Dancin' Dave's Merlefest: The bands

By Dancin' Dave

Merlefest 2007 was simply (if that's a simple concept) a mind-blowing musical experience. The opportunities to see the very best in musicianship almost no matter the genre were there for the taking. If you talked with 10 folks it would be very easy to find 10 different opinions on which of the many sets were the best. It's funny when someone looks at you and you can tell they are wondering, how on earth you could have even considered missing "that" show?

So---my personal favorites included:

* Sam Bush....of course. The king is still the king and it's great fun to watch and listen to all of the music he has in his musical bag of tricks and to see and hear all of the other the musicians that he's inspired. My favorite set had to be his Saturday night Watson Stage set, where I was afraid that the stage just mght burst into a spontaneous combustion.

* Bela Fleck....a never-ending well of music. His slot on the Watson Stage was outrageous! Of course his "band" consisted of Sammy, Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton, Tony Rice, Luke Bulla, and Byron House. Jerry did the introduction, stating that the set will be entirely dedicated to Bela's music....and that "they hadn't told Sam about this yet..." Those dudes were smokin'.....!

* Waybacks.....one of my favorites; caught them on the Watson stage Thursday night and on the Hillside on Saturday, where they were joined by Rushad Eggleston and John Cowan. Hot shows...

* Pam Tillis....she was a hoot! Didn't know anything about her other than her name since I don't listen to much country music, and so it sure was fun to find what a hot band she plays with. Great country music...

*Cherryholmes...talk about a hoot! Holy cow, I wasn't prepared for those dudes... Super musicians and what has to be a super family. I do wonder who picks out their stage outfits? Great bluegrass....

*Crooked Still....they are one of those bands that would be hard to pass up these days for me. And it sure was fun to teach Aoife how to two-step to the Red Stick Ramblers at the cajun dance in the Dance Tent Friday night.

* Infamous Stringdusters.....same as Crooked Still; these young musicians are kickin' some musical butt! Great progressive bluegrass with outstanding musicianship, vocalizing and song-writing. They are going to be fun to watch in the coming years.

* Uncle Earl....how cute and hot can one band get? They are just a riot and fun listen to and watch and dance to and this is a great combination in my book! Can't wait to see them again...