The History of MerleFest

It all began with a gardener who wanted to raise funds for gardens on the campus of a rural North Carolina Community College and a community of musicians who wanted to honor the memory of a fallen friend and his musician father. It grew to an internationally renowned music festival and fundraiser that contributes more than $17 million to the region. It's MerleFest.

Before he was MerleFest Executive Director, "B" Townes began his career at Wilkes Community College in the horticulture department. Driven by the goal of raising funds to improve the campus' gardens, Townes had the idea to hold a concert in the fall of 1987 as a fundraiser. It was going to be a "one time, one night, one man show."

Townes recruited Ala Sue Wyke, a WCC Gardens board member, and Bill Young, a retired banker from Northwestern Bank and a first class guitar picker who happened to have a friend named Doc Watson. In October of 1987, the three met with Doc Watson who generously agreed to do the concert in the John A. Walker Community Center and had a November date available for the event. "That was less than a month away," remembers Townes. "I naively said, 'great,' and then learned the next morning from Bud Mayes, the management of the center, that you do not simply decide to have a concert today and fill up all of those 1,100 seats tomorrow!"

Doc's wife RosaLee and daughter Nancy suggested a festival to be held at the end of April. At that suggestion, the group began planning a two-day, multiple artist event for Saturday, April 30 and Sunday, May 1, 1988 with all proceeds going to the Eddy Merle Watson Memorial Garden for the Senses.

Townes focused on the logistics of organizing a festival while more and more of Doc and Merle's musician friends committed to play the festival and soon the group had a sold out event. "We began to feel frustration... because we had all these people... wanting to attend the concert," said Townes. "I spoke to Cliff Miller... and he suggested another site and having multiple venues." The first festival was held over two days on two stages with a schedule that was written literally hours before the artists performed and a workshop was held in the Pit Auditorium.

The 1988 event featured Doc, Earl Scruggs and fiddler Jim Shumate, Tony Rice, Chet Atkins, Grandpa Jones and daughter Alisa, Marty Stuart, Mike Cross, New Grass Revival, David Holt, Jack Lawrence, the Smith Sisters, John Hartford, Mark O'Conner, Jerry Douglas, George Hamilton IV, and others. That first year was a truly special one explained Sam Bush to MerleFest's hometown newspaper the Wilkes Journal-Patriot in January 2001, "Since it hadn't been long since Merle had passed away our thoughts that first year were... centered on wanting to be with the Watson family to celebrate Merle's life."

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