Merlefest Announces Line-Up

Merlefest, the annual folk music festival held in Wilkesboro, N.C., has announced its 2009 line-up.

Merlefest, the annual folk music festival held in Wilkesboro, N.C., has announced its 2009 line-up.

Merlefest 2009 will showcase a great number and variety of musicians in a four-day celebration of cross-generation, cross-genre traditional and roots music. The event, which will take place April 23-26 on the campus of Wilkes Country Community College, has booked over 90 acts on 15 stages. According to festival director Ted Hagaman, however, the roster is not set in stone yet. “MerleFest is known for surprises and special moments,” he said. “We still have a couple of things in the works, so we encourage MerleFest fans to keep checking our website (http://www.merlefest.org/) for updates to our talent line up.”

The festival, now in its 22nd year, is hosted by folk legend Doc Watson in honor of his son Eddy Merle Watson and the Watson family’s contribution to American music. As the largest folk festival in the United States, it has become famous for its unique display of what Watson calls “traditional-plus” music- the traditional folk sounds of Appalachia complemented with spontaneous jamming and new musical collaborations.

Tickets will go on sale Tuesday, November 11th at 2:00 p.m. EST. Purchases can be made at www.merlefest.org, or by calling 1-800-343-7857. Check out the festival website for the full artist line-up, to sign up for the MerleFest e-newsletter, and for volunteer opportunities.

A few highlights in the line-up are:

Doc Watson
Richard Watson
Sam Bush
Tony Rice
The SteelDrivers
The Carolina Chocolate Drops
The Circuit Riders
Donna The Buffalo
The Duhks
Emmylou Harris
Del McCoury Band
The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band
Travis Tritt and Jerry Douglas