We here at Americana Rhythm aren’t shy about our affection for Merlefest. The festival that was created 35 years ago (1988), to celebrate the life of Doc Watson’s son, Merle, after his life was tragically cut short in a farm tractor accident – It’s the festival that inspired us to create this magazine almost 20 years ago. It was the ...

It’s been 35 years since Doc Watson helped create a festival to honor the life if his son Merle that was tragically cut short. That first event was held on a flatbed trailer stage in 1988, then titled the Eddy Merle Watson Memorial Festival. Today, MerleFest draw thousands of fans from all over the world to the foothills of the ...

It’s the world premier release of “River N’ Me,” the latest single from Arkansas Americana group Ten Penny Gypsy. The song is an infectious, acoustic skiffle that enthusiastically pays homage to the classic American Roots music of the early 20th century. Recorded as a studio outtake from the group’s “Fugitive Heart” sessions, the song has become a fan favorite, and ...

Guest article by Sherry Nelson The moment he walks out on stage in his black leather vest, black cowboy hat, and signature Jennings swagger, a palpable energy builds in the air. It is that iconic sound of plangent tones that for generations has cut deep into the soul and hearts of music fans all across the world. He is Whey ...

Winter solstice is the shortest day and the longest night of the year. It’s on December 21st, and celebrated all around the world by many different people in many different ways. One of the celebrations is called Make Music Winter, spearheaded by Make Music Alliance and presented by the NAMM Foundation. In nearly 35 cities across the nation, communities will ...

There is a pastry shop in the next town over from where I live. Whenever they pull a fresh tray of donuts from their oven, they light a little sign in their window that reads, “Hot and Ready”. That sign came to my mind recently when I visited the dance tent at Merlefest in Wilksboro, NC. At that tent, I ...

Did you ever enjoy something so much that you wanted it to never end? That is the way an Americana string music festival affects me. The season is just getting started for us here at Americana Rhythm and as I return to earth from my trip to Merlefest a month or so ago, I am already itching in anticipation for ...

MerleFest, the annual celebration created in 1988 to honor Merle Watson, the son of the late Doc Watson, is gearing up for their spring festival, and it is shaping up to be a classic. After a successful return from the pandemic stricken music scene this past September (’21), the festival returns to its normal late April spot – April 28th, ...

If you met Allen Shadd at a bluegrass jam or backstage at a festival, you might never guess that he’s breathing rarified air in an elite club of only four people in the world—he has won, three times, the National Flatpicking Guitar Championship in Winfield, Kansas. Shadd carries himself in a casual manner, often pointing out his own perceived weaknesses. ...

[From the dusty, rusty trails of American roads the first steps were taken for the creation of a new music style, the Nordic Americana folk genre. Based on a trip through half of America – the four track EP Dry Wood was shaped. When Danish solo performer and songwriter, Mette Kirkegaard, went on her first trip to New York, she ...