Bruce,Ricky and Kentucky Thunder-MerleFest-April 26,2008

This was an outstanding show. It took place on the beautiful campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, NC.

The Bruce, Ricky and KT show was only one part of MerleFest, a four day (April 24-27), 14 stage music festival celebrating the life and music of Merle Watson, renowned musician and son of musical patriarch Doc Watson. The festival originated 21 years ago as a tribute to Merle, who died in 1985 as a result of a tractor accident. Proceeds from the event benefit the college and other worthy causes in the surrounding area.

From 1950s ballads and rock and roll, to bluegrass and beyond, April 26 was filled with music. Well-known artists (Bruce Hornsby, Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, The Waybacks, Rhonda Vincent,etc.) and those who may not be household names yet (Riley Baugus, Dirk Powell, The Carolina Chocolate Drops, Polecat Creek,etc.) played during this gathering.

Thunderstorms couldn’t dampen the musicians’ spirits! When rain and lightning erupted around 1:45 pm, all the electrical equipment was safely unplugged and everyone seemed prepared to wait out the storm under the dry tent where we were watching the show. During this “down time” some amateur musicians broke out their instruments and gave an impromptu concert. This led to some spontaneous clogging by some older children. (We were at the Dance Stage, after all…)

Since it appeared the lightning wasn’t going to relent anytime soon, the scheduled band (Polecat Creek) simply decided to huddle together, telling the audience to circle around them. They then proceeded to give a truly ‘unplugged” performance.

The storm finally abated, just in time for the musicians to get plugged in and play 3-4 more songs.

Of course, the gathering had its share of food and merchandise vendors. One of these stands caught my eye. The company was called Blue Moose Coffee. They were selling a drink that contained coffee, pralines and chocolate called the “Moose Hornsby!” Blatant commercialism, yes, but at least they were paying attention to the roster of performers at the event.

Bruce, Ricky and Kentucky Thunder took the “Watson Stage” around 9:10 pm. This is an outdoor stage built to look like the front porch of a rustic mountain log cabin. Because the audience area is so large, a big video screen is located near stage left to allow those sitting far away or on low chairs or blankets to get a view of the musicians. Before playing “Darlin’ Corey,” Bruce told the story of how Ricky and he began playing together. During this tale, Bruce mused that as a result of this collaboration, they ended up on Jay Leno’s late-night show, “Where all 50 year old musicians end up.”

“The Way It Is” featured a great introduction by Bruce, some wonderful two hand independence and interesting interplay between Ricky and Bruce. After this song, Bruce commented on never having to tune a piano during a show, unlike all the other stringed instruments on stage. Ricky replied, “If you play in tune, you won’t be playing like us!”

After playing “The Dreaded Spoon,” Ricky commented, “That’s a mournful song.”

The highlight of “Sally Jo” was a tremendous solo by Bruce.

“The Valley Road,” the show’s finale, was a showcase for all the musicians; they really pulled out all the stops on this song.

Although this was not one of Bruce and Ricky’s longer shows, it was packed with exciting moments and enthusiastic musicianship.

Jackie