Opening Day at MerleFest 2013 was both spirited and bittersweet on the campus of Wilkes Community College, as tributes to American music icon Doc Watson have just gotten underway during the four-day “traditional plus” music festival – unfortunately, the first without Watson – which he founded in 1987 in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Watson passed away on May 29, 2012 at the age of 89.
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On the aptly-named Watson Stage, the headlining performance stage, two chairs sat just off stage right, one marked “Reserved for Doc Watson” and the other “Reserved for RosaLee Watson”. Video tributes of Watson also played between performances on the Watson Stage, featuring family members remembering Doc, while others featured Watson himself looking back on his revered musical career.
Asheville, North Carolina-based Americana group Dehlia Low opened the festival on Thursday afternoon, followed by progressive bluegrass group The Greencards, based in Austin, Texas, by way of England and Australia.
Rhonda Vincent and the Rage performed on the Watson Stage as the first of the three main headliners on the opening day of MerleFest. Dubbed “The New Queen of Bluegrass” by the Wall Street Journal, the Kirksville, Missouri native Vincent and her band played everything from hits from their sturdy catalogue to gospel hymns and kept the audience cheering and tapping their feet as the evening progressed.
The Banknotes made the nearby Cabin Stage their home for a collaborative set of bluegrass in a tribute to Bill Young, who along with his wife Evelyn, was a personal friend of Doc Watson and a crucial volunteer to helping start MerleFest.
As the sun faded below the trees, Leon Russell had the audience in his hands the minute his fingers touched the keys on his pearly white piano. The Oklahoma-born Russell started out playing nightclubs in Tulsa before heading west to Los Angeles embarking on an incredible music career ever since. Thrilling the MerleFest audience with his piano and familiar vocals, he was backed with fiery solos from lead guitarist Pat Flynn and in a nod to his past, was joined onstage by bluegrass/soul music singer and bassist John Cowan, formerly of the long-running progressive bluegrass group New Grass Revival, whom Russell toured with during the early 1980’s.
After Russell, the New York-based Americana trio Red Molly lit up the Cabin Stage and was graciously welcomed back on their third visit to MerleFest. Comprised of Laurie McAllister (bass and harmony vocals), Abbie Gardner (dobro and harmony vocals), and Molly Venter (guitar and harmony vocals), Red Molly more than proved you don’t need to possess Southern roots to master Southern roots music.
And closing the evening on a high note was the opening night’s main headliner, the renowned country/Southern rock group The Charlie Daniels Band. Daniels, hailing from Wilmington, North Carolina, called his current band lineup the “best group of musicians he’s ever shared the stage with” and the Tarheel crowd showed their appreciation of their talent throughout the performance. Daniels worked up the crowd with his trademark fiddle and bow, as well as some rousing guitar work from fellow band members Chris Wormer, Bruce Brown, Charlie Hayward as well as himself to turn up the heat on the chilly late April night.
Tomorrow the second day action at MerleFest keeps rolling as Gov’t Mule, Del McCoury and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, the Steep Canyon Rangers and many more talented artists take their respective stages. In addition to the performers, several contests begin on the Wilkes Community College campus: The Merle Watson Banjo Contest, the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest, and the Doc Watson Guitar Championship.
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