The Music of MerleFest

Doc Watson calls his music "traditional plus." He has spun blues, bluegrass, old-time, gospel, and folk music into a sound millions recognize and enjoy. Merle quickly moved from guitar to bluegrass banjo to old-time banjo to slide guitar, becoming a master of a dozen styles before he was twenty-five. From its start, MerleFest has tried to reflect this diversity and present new sounds inspired by these traditions as well.

Inspired by the success of MerleFest, during the summer of 1995 a new airplay chart entered the pages of The Gavin Report, a respected, critically important, 40-years old weekly publication for radio in the United States. Called the "Americana" chart, it provided an outlet for a wide variety of acoustic and roots music to demonstrate their popularity. Another way of saying "tradition plus," Americana includes bluegrass, alternative country, blues, Celtic, folk, old-time, singer-songwriter, and additional roots music genres.

Tim O'Brien asserted at a 1996 IBMA seminar that Americana music existed long before the chart or name. The Americana "validates what I have been trying to do for a long time. It's more concrete evidence that you're achieving the goals you set for yourself.... If you do what you like to do and they like what you do, then there's nothing you have to do out of the ordinary....I feel fortunate to fit in." O'Brien cited the Del McCoury Band's covers of Robert Cray and Tom Petty songs as examples of music that fits Americana radio without compromising McCoury's hard-driving bluegrass sound.

"It's about substance over style," said Jon Grimson of CounterPoint Music. "I refuse to believe that this music is not commercially viable. It's the best music." As an Americana promotions person he can work with artists that fit what the station plays, instead of pushing singles single-mindedly. "This is the music that keeps their listeners listening. Americana implies traditions about America, a certain aesthetic...This music does all work together. This music all works together at the Merle Watson Festival live."