April 28...  We were in Bluegrass heaven this weekend at Wilkes Community College for the Merle Watson Memorial Festival (Merlefest).  Merle was the son of Doc Watson, who hosts the festival.  Nearly 100,000 people were in attendance over a four-day period.  We were there Saturday and Sunday, and got to hear Doc and Richard Watson, George Hamilton IV, The Alison Brown Quartet, Leahy, Nickel Creek, Patty Loveless, The Sam Bush Band, Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Yonder Mountain String Band, Jerry Douglas, The Kruger Brothers, and many others.

We sang on Sunday, at 10:35 AM on the Creekside stage and at 1:30 PM at the Plaza.  Creekside Sunday was all Gospel, hosted by our friend George Hamilton IV.  This was an inspirational weekend for the pickers in the group.  We can definitely expect a few weeks of hard practice!