Past winners include Ashley Heath and Her Heathens, Fireside Collective

Boone, North Carolina-based musician Shay Martin Lovette found himself in good company late Saturday afternoon during MerleFest.

A perennially favorite of those interested in seeking out new music, the MerleFest Band Competition pits up-and-coming artists against each other in a competition that plays out live on The Plaza Stage near Lowe’s Hall on the Wilkes Community College campus.

This year’s band competition finalists included Lovette, Pretty Little Goat (Brevard, NC), None of the Above (Piedmont Triad, NC), Brooks Forsyth (Boone, NC), Alex Key and the Locksmiths (Wilkesboro, NC), Massive Grass (Wilmington, NC), Redleg Husky (Asheville, NC), and The Mike Mitchell Band (Floyd, Virginia).  

Once the last note of a fiddle string drifted away, the guitars were stored in their cases and the judges had cast their ballots, it was announced that Lovette had won the competition and the opportunity to play on the festival’s coveted Cabin Stage in a prime-time performance slot in front of more than 10,000 Merlefest fans, following blues great Keb’ Mo’ and preceding bluegrass legend Sam Bush.

Lovette and his band performed “Heat Lightning,” “Wherever You Roam,” and “Parkway Bound” in the competition. When they hit the Cabin Stage, they added two new songs, “First Day Here” and “Promenade.”

Learn more about Lovette at www.shaymartinlovette.com.

Lovette joined the ranks of other talented band contest winners who include Ashley Heath and Her Heathens (2018), The Trailblazers (2017) and Fireside Collective (2016).  

For the uninitiated MerleFest is a celebration of Americana, bluegrass, folk, roots, blues, country, gospel and more music that the late, great Deep Gap musician Doc Watson would qualify as “traditional plus” music. During the four-day festival, MerleFest also offers a songwriting competition — Chris Austin Songwriting Contest — for up-and-coming songwriters to have their music heard by Nashville songwriters.