|
MERLEFEST 2004 Draws Record
Audience of 82,500
WILKESBORO, NC: An extraordinary line-up greeted
record crowds to MerleFest 2004, the 17th annual
festival in celebration of the music of the late Merle Watson and
his father Doc Watson. Wilkes Community College presented the
event on April 29 May 2 on its campus in Wilkesboro, NC.
MerleFest again drew an enormous, well behaved, and appreciative
audience with a preliminary estimated total participation
including volunteers and school children of 82,500. This exceeds
MerleFest 2002's record 78,294 by more than 4000 and surpasses
last year’s 77,359 by 5.5%. Paid attendance increased by 12%
over 2003 with gains of 23% in Friday-only tickets, 12% for
Saturday only, and 7% for three- and four-day tickets. Wilkes
Community College will present MerleFest 2005 on April 28
May 1, 2005.
MerleFest 2004 offered food, crafts, family and children’s’
activities, and performances by nearly 100 Americana music acts,
including Doc Watson and Merle’s son Richard, the Sam Bush Band,
Rosanne Cash, the Derailers, Donna the Buffalo, Béla Fleck &
Edgar Meyer, Vince Gill, the Gourds, David Grisman Quintet, Hot
Tuna, Indigo Girls, the Kruger Brothers, Patty Loveless, Natalie
MacMaster, Nickel Creek, Tim O’Brien, Mark O’Connor’s Hot
Swing Trio, Reeltime Travelers, Tony Rice Unit, Savoy Doucet Cajun
Band, Earl Scruggs with Family & Friends, the WAiFS, and
Gillian Welch. A surprise appearance on Sunday by Led Zeppelin
bassist John Paul Jones with the John Cowan Band delighted the
audience.
A very preliminary estimate calculates that the regional
economic impact of MerleFest 2004 will reach roughly $15 million.
MerleFest 2003 had an estimated impact of $12,286,799, a year
after 2002’s record $15,045,673. Proceeds from MerleFest have
permitted Wilkes Community College to make numerous capital
improvements, including the Eddy Merle Watson Memorial Garden for
the Senses, the Doc & Merle Watson Theatre, fiber-optic wiring
for the campus, and the endowment of scholarships for its
students.
Si Kahn, Kelly Willis, Carol Elizabeth Jones, and Martha Scanlan
judged the finals of the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest,
which attracted 889 entries, 95 more than 2003. First round
judging from submitted recordings produced twelve finalists who
competed with the following results. General Category Finalists
(325 entries): First: “Granddaddy” by A.J. Roach, Oakland,
CA; Second: “Talk Radio” by Michael Troy, Somerset, MA; Third:
“Show Them” by Kristin Cifelli, Boston, MA. Country
Category Finalists (271): First: “Forgiveness”
by Sarah Hawker, Jersey City, NJ; Second: “Me and My Poodle”
by Stayton Bonner, Austin, TX; Third: “No Need to Say it
Again” by Justin Lute, Columbus, OH. Bluegrass Category
Finalists (188): First: “Adeline” by Mike Finders, Iowa
City, IA; Second: “Rockabye Dixie” by Abigail Washburn &
Beau Stapleton, Nashville, TN; Third: “Dark Clouds” by Dave
Wilson, Raleigh, NC. Gospel Category Finalists (105):
First: “Come By Here,” by Laurelyn Dossett, Greensboro, NC;
Second: “Always Room in His Heart” by Rita Case, Galena, OH;
Third: “A Christmas Tear” by Tommy Austin, Fall Branch, TN.
First place in the Doc Watson Guitar Championship went to
Brandon Bentley of Summerrest, WV, with Brandon Davis from
Independence, VA once again taking second and Philip Anania of
Philadelphia, PA finishing third. William Parsons, Rock, WV,
captured the Merle Watson Bluegrass Banjo Championship.
Donnie Little of Claremont, NC took second with Rock Hill, SC’s
Hank Smith third. 2003 runner-up Scott Pearson from Warren, PA won
the MerleFest Mandolin Contest, followed by Spencer
Strickland, Landsburg, VA and, in third for the second consecutive
year, Josh Pinkham of Odessa, FL.
MerleFest 2004 benefited from partnerships with 94 sponsors,
including major sponsors: Charter Communications, Tyson Foods,
Gibson Musical Instruments, Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouses,
Curtis Media, the Winston-Salem Journal, Pepsi, Burger King,
Hardees/Dermox, iBluegrass & the Acoustic Network, G&B
Energy/C&J LP Gas, JBL, REDGUM Audio, J D’Addario, Fishman
Transducers, Sugar Hill Records, AC Phelps Mandolin & Guitar
Co., WNCW Public Radio, John Pearse Strings, The Musik Room,
Stelling Banjo Works, Taylor Guitars, Collings Guitars, Huss &
Dalton Musical Instruments, Western Beat Entertainment, Fender
Musical Instruments, Sprint, Cedar Creek Custom Case Shoppe, WUNC
Public Radio, Chetola Resort at Blowing Rock, Deering Banjo
Company, and Homespun Tapes. Sponsorship support reached a record
$423,289, including both cash and in-kind contributions.
MerleFest 2004 received extraordinary media attention. A crew from
CNN’s “Aaron Brown Show” spent two days at MerleFest. Triad
TV stations WFMY-2, WGHP-8, and WXII-12 broadcast from MerleFest,
as did Bristol, VA’s WCBY-5. More than a week before its
Thursday start, MerleFest 2004 had received 14,612,381 impressions
in more than 340 published articles in publications from 20 states
and three foreign countries. Public television system UNC-TV
rewarded pledges with 300 MerleFest 2004 tickets. Eighty-nine
radio stations in 16 states and Canada participated in MerleFest
2004 promotions, giving away $54,900 worth of tickets to their
listeners. Including media sponsorships with that total, MerleFest
2004 bartered for $134,682 worth of radio airtime, magazine,
website, newspaper, and cable TV advertising. XM Satellite Radio
again broadcast live from MerleFest, as did campus station WSIF-FM
with underwriting by the Mark O’Connor Fiddle Camp & Strings
Conference.
May 2, 2004
MerleFest Information: 800-343-7857 or www.merlefest.org
Media information:
Art Menius (artmenius@mindspring.com;
919-542-3997, Fax: 240-250-7229).
MerleFest 2005 media credentials should be requested by March 20,
2005.
-30-
Art Menius
Partnership and National Marketing Coordinator, MerleFest
2069 Andrews Store Rd
Pittsboro, NC 27312
919-542-3997
Fax: 240-250-7229
www.merlefest.org
www.mindspring.com/~artmenius/
|