MerleFest returns to Wilkesboro, North Carolina for the 36th year. Old Crow Medicine Show, Turnpike Troubadours, and more are on the initial lineup.
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The four-day event will take place on the campus of Wilkes Community College from April 25-28, 2004. Next year’s newly-announced lineup is in keeping with MerleFest’s tradition of celebrating longstanding folk, country, and Americana acts while illuminating up-and-comers in the scene.
[RELATED: Old Crow Medicine Show: Traveling Through Time & Space]
MerleFest began in 1988 to memorialize the late Eddy Merle Watson, son of folk hero Doc Watson. Additionally, the festival served as a fundraiser for the community college as well as a celebration of “traditional plus” music.
According to the official MerleFest website, Doc Watson gave the most fitting description of the event’s spirit. “When Merle and I started out we called our music ‘traditional plus,’ meaning the traditional music of the Appalachian region plus whatever other styles we were in the mood to play,” Watson said. “Since the beginning, the people of the college and I have agreed that the music of MerleFest is ‘traditional plus.’”
[RELATED: Turnpike Troubadours’ Evan Felker on Conquering His Fears and the Art of Songwriting]
Next year’s lineup is a solid example of that philosophy. Acts like Old Crow Medicine Show and Turnpike Troubadours embrace traditional music. OCMS leans into Appalachian traditional music while the Oklahoma-based Troubadours find their roots in Western-tinged Red Dirt. Other additions such as Sam Bush and Jerry Douglas also straddle the line between traditional and modern.
[Related: MerleFest And The Memory Of Doc Watson]
Ticket packages are on sale now on the MerleFest website.
MerleFest 2024 Initial Lineup
Thursday, April 25
Old Crow Medicine Show
Steep Canyon Rangers
Donna the Buffalo
Banknotes
Flattop
Pete and Joan Wernick
Presley Parker
Roy Book Binder
Friday, April 26
Turnpike Troubadours
Jerry Douglas
The Earls of Leicester
Shinyribs
Peter Rowan
Scythian
Donna the Buffalo
Jim Lauderdale
Kruger Brothers
Chatham County Line
Chatham Rabbits
Willi Carlisle
The Waybacks
Buffalo Nichols
Alexa Rose
Andy May
Ashes & Arrows
Carol Rifkin
Flattop
The InterACTive Theater of Jef
Joe Smothers
Josh Goforth
Keri Crouse
Kyshona
Laura Boosinger
The Local Boys
Mark Bumgarner
Mitch Greenhill & Mitch’s Kitchen
Pete and Joan Wernick
Presley Parker
T. Michael Coleman
Uwade
Wayne Henderson
Saturday, April 27
The Teskey Brothers
Sam Bush
Jerry Douglas
Peter Rowan
Scythian
Donna the Buffalo
Jim Lauderdale
Kruger Brothers
Darin & Brooke Aldridge
John McEuen
Adeem the Artist
The Waybacks
Nefresh Mountain
Them Coulee Boys
Jake Kohn
Andy May
Ashes & Arrows
B Townes
Banknotes
Charles Welch
Flattop
Gravity Check Juggling
The InterACTive Theater of Jef
Jack Lawrence
Jeff Little Trio
JigJam
Joe Smothers
Josh Goforth
Ken Crouse
Laura Boosinger
The Local Boys
Mark Bumgarner
Mitch Greenhill & Mitch’s Kitchen
Pete & Joan Wenick
Presley Barker
Roy Book Binder
The Silent Comedy
T. Michael Coleman
Tony Williamson
Sunday, April 28
Nickle Creek
Peter Rowan
Donna the Buffalo
Jim Lauderdale
The Sensational Barnes Brothers
Palmyra
Andy May
Carol Rifkin
Charles Welch
Flattop
Goldpine
Gravity Check Juggling
The InterACTive Theater of Jef
Jeff Little Trio
Laura Boosinger
The Local boys
Pete and Joan Wenick
Roy Book Binder
Wayne Henderson
Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Stagecoach
