THROUGH THE LENS: Best Bets for MerleFest 2024

Ninety-seven artists are scheduled to perform across 12 stages at this year’s MerleFest, held April 25-28 on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The 17 artists highlighted below are, with a couple notable exceptions, ones that regular MerleFest-goers may not be that familiar with. Most are first-timers, and all but two play sets that do not require reserved seats to be up close. There is some overlap, timing-wise, but as 15 of the performers play more than one set, with some careful planning you should be able to catch them all.

More acts are featured in this year’s preview than in previous years, and that’s for two reasons. First, while several artists have previously played at MerleFest, their new bands are different enough that they warrant a second, or third, look. Second, this year’s schedule has a more diverse lineup than ever before, one that not only brings new and fresh perspectives on roots and traditional music but in some cases upends the genre altogether.

You can learn more about each of these artists on MerleFest’s artist lineup page. While every effort has been made to correctly list the performers’ schedules, be sure to download the festival app, as last-minute changes are always possible.

Thursday

Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway: Tuttle has appeared at MerleFest before, but her new band takes bluegrass into the stratosphere. Just wait till you hear their take on Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” it’s 1967 all over again, driven by an insistent banjo and a swirling fiddle. 7:15-8:15 p.m., Watson Stage.

Friday

Kyshona: Beginning her career as a music therapist and writing her first songs with patients, Kyshona lends her incredible voice and music to those who feel silenced, forgotten, or alone. 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Americana Stage; 2-2:45 p.m., Watson Stage. 

Colby T. Helms & The Virginia Creepers: Raised in southwest Virginia, Helms melds old-time country with the blues along with some hillbilly shenanigans. 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Walker Center;  Saturday, 12:15-1 p.m., Hillside Stage. 

Corey Harris: Harris brings a great sense of humanity and grace to his interpretation of the blues, mixed with a large dose of reggae. 12:15-12:45 p.m., Cabin Stage; Saturday, 3:20-4:05 p.m., Austin Stage. 

Buffalo Nichols: While Nichols considers himself more of a singer-songwriter than a bluesman, he is, nonetheless, a great provocateur who defies easy categorization. 2-2:45 p.m., Americana Stage; 4:45-5:30 p.m., Cabin Stage. 

Willi Carlisle: Carlisle is both down-home and brainy, with songs that deal with the reckoning and redemption of America. He was ND’s Spotlight Artist for July 2022. 4:15-5 p.m, Dance Stage; 8:15-9 p.m. at Cabin Stage.

Nick Shoulders: With a heady balance of dazzling musicianship and punk defiance, Shoulders is among a crop of new artists who are making country music vital again. 4:30-5:15 p.m., Americana Stage; 6:30-7:15 p.m., Cabin Stage. 

Larkin Poe: It’s been 14 years since Larkin Poe played spirited bluegrass at the fest as the Lovell Sisters, but they’ve cut a wide swath through quite a few genres since then, the latest being blues: They won the 2024 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Expect fireworks. 7:15-8:15 p.m., Watson Stage.

Saturday

Brandy Clark: Clark is the most original voice in country music since Roger Miller. 11-11:45 a.m., Hillside Stage; 9-9:45 p.m., Cabin Stage. 

Jake Kohn: The teenage Kohn sounds as though he came from the darkest and deepest of Appalachian hollers with songs that leave you stunned. 11:15 a.m.-12 p.m., Cabin Stage; 5:45-6 p.m., Traditional Stage. 

Nefesh Mountain: This New York-based progressive bluegrass band also incorporates folk, traditional, Celtic, and Jewish melodies so effervescent they transcend those genres. 12:45-1:30 p.m., Walker Center; 3:15-4 p.m., Traditional Stage.

Missy Raines & Allegheny: The winner of more IBMA bass player awards than anyone in history, Raines’ new band no doubt will be playing songs from their new album, Highlander, which pays homage to her home state of West Virginia. 12:45-1:15 p.m., Cabin Stage; 6:15-7 p.m. at Traditional Stage.  

S.G. Goodman: Following her 2022 Tiny Desk Concert, Kentucky-native Goodman has been on a roll; like Karen Dalton her music is gritty, raw, and unique. 2-2:45 p.m., Americana Stage; 6:45-7:30 p.m., Cabin Stage.

Adeem the Artist: Born in North Carolina but now calling Tennessee home, Adeem, with albums such as Cast Iron Pansexual and White Trash Revelry, has shaken up even the most progressive perceptions of what country music can be. Hopefully, they’ll be previewing songs from their new album, Anniversary (out May 3), which are full of empathy, humor, and introspection. Adeem was ND’s Spotlight Artist for December 2022. Kudos to MerleFest for bringing Adeem home. 3:15-4 p.m., Americana Stage; 5:15-6:15 p.m., Hillside Stage.

Sunday

Palmyra: A trio from Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, Palmyra fuses traditional music with harmonies so lush that they seem to linger in the air long after the well-deserved applause fades. 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Watson Stage; 1:15-2 p.m., Dance Stage.

Twisted Pine: This Boston-based quartet calls itself a spacecraft of a band that used to play bluegrass but now is a genre bender in the spirit of Crooked Still and Nickel Creek. 12:15-12:45 p.m., Cabin Stage; 2:15-3 p.m., Americana Stage. 

Goldpine: This husband-wife Nashville duo, which won the 2022 Rocky Mountain Songwriter Contest, is just as at-home singing the National Anthem at a Kansas City Chiefs game as they are at East Nashville’s fabled 5 Spot bar. 1-1:45 p.m., Americana Stage; 2:45-3:30 p.m., Hillside Stage. 

Click on any photo below to view the gallery as a full-size slideshow.