I'm sure our eminent official amateur photographer FLS III will have plenty of good stuff for us on this, but I think he is doing the entire festival so until he's back I'll fill in. Merlefest is a large four-day American roots music festival in western NC.  T played three shows on Saturday--two with the full band, and the last one by herself.  The first was on a covered outdoor stage at the bottom of a hillside to create a natural amphitheater.  It was packed and they rocked.  The second was in a large auditorium (the festival is held on the campus of Wilkes Community College).  It was packed, and they rocked (we almost didn't get in even though we were an hour early).  The third was in a 200-seat theater in another building.  It was packed, and she rocked.  They turned people away both of the indoor shows.  Those of you who are old-timers will appreciate that at the last show, she mentioned having first played Merlefest in 2000, when she won the songwriting competition they hold.  She had Zeke bring her a lyrics cheat sheet and she played the song she won it with--Blue Motel--which she hasn't played in years.  She got through it with no hiccups.  Forrest was thrilled, of course--she also played Bramble Rose, an audience request, as her last encore song, after mentioning that she had debuted most of that reocrd t Merlefest in 2001 before it was released.  She got two standing ovations for that show.  (She got one at the auditorium show too--they didn't allow an encore at that one.) 

Jeffery West sent in some pics, which you can view if you click here.

I'll start with a story, then I'll go back and maybe amplify on Phillip's report:

Tift signed autographs at one of two autograph tables between sets.  I believe the line to get autographs from her was the longest in the history of MerleFest.

Seated at the next table was Tish Hinojosa.  Tish is another singer-songwriter from Texas, but she never moved to N.C. and she sings a lot in Spanish (and none that I know of in French).  Tish now lives in, of all places, Germany.  Tish was one of the main acts I wanted to see at MerleFest, and of course she and Tift were both on separate stages at 5 on Saturday ... but that's not this story.

It occurred to me after I'd gotten Tift to sign my copy of the Durham show poster that I should ask Tish if she knew Tift (she didn't) so I suggested to Zeke that they should make an introduction after the signing (Tish, Tift, such similar names and all).  So Tift finally gets over to Tish's table, and Tish says, "We saw you in Hamburg, we were in your audience," and Tift says, "We've never played in Hamburg."  Tish blushed, she blushes really pretty, she has the nicest dimples and probably the nicest smile in Americana music.

So, yeah, the three sets were all packed, Tift was a bit hit.  Best of all, she really went the extra yard to make it worthwhile to go to all the sets, playing different songs each time.  Even the first two sets, both full band, had different flavors to them and somewhat differenet set lists.  She maybe played a few Another Country songs at all three venues.

I'm partial to Tift solo, so the final set in the Pit (where there was an intriguing incident regarding the lighting I won't go into now, although I will report I was stationed in the lighting control room, merely as a spectator) was extra special.  Not only did Tift do a rare reprise of Blue Motel (I copped the lyric sheet and got her to sign it), she also sang, among other favorites from Bramble Rose, "Trouble Over Me," one of the Best Songs Ever Written.

I only took photos at the Creekside Stage, which is just about the hardest light to shoot in existence.  The stage is darkly shaded, no apparent lighting, and no back on the stage so it is brightly backlit.  I took several (ha ha) shots and have yet to see a decent one.  While I figure I've got enough shots of Tift (okay, not really), Itried to get a good shot of Tish, so I'll let you see her dimples if I got a good view of them.  Oh, yeah, I did get a picture of Tish and Tift together, now that I think of it: one hopes it came out.

Thanks for the excellent reports Phillip & Forrest - one day I will make another NC trip just to visit Merlefest - that is a certainty.

And thanks for the pics to Jeffery West - merci beaucoup!

Can't wait to see Forrest's efforts too - intrigued by the dimples

Meantime here's some hot off the press pics from Flickr folks of Tift @ Merlefest
And some more here

The only other thing to say is... who's that clean-shaven guitarist in Tift's band?

Hey,

   I was at Merlefest at the Creekside 11am Saturday performance and standing outside the small theatre in the hallway to hear the 5pm show at Merlefest in North Wilksboro.For those of you who have never seen Tift live,go to wherever she will be near you this summer after the Europe tour. She embodies the best of the singer-composers be it Loretta Lynn,Carole King or with her love of French style,Edith Piaf or Jacques Brel. Now,let's not make her into a saint or icon. She is young and still vulnerable so give her space to grow,to search,to love but if we are lucky,she will share her artistry and passion with us for many decades. She deserved the standing ovations and the Billboard ratings acclaim. Go to Merlefest.org to get a sense of how special this annual April weekend tribute to Doc Watson's son still is and remember the funny named young lady who made a big impression on me just as Roberta Flack did with The first time I ever saw your face or Carole King did with Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow or Patsy Cline did with Crazy. Tift is that special. later,mark

Check out Forrest's pictures from Merlefest. These are just fantastic.

Click here

This one is my favorite.  Go Scott!  Thanks, Forrest, for sharing your great photos once again!  Do you remember which song this one was taken during?  Wicked slide guitar, like he's trying to kill the thing, YEAH!

And speaking of rare and pre-Bramble Rose, this is crazy:

http://cgi.ebay.com/TIFT-MERRITT-7-SIGNED-1ST-RECORDING-RARE_W0QQitemZ200220944364QQihZ010QQcategoryZ306QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I haven't seen one of these since I bought mine at the release show in '99! Somebody's nuts to get rid of it, but I thought one of y'all might be interested! And yes, MerleFest was wonderful! If you haven't been, you really should make a point of going!

Jen

If y'all REALLY want to show your appreciation for my selfless photographic efforts, you will try not to make me pay too much for the record.

Where will you be going for the new milennium, my guru?

y2k? to K2, why (y2k2k2y)

Here's a nice video demonstrating the new three-part harmony TM, Jay, and Scott are employing.