivid stories over acoustic guitar often cushioned by keys or other strings––has prompted a diverse range of music scenes from the storied Boston folk community to Texas’s defiantly self-sovereign camp to warmly claim Sean as one of their own. “My payoff is just making the music,” Sean says, then smiles. “Everything else is bonus.” Sean McConnell performs on Friday at MerleFest.

“We are extremely excited to be adding these artists to an already stellar lineup for 2019. They represent the diverse talent that MerleFest is famous for,” says Ted Hagaman, Festival Director. The three artists announced today join over 75 artists initially announced in November via Rolling Stone Country and the second wave of artists announced last month. Headliners include Wynonna & The Big Noise, Keb’ Mo’, The Earls of Leicester, Sam Bush, Tyler Childers, Brandi Carlile, and Peter Rowan and The Free Mexican Air Force with Los Texmaniacs. The Late Night Jam presented by The Bluegrass Situation will be hosted by Chatham County Line. In addition to the above mentioned artists, the following will be performing at MerleFest ‘19:

American Aquarium, Andy May, Ana Egge & The Sentimentals, AZTEC SUN, Banknotes, Bob Hill, Cane Mill Road, Carol Rifkin, Carolina Blue, Catfish Keith, Charles Welch, Dailey & Vincent, David LaMotte, Dirk Powell Band, Donna the Buffalo, Driftwood, Elephant Sessions, Elizabeth Cook, Ellis Dyson & The Shambles, Gordie MacKeeman & His Rhythm Boys, Happy Traum, Irish Mythen, Jack Lawrence, Jeff Little Trio, Jess Morgan, Jim Avett, Jim Lauderdale, Joe Smothers, Jontavious Willis and Andrew Alli, Junior Brown, Junior Sisk, Larry Stephenson Band, Laura Boosinger, Lindi Ortega, Mark Bumgarner, Mark & Maggie O’Connor, Maybe April, Michaela Anne, Mile Twelve, Mitch Greenhill and String Madness, Nixon, Blevins, & Gage, Pete & Joan Wernick and FLEXIGRASS, Presley Barker, Professor Whizzpop!, Radney Foster, Roy Book Binder, Salt & Light, Scythian, Shane Hennessy, Si Kahn & The Looping Brothers, Steve Poltz, T. Michael Coleman, The Black Lillies, The Brother Brothers, The Gibson Brothers, The Harris Brothers, The InterACTive Theatre of Jeff, The Kruger Brothers, The Local Boys, The Trailblazers, The Waybacks, Todd Albright, Tom Feldmann, Tony Williamson, Valerie Smith & Liberty Pike, Wayne Henderson, Webb Wilder, and Yarn.

Additional performers for MerleFest 2019 will be announced in the coming months. The lineup and performance schedule are accessible via MerleFest.org/lineup.

Applications for the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest are now open with entries accepted through Feb. 1. Named after the one-time sidekick of Ricky Skaggs, the contest remembers Chris Austin, a renowned singer and instrumentalist. After Austin lost his life in a tragic plane crash, individuals close to him created CASC to help keep our memory of him and his music alive. An esteemed contest for aspiring songwriters, CASC is credited for helping up-and-coming talent gain exposure. Applicants will have their songs heard by some of Nashville’s most prominent music industry professionals, including host Jim Lauderdale. Categories for consideration include bluegrass, general, gospel, and country. The winners will perform at a showcase during MerleFest on Friday, and first place winners receive $600 in cash and performance slots during the festival. Net proceeds from the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest help support the WCC Chris Austin Memorial Scholarship which has, since its inception, helped 84 students and awarded over $34,600. For more information, please click here.

Tickets for next year’s festival, as well as the Late Night Jam presented by The Bluegrass Situation, may be purchased at www.MerleFest.org or by calling 1-800-343-7857. MerleFest offers a three-tiered pricing structure and encourages fans to take advantage of the extended early bird discount. Early Bird Tier 1 tickets may be purchased until February 17, 2019 and Early Bird Tier 2 tickets will be available February 18 to April 24. Remaining tickets will be sold at the gate during the festival.

About MerleFest

About Window World

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