On The Banks Of The Yadkin: Folk And Bluegrass
Videos by American Songwriter
Wilkesboro, North Carolina, lies about an hour west of Winston-Salem, not too far from the Tennessee and Virginia borders. It’s a small town of about 3,000 people, often overshadowed by the slightly larger North Wilkesboro across the Yadkin River. For decades it was best known – if the town was known at all – as the setting for the Kingston Trio’s 1958 hit “Tom Dooley,” which was based on a local incident: In 1868, a former Confederate soldier and Wilkesboro resident named Tom Dula was indicted for the murder of his fiancée, Laura Foster. Many doubted his guilt, but he was still hanged for the crime. The Kingston Trio’s song sold more than 3 million copies and was the number-one single in five countries.
Wilkesboro’s population balloons by tens of thousands every spring when the town hosts the annual MerleFest, an enormous multi-day festival celebrating traditional acoustic music. There are several such festivals in the state, including the International Bluegrass Association’s annual conference in Raleigh and the Mountain Song Festival inBrevard (which is organized by the Steep Canyon Rangers), but MerleFest is the granddaddy of them all. For more than a quarter of a century, it regularly attracts around 75,000 fans to Wilkes Community College.
It’s hard to believe such a popular event has its roots in tragedy. Born in 1923, Arthel “Doc” Watson was not only one of the state’s best guitar pickers, but he helped expose traditional American folk music to an international audience in the 1960s, thanks to a career-making performance at the 1963 Newport Folk Festival and a string of widely influential albums that followed – including 1966’s Southbound, which proved he could write new folk tunes as well as he could interpret old ones.
Joining him on that album and many others was his son, Merle Watson, whom Doc named after his country music hero, Merle Travis. For two decades, the pair recorded and toured together almost constantly, sharing stages around the world and influencing new generations of folk artists. But in October 1985, Merle, then 36 years old, was killed in a tractor accident on the family farm in Lenoir, North Carolina. His family – and especially his father and musical partner – were devastated by the loss. In 1987, the Watsons began planning a small concert to raise money for a memorial garden at Wilkes Community College.
The inaugural event in 1988 featured Earl Scruggs (of the legendary bluegrass duo Flatt & Scruggs), country singer George Hamilton IV, and the Moody Brothers. It was supposed to be a one-time event, but it soon blossomed into an annual festival with an international audience. Today, nearly everyone associated with North Carolina traditional music has played MerleFest at least once. Recent lineups have included a new crop of string bands, including Chatham County Line from Raleigh and the Avett Brothers from Concord.
One man in particular is a regular on the festival stage: Del McCoury has played multiple times over the last 25 years, usually with his crack backing band, one of the best in bluegrass. Originally born in York, Pennsylvania, he grew up in Bakersville, North Carolina, where he first picked up an acoustic guitar. It would soon become his livelihood, as he starting playing up and down the East Coast as a teenager. One of his first gigs was playing with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in the early 1960s, where he sharpened his chops of rhythm guitar. Known for his sharp suits and silver pompadour, he has been leading his own Del McCoury Band for nearly 50 years, yet his recording output has not slowed in the least. In fact, his 2013 album The Streets Of Baltimore, based loosely on his experiences as a solo musician, may be one of his best releases.
In 2012, he had a piece of the state named after him. If you’re traveling down Hwy. 261 in Mitchell County, you’re traveling down Del McCoury Highway.
