Sam Bush - Music City Music Magazine

MerleFest 2026 Delivers

Liz FerrellMay 4, 2026May 6, 20260

You know you’re at a pretty special event when the Avett Brothers show up unannounced. By the morning of Saturday, April 25th, the 38th annual MerleFest had already offered up two days of uncommonly gorgeous weather, lawn games, fair food, and some of the best music on the planet....

Sam Bush and Tim O’Brien @ Harken Hall

Nancy PoseyOct 24, 2025October 24, 20250

Madison’s Harken Hall, open less than a year, may be a little off the beaten path for a Nashville area music venue, but with its lovely stone-and-wood-beamed construction and ample free parking, the hall offers an attractive and comfortable setting for live music. On Wednesday, October 22, bluegrass legends Sam...

A Rookie’s Guide to MerleFest

Nancy PoseyApr 23, 2024January 11, 20261

You’ve been promising yourself you’d make it to MerleFest for years. Now you’ve committed. You have your four-day pass (because who would want to miss a daylight?) Now what? WEATHER Expect all four seasons in one day. The end of April in the South is the epitome of fickleness. It...

MERLEFEST 2024 ANNOUNCES INITIAL LINEUP

Nancy PoseyNov 14, 2023November 14, 20230

Organizers for MerleFest, the annual music festival held at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, NC, announced to day the initial lineup for next year’s even, scheduled for April 25–28, 2024. Going into its 36th year, MerleFest was founded by the music legend Doc Watson as a tribute to his son,...

DAY 4 OF MERLEFEST 2023:

Nancy PoseyMay 9, 2023January 11, 20260

Sunday morning at MerleFest each year begins with a Sunday morning devotional, this year led by Jeff Little Trio featuring gospel songs of Doc Watson, and Laura Boosinger offered a set of shape-note singing. Festival-goers got another chance to see the Po’ Ramblin’ Boys, Mike Compton and Joe Newberry, and...

Chris Castino and Chicken Wire Empire: Fresh Pickles

Nancy PoseyJan 2, 20220

Fresh Pickles, Chris Castino’s upcoming release with Chicken Wire Empire, is less a departure from his career with the jam band The Big Wu than a return to his earlier influences. Castino admits that when he started writing songs, he was new to bluegrass. He credits his heightened interest to...

SAM BUSH TO PLAY AT MARATHON MUSIC WORKS

Nancy PoseyJan 11, 2020January 17, 20200

Sam Bush appears at Marathon Music Works on Saturday, January 11, with the Travelin’ McCourys, as part of his “Stop the Violence Tour.” The title song, cowritten with Jeff Black, is his first studio release since 2016. Bush told interviewers the song is “politically neutral” but expresses his concern about...