Merle Watson Memorial Bluegrass Festival
April 24-26, 1992
Wilkes Community College, Wilkesboro NC

Partial compilation - 2021 transcription from "Pickin' For Merle"

- The source was mid-90s cable TV broadcasts of "Pickin' for Merle" recorded to 5 cassette masters by 3 people - XLII and IIS made on generic consumer decks.
- One source tape has an additional cassette generation. This material is tracks 52-66 below.
- Transferred in the early/mid 2010s via Onkyo cassette deck and Audacity, then parked for awhile in hopes the VHS would surface.
- Mastering and setlist in early 2021 by TRH aka Mr. Completely.

See below for notes and lineup details.

Setlist:
========
01. Tony Rice All-Stars - Freeborn Man
02. Peter Rowan & the Nashville Bluegrass Band w/Jerry Douglas - Midnight Moonlight
03. various - chit chat 1
04. Tony Rice Allstars - Nine Pound Hammer
05. Tony Rice Allstars - Cold on the Shoulder
06. Tony Rice Allstars - Whitewater
07. Tony Rice Allstars - Molly and Tenbrooks
08. Doc Watson & Ricky Skaggs - Foggy Mountain Top
09. Skaggs & Rice - Where the Soul of Man Never Dies
10. Skaggs & Rice - More Pretty Girls Than One
11. Del McCoury Band w/ David Grisman - Fanny Hill
12. Del McCoury Band w/ David Grisman - Randy Lynn Rag
13. Del McCoury Band w/ David Grisman - I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blue-Eyes
14. Tony Rice Unit - The Dusty Miller
15. Tony Rice Unit w/Peter Rowan - White Dove
16. Tony Rice Unit - Sally Goodin
17. David Grisman Quintet - Dawg's Rag
18. David Grisman Quintet - Assanhado
19. David Grisman Quintet - Grateful Dawg
20. David Grisman Quintet - Dawgmatism
21. David Grisman Quintet - Telluride
22. Tim & Mollie O'Brien & The O'Boys - Liar
23. Tim & Mollie O'Brien & The O'Boys - Dream of a Miner's Child
24. Tim & Mollie O'Brien & The O'Boys - Oh Darling
25. Tim & Mollie O'Brien & The O'Boys - Shut the Door
26. Tim & Mollie O'Brien & THe O'Boys w/Jerry Douglas - Hold to a Dream
27. Doc Watson & Ricky Skaggs - What is a Home Without Love?
28. Doc Watson & Ricky Skaggs - Nine Pound Hammer
29. various - Chit chat 2
30. Del McCoury Band w/David Grisman - Home is Where the Heart Is
31. Del McCoury Band w/David Grisman - Long Journey Home
32. Del McCoury Band w/David Grisman - Rain & Snow
33. Del McCoury Band w/David Grisman - Rawhide
34. Doc Watson & Friends - Blue Ridge Mountain Home
35. Doc Watson, David Grisman and Alan O'Bryant - What Does the Deep Sea Say?
36. Doc Watson, David Grisman and Friends - Blue Moon of Kentucky
37. Roy Bookbinder - Rev. Gary Davis story, Hesitation Blues/Old Time Religion
38. Peter Rowan - Dust Bowl Children
39. Peter Rowan w/Jerry Douglas - On the Wings of Horses
40. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Bonnie & Slyde
41. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Celtic Medley
42. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - Flight of the Cosmic Hippo
43. Peter Rowan & the Nashville Bluegrass Band - High Lonesome Sound
44. Seldom Scene - Pickaway
45. Seldom Scene - Carolina Star
46. Seldom Scene - House of the Rising Sun/Walk Don't Run
47. Laurie Lewis & Grant Street - Singing Bird
48. Laurie Lewis & Grant Street - I'm Gonna Be the Wind
49. Various - Chit chat 4 - about Doc
50. Doc Watson - Milk Cow Blues
51. Doc Watson w/Gove Scrivenor - Sugar Babe
52. Doc Watson - Peach Pickin' Time in Georgia
53. Doc Watson - Black Mountain Rag
54. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - I've Been Looking
55. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Baby's Got A Hold On Me
56. Ricky Skaggs Allstars w/Doc Watson - Riding That Midnight Train
57. Ricky Skaggs Allstars w/Del McCoury - I Feel The Blues Moving In
58. Roy Bookbinder - Mississippi Blues
59. Carl Jackson and John Starling w/the Nash Ramblers - New Delhi Freight
60. Carl Jackson and John Starling w/the Nash Ramblers - Lonesome Dove
61. Carl Jackson and John Starling w/the Nash Ramblers - Silence Says it All
62. Carl Jackson and John Starling w/the Nash Ramblers - Hold Your Horses
63. Carl Jackson and John Starling w/the Nash Ramblers - For Cryin' Out Loud
64. Carl Jackson and John Starling w/the Nash Ramblers - I Could Cry
65. Carl Jackson and John Starling w/the Nash Ramblers - Long Time Gone
66. Emmylou Harris, Carl Jackson and John Starling w/the Nash Ramblers - Satan's Jewel Crown
67. Doc Watson All-Stars - Docabilly Medley
68. Riders in the Sky - Here Comes the Santa Fe
69. Kathy Mattea - Trouble in the Fields
70. Doc Watson All-Stars - Fireball Mail
71. Sam Bush & the Nash Ramblers - Crossroads > Sailin' Shoes
72. Laurie Lewis & Grant Street - Texas Bluebonnets
73. Tony Rice Unit - Shadows
74. David Grisman Quintet - Rattlesnake
75. Emmylou Harris & the Nash Ramblers w/Doc Watson - I'll Fly Away
76. Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Mr Bojangles (start cut)
77. Peter Rowan & the Nashville Bluegrass Band - Walls of Time
78. Doc Watson All-Stars - Shake, Rattle & Roll

Notes:
======
 - "Pickin' For Merle" was a documentary shot at the 1992 Merle Watson Memorial Bluegrass Festival, then informally and now officially known as MerleFest.

 - It is possible some performances were recorded in 1991 (Kathy Mattea is only listed as performing that year) but the vast majority of the material is certainly from 1992.

 - The documentary aired in (I believe) 8-ish 1-hour segments through the 1990s on PBS stations.

 - VHS tapes of the entire series were offered as donor rewards. A few artists, including Tony Rice, sold their sets separately.

 - Apparently dubs of some of the video episodes have been traded but none have yet surfaced in public digital circulation aside from fragments on YouTube.

 - Several years ago I contacted MerleFest representatives to see about getting the series released again as a fundraiser. They were interested, but there are technical hurdles with the tapes. It's still possible.

 - This set of audio cassettes represents about half of the material.

 - I don't know which days most of the sets are from so I didn't try to guess.

 - You will encounter various hisses, buzzes, brief discontinuities and other assorted analog artifacts. It's fine though. It could be cleaned up more but hopefully the VHS will surface.

 - I decided not to change the running order to gather out-of-sequence sets since they aren't complete anyway. This is the order in which they aired within each PFM episode.

 - Across the tapes approximately 15 or so performances were repeated. Obviously, I included the better sounding ones.

 - Raw transfer WAV files available upon request.

 - I was lucky enough to attend this MerleFest and a couple of others around it. A classic scene.

 - There is also a well circulated SBD recording of the Midnight Jam from this year which I highly recommend.

 - Thanks to Mitchell Wittenberg for setlist and lineup help.

 - Yes, that's a lot of notes, but no one made you read them all.

 - Dedicated to the memories of Doc Watson and Tony Rice.


Backing Band/Allstar Group Lineups (in order of first appearance - guests and headliners are noted in the Artist tag and above, with some overlap)
==================================
* Tony Rice Allstars: Tony Rice-guitar, vocals, Bela Fleck-banjo, Jerry Douglas-Dobro, Sam Bush-mandolin, vocals, Stuart Duncan-fiddle, Mark Schatz-bass

* Nashville Bluegrass Band: Pat Enright-guitar, vocals, Alan Oâ€™Bryant-vocals (and ?), Roland White-mandolin, Stuart Duncan-fiddle, Gene Libbea-bass

* Del McCoury Band: Del McCoury-guitar, vocals, Ronnie McCoury-mandolin, vocals, Rob McCoury-banjo, Jason Carter-fiddle, Mike Bub-bass

* Tony Rice Unit: Tony Rice-guitar, vocals, Wyatt Rice-guitar, Jimmy Gaudreau-mandolin, vocals, Rickie Simpkins-fiddle, Mark Schatz-bass

* David Grisman Quintet: David Grisman-mandolin, Enrique Coria-guitar, Joe Craven-percussion, fiddle, mandolin, Matt Eakle-flute, Jim Kerwin-bass

* Tim & Mollie O'Brien and The O'Boys: Tim Oâ€™Brien â€“ mandolin, guitar, vocals, Mollie Oâ€™Brien-vocals, Scott Nygaard-guitar, Mark Schatz-bass

* Doc Watson & Friends: uncertain, the "Friends" may be the Nashville Bluegrass Band (above)

* Bela Fleck & the Flecktones: Bela Fleck-banjo, Victor Wooten-bass, Future Man-midi controller, Howard Levy-piano, harmonica

* Seldom Scene: John Duffey-mandolin, vocals, John Starling-guitar, vocals, Ben Eldridge-banjo, vocals, Mike Auldridge-Dobro, vocals, Tom Gray-bass, vocals

* Laurie Lewis & Grant Street: Laurie Lewis-fiddle, vocals, Tom Rozum-mandolin, fiddle, vocals, Peter McLaughlin-guitar, Craig Smith-banjo, Cary Black-bass

* Doc Watson: Doc Watson-guitar, harmonica, vocals, Jack Lawrence-guitar, T. Michael Coleman-bass, Bob Hill-piano (on some tracks)

* Nitty Gritty Dirt Band: uncertain lineup here. Maybe Jeff Hanna-guitar, vocals, Jimmie Fadden-drums, harmonica, vocals, Jimmy Ibbotson-bass, vocals, Bob Carpenter-keyboards, vocals, Josh Leo-guitar

* Ricky Skaggs Allstars: Ricky Skaggs-mandolin, vocals, Tony Rice-guitar, vocals, Mark Oâ€™Connor-fiddle, Jerry Douglas-Dobro, David Grisman-mandolin, Unknown-banjo, Unknown-bass

* The Nash Ramblers: Sam Bush-mandolin, fiddle, Larry Atamanuik-drums, Jon Randall-guitar, Roy Huskey, Jr. -bass, Al Perkins-Dobro

* Doc Watson Allstars: Doc Watson-guitar, vocals, Jack Lawrence-guitar, T. Michael Coleman-bass; Jack Williams-piano (t67, t78); Mark O'Connor-fiddle, Jerry Douglas-dobro (t70, t78); Tim O'Brien-mandolin, Roland White-mandolin, Bela Fleck-banjo (t70)

* Riders in the Sky: Douglas B. Green (â€œRanger Dougâ€)-guitar, vocals, Woody Paul Chrisman (â€œWoody Paulâ€)-fiddle, vocals, Fred LaBour (â€œToo Slimâ€)-bass, vocals

* Kathy Mattea - Kathy Mattea-vocals, guitar, unknown band lineup




















