With more than 75,000 music lovers in attendance - a great many with video recorders of some kind - it should come as no surprise that dozens of videos shot at Merlefest 2008 have popped up on YouTube.

Of course at such an eclectic festival, the offerings range from old time bluegrass…

…to more experimental string music…

… to the truly bizarre.

See them all on YouTube.

If you weren’t among the reported 76,000 in attendance at Merlefest last weekend, you can get a taste of the proceedings online. Our friend Ted Lehmann has dozens of photos posted on his blog, Bluegrass, Books, and Brainstorms.

Ted was on hand Tuesday through Sunday, and captured acts from the many stage shows, as well as the Pete Wernick jam camp and pre-festival jamming.

See all his fine photos at tedlehmann.blogspot.com.

Brance mentioned last month - just ahead of the Merlefest weekend - that a number of live onlive audio streams would be available from the festival, and that audio archives would be available as well after the fact.

You can find these archives at Martha’s Vineyard Radio (mvyradio.com) where a mix of stage shows, workshops, jams and interviews from Merlefest 2007 are listed alphabetically.

With the far ranging musical diversity that is a Merlefest trademark, you can expect to find sets from some of your favorite acts and also discover something new. Bluegrass and acoustic music fans will surely be interested in the performances from headliners like Sam Bush, Cherryholmes, Del McCoury, Doyle Lawson, Peter Rowan and The Nashville Bluegrass Band.

Some special highlights are the guitar mini-concert with Bryan Sutton and Chris Eldridge, multiple performances by The Infamous Stringdusters and Uncle Earl, a set by Crooked Still and one by The Lovell Sisters.

Songwriters get their due as well, with a open mic set from Mark “Brink” Brinkman and Chris Austin Bluegrass Songwriting contest winner Jeanette Williams.

There are hours of great live music at the mvyradio.com Merlefest 2007 audio archives. Set some time aside and sample the sounds.

Merlefest 2007 begins this week. I’m sure this year will see another large crowd at the festival, but what about those of us that can’t make it? Well this year, we can listen in online.

All week long mvyradio.com will be broadcasting all weekend long from the festival. Thursday through Sunday they will be sprinkling highlights in their daily broadcasts. Sunday night at 10 PM will be a Best of Show from the weekend.

The campus radio station WSIF carries a feed from the main (Watson) stage and this year mvyradio.com will be streaming that feed all weekend long at RadioFreeMerlefest.org. The feed will be live, but if you miss a show you can find the archives of full sets at mvyradio.com and listen to them after the fact. The archives will include shows from other stages in addition to the main stage.

In addition to audio feeds, photos will also be uploaded all weekend long as well. Check the station’s Merlefest page for the photos and audio archives.

Destination festival Merlefest has just announced it’s artist lineup for 2007. The event is scheduled to be held April 26-29, 2007. Tickets will go on sale Tuesday November 14, 2006 at 2:00 PM EST.

Remember that this line up is subject to revision between now and next April. Personally I’m glad to see a nice collection of strait up bluegrass represented at next year’s festival.

WILKESBORO, N.C., Oct. 19 — Ticket sales for MerleFest 2007, the Americana Music Celebration Presented by Lowe’s, will begin on Tuesday, November 14, 2006 at 2:00 PM EST. Wilkes Community College will present MerleFest 2007, the 20th annual festival in celebration of the music of the late Merle Watson and his father Doc Watson, on its campus in Wilkesboro, NC on April 26 - 29, 2007. Those joining Doc Watson and Merle’s son Richard Watson for MerleFest 2007 will include Blue Highway; Sam Bush; Cherryholmes; Elvis Costello; John Cowan Band; Donna The Buffalo; Jerry Douglas; The Duhks; Bela Fleck; Paul Geremia; John Hammond; Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver; Del McCoury Band; Nitty Gritty Dirt Band; Peter Rowan & Tony Rice Quartet; Darrell Scott; the Legendary Earl Scruggs with Family & Friends; Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives; Pam Tillis; The Waybacks; and many others. Starting on November 14th at 2 PM EST, those with Internet access may acquire their tickets easily by visiting http://www.merlefest.org and, if purchasing assigned seats at the Watson Stage, actually pick their seat location on line.

If you don’t want to order online you can call 1-800-343-7857 (US only) or 336-838-6267 (non-US) weekdays. Or, if you’d prefer, you can mail order your tickets at this address:

MerleFest
P.O. Box 120
Wilkesboro, NC 28697

Additional info:

Full Press Release
Volunteer for MerleFest
Vendor info
Sponsorship Inquiries
General information