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Tag Archives: The Trailblazers


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MerleFest announces 11th Annual Band Competition participants

MerleFest will host its 11th Annual Band Competition, where eight talented finalists will compete for the opportunity to perform on MerleFest’s iconic Hillside Stage.

The competition performances will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Saturday, April 25, on the Plaza Stage with the winner announced at 4:30 p.m.

The competition provides a platform for bluegrass, Americana, and old-time bands to gain exposure, with the winner earning a prestigious slot at 11 a.m.on the Hillside Stage on Sunday, April 26.

Past winners of the MerleFest Band Competition include Mama & The Ruckus (2025), Melissa McKinney (2024), The Burnett Sisters Band & Colin Ray (2022), Will Easter and Shay Martin Lovette (2019). The competition, often featuring roots-oriented talent, has also seen winning artists such as Ashley Heath & Her Heathens, Fireside Collective, The Trailblazers and Into the Fog. 

The 2026 band competition will feature:

Crystal Fountains (Charlotte, NC)

Fancy & The Gentlemen (Asheville, NC)

The Ghosts of Liberty (Oak Ridge, NC)

Honey Magpie (Chapel Hill, NC)

Kyle Horton (Banner Elk, NC)

Nick & Brew (Asheville, NC)

Pressley Laton (Boone, NC)

Stone & Snow (Cincinnati, Ohio)

For tickets and more information visit https://merlefest.org/


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MerleFest announces 2019 band competition finalists

The fifth annual MerleFest Band Competition will take place from 11 a.m to 3:30 p.m. on the Plaza Stage on Saturday, April 27.
This year’s band competition finalists include Shay Martin Lovette (Boone, NC), 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).
Past winners include Ashley Heath and Her Heathens from Asheville (2018), The Trailblazers (2017) and Fireside Collective (2016).

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Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival announces area ticket locations for 7th annual festival set for Sept. 8, 2018

From the good folks over at the Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival:

 

MOCKSVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA – Organizers for the seventh annual Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival announced statewide locations for purchasing tickets to the Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, event featuring musical artists Alison Brown, Bobby Hicks and Mark Kuykendall and Asheville Bluegrass, Song of the Mountains emcee Tim White and Troublesome Hollow, Fireside Collective, The Snyder Family Band, The Trailblazers, and Dwight Hawkins.

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The Kruger Brothers’ Carolina in the Fall 2018 announces expanded lineup

This just in from the good folks over at Carolina in the Fall Music and Food Festival:

The fourth annual Carolina in the Fall Music and Food Festival set for Sept. 21-22, 2018, in downtown Wilkesboro, North Carolina, has expanded its powerful lineup of entertainment to include The Secret Sisters, Jim Lauderdale, Front Country and Humming House, among others. These artists will join festival hosts The Kruger Brothers and The Steel Wheels, The Roosevelts, Fireside Collective, The Contenders, Snyder Family Band, The Arcadian Wild, Nikki Talley and more than 100 other musicians, chefs, vintners and craft beer brewers from the region.

The complete lineup is available online at www.carolinainthefall.org.

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Grammy-award winning Alison Brown to headline 7th annual Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival on Sept. 8, 2018

From the good folks over at the Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival in Mocksville, North Carolina:

The seventh annual Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival lineup has been announced and includes the greatest number of performing artists in the one-day event’s history including Grammy-award winning Alison Brown, according to organizers. Continue reading →


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George Hage of Jack the Radio to perform free, acoustic set at Muddy Creek Cafe on Friday, Aug. 18

George Hage, of Raleigh-based indie rockers Jack the Radio fame, will make a slight departure from the band’s bigger sound by performing a solo, acoustic set from 7-9 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 18, at the Muddy Creek Cafe, 5455 Bethania Road, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The event is free and open to the public.

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Must-see fresh faces at MerleFest 2017, band competition returns

From the good folks at MerleFest:

WILKESBORO, N.C. (March 14, 2017) – For 30 years, MerleFest, presented by Window World, has been known for discovering new talent in American roots music. From Old Crow Medicine Show to Gillian Welch, the Avett Brothers to Tift Merritt, many artists’ careers blossom after their breakout performances at MerleFest, where outstanding talent enthralls the festival’s many music enthusiasts. This year’s celebration, slated for April 27-30, will introduce what Steve Johnson, MerleFest artist relations manager, calls “must-see talent discoveries” made during his travels around the globe this past year. Johnson has identified 10 of these artists who will perform at MerleFest 2017.

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