Jamming with Friends

When the board of directors at Wilkes Community College talked about doing a fundraiser back in 1988, one of them said, “Why don’t we do a benefit? I know Doc Watson,” the local Grammy-winning flat picker. Perhaps he would be willing to help out.

Watson was willing, with two conditions. First, he said he would like to do the show in memory of his son Merle, his accompanist who had died just a couple of years earlier in a tragic farming accident.

“And I would like to bring some of my friends,” he said.

RosaLee Watson, Doc’s wife and collaborator, said, “Why don’t you do one of those festivals?” according to Ted Hagaman, the executive director of what is now known worldwide as Merlefest, the annual campus event that has grown to be one of the largest music festivals in the United States.

That first festival was a one-day event; the Eddy Merle Watson Memorial Festival. The lineup began with Chet Atkins, Grandpa Jones and Marty Stuart, but then “more and more started calling, saying, ‘I’d like to do that. They all came for free. They all came to do that for Doc and for Merle,” Hagaman said.

When it was all said and done, the first concert featured scores of performers, including Vince Gill, Bela Fleck, Earl Scruggs and Emmylou Harris.

“No one had the vision” that this event would continue, year after year. “Nobody had a clue,” Hagaman said.

Over three decades later, Merlefest serves as an annual homecoming for musicians and music fans who flock to the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, for four days every April.

“That first festival turned out to be successful, and we thought, ‘Maybe we ought to try to do that again.’ Doc bought into it. Now - 32 years later - it’s our job to keep it going; to continue the traditions that were started: the family values, the safe environment, the quality event. All those things don’t just happen with the wave of a magic wand,” Hagaman said.

Volunteer Driven

“We’ll use over 4,000 volunteers in a year’s time period. There is no way we could do what we do without those people,” Hagaman said. “They come from all over the world; we actually have people come from foreign countries to volunteer for the festival.”

Volunteers work throughout the year on planning, but “about 600 participate during the festival,” he said.

Funds from the festival are used for a variety of college efforts, Hagaman said. “We have several scholarship programs that we do. A portion of the money goes into each scholarship each year. We also do capital projects. We’re working on a culinary department now,” funded by proceeds from the music festival.

The money earned through the festival “is plowed into the college”to benefit the people of the community. “It is no secret to anybody that state funds are limited” for higher education, he said. “One of the reasons our college continues to receive high marks is because of Merlefest” and the financial support the school can rely on as a result of the festival.

Hagaman said more than $14 million has been raised and plowed back into the school over the course of 32 years. “It’s helped us get through tough economic times,” he said.

A place to jam

The festival hosts numerous artists and crafters every April. The musicians perform on 13 stages stretched across the college campus.

Vendors are situated in a centrally located shopping village called the Shoppes at MerleFest. There, visitors can find commercial vendors, official MerleFest memorabilia, and services such as first aid, lost and found, overnight storage, internet access and a charging station.

The R&R Tent is located within the Little Pickers Family Area, providing a place for guests to sit down and relax, and for children, accompanied by a parent, to nap.

The festival also offers a place for regular people to jam. the MerleFest Jam Camp is a combination of classroom and personal instruction by experienced teachers. Jam Camp is offered the Monday through Thursday of MerleFest week. Participants are grouped with others according to experience and do a lot of jamming, sometimes guided, sometimes on their own.

There is also a stage for pickers and jammers. The Pickin’ Place is a venue devoted to pickin’ and grinnin’. Included in The Pickin’ Place are the Traditional Jammin’ Tent, Bluegrass Jammin’ Tent, Anything Goes Jammin’ Tent and Hands-On Tent.

Ticket holders can bring their acoustic instrument to this area, hosted by the Wilkes Acoustic Folk Society, and pick to their heart’s content.

Something for all

“We asked Doc one time to describe the music of Merlefest. He said it was traditional-plus; Traditional music of the region, “plus anything else I want to play.”

What that meant over the years is that “we have a very diverse program, hopefully something for everyone,” Hagaman said.

“It is a safe, quality, family environment. That’s an unusual environment for a music festival,” he said, and one critical factor is that no alcohol is sold.

“We have a lot of artists that tell us our fans and our crowds are different,” Hagaman said. They know that, “when you come to Merlefest, the people are focused on music. I think it puts a little kind of different pressure on the artist” because the crowd is not relying on alcohol to fuel their fandom.

“It’s really telling to see how things progressed through the years. Number one, we are a college campus. We’ve always tried to keep in mind what our customer is telling us. We’ve always tried to find ways to make the festival better. We are always working to improve the quality, to move people faster. Where do we need to place garbage cans? Where do we place the porta-johns? Not where we want to put them, but where do the need to be?” Hagaman said.

“We involve a lot of our students and student clubs in Merlefest. They are raising money for their club to do things throughout the year,”Hagaman said.

“They’re dealing with the public. They’ve got three food booths. All of the beverage stations are handled by our culinary students. Each club has a resonsibility, and they definitely benefit from the festival,” he said.

Beyond earning funds for club activities, “it’s important that they understand the importance of volunteerism,” he said.

Keeping it affordable

“People may look at our lineup or at our ticket prices and say ‘I can’t come,” Hagaman said, but the festival is set up to help people get in no matter their economic situation.

“You can volunteer: Work a four-hour shift and then get to enjoy the rest of the day for free,” he said.

“Merlefest is a great value, if you compare it to all the other festivals. We have free parking; free shuttle to the door; free guides; kids 12 and under get in free with a paid adult. The kids’ area, all that’s free. We try to keep this affordable for people to come in and enjoy. People can bring their own food, though we do offer a plethora of choices,” he said.

While tent camping is not allowed on campus, “there is a lot of camping just offsite.”

‘Our Summer Camp’

Hagaman said many musicians like to come to Merlefest because they get to jam with their friends. “Sam Bush at one time said, ‘This is our summer camp. We can do something different.’”

Many of the acts “stay as long as they can” because of the opportunity to visit and jam with other musicians. “We love that, because we do try to plan some of the collaborations. 

It’s always interesting to see what happens.”

Learn more at merlefest.com.

Stellar line up

This year’s Merlefest is April 25-28 at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Headliners include Brandi Carlile, who electrified the Grammy Awards this year as she took home three awards; four-time Americana Music Honors & Awards winners The Avett Brothers; Amos Lee, whose Mission Bell album topped the Billboard charts; Wynonna & the Big Noise, fronted by iconic country singer Wynonna Judd; 13-time IBMA winners Dailey & Vincent; 2018 Americana Music Honors & Awards emerging artist of the year Tyler Childers; four-time Grammy winner Keb’ Mo’; four-time IBMA mandolin player of the year recipient Sam Bush; Grammy winners The Earls of Leicester Grammy winner Peter Rowan with his four-piece band The Free Mexican Air Force; Grammy and IBMA award winners the Steep Canyon Rangers; Grammy and IBMA award winners the Del McCoury Band; four-time Grammy winner David Holt; 2014  Americana Music Association Duo/Group of the Year the Milk Carton Kids; Jim Lauderdale, whose 2002 collaboration with Ralph Stanley won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album; and 14-time Grammy winner Jerry Douglas.