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NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE
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MERLEFEST
Nominated for Event of the Year by IBMA
WILKESBORO, NC: The International
Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) has announced that
MerleFest, the annual festival in celebration of the music of the late Merle
Watson and his father Doc Watson presented by Wilkes Community College on its
campus in Wilkesboro, NC, is one of three nominees for “Event of
the Year” at the 15th Annual International Bluegrass Music
Awards. The awards will be presented in Louisville, KY on October 7, 2004.
MerleFest host Doc Watson earned three nominations for
Instrumental Performer of the Year on guitar and for Album of the Year
and Recorded Event of the Year for The Three Pickers on Rounder Records
with Earl Scruggs and Ricky Skaggs.
The Event of the Year award recognizes events featuring bluegrass music from
around the globe. The nomination specifically cites MerleFest 2003, which
presented a large amount of bluegrass within its annual mix of various forms of
Americana music also including old-time, singer-songwriter, blues, and Celtic.
Two outstanding West Coast festivals, Tacoma, Washington’s Wintergrass for 2004
and the 2003 Father’s Day Bluegrass Festival presented by the California
Bluegrass Association in Grass Valley, comprise the other nominees.
Wilkes Community College will present MerleFest 2005 on April 28 – May 1, 2005.
Ticket sales to the general public for MerleFest 2005 will begin at 2:00 PM
Eastern Time on Tuesday, November 9, 2004 via 1-800-343-7857 or
www.merlefest.org. The
MerleFest 2005 lineup will be announced next week.
MerleFest Information: 800-343-7857,
merlefest@wilkescc.edu, or
www.merlefest.org
Media information: Print: Traci Thomas
(traci@newwestrecords.com ;
310-246-5766);
Non-print: Art Menius
(artmenius@mindspring.com ; 919-542-3997, Fax:
240-250-7229).
MerleFest 2005 media credentials should be requested by March 25, 2005.
Art Menius
Partnership and National Marketing Coordinator, MerleFest
2069 Andrews Store Rd
Pittsboro, NC 27312
919-542-3997
Fax: 240-250-7229
www.merlefest.org
www.mindspring.com/~artmenius/
