#9
September 1, 2026#12
September 1, 2026
Searchable issue transcript
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$6.95 $6.95 Fo o d Fo o d Art Art Hist or y Hist or y Culture Culture Event s Event s O pinion O pinion Style Style Carolina Raptor Center Carolina Raptor Center Raptor Rescue &Reserve Raptor Rescue &Reserve Insider’s Guide to Insider’s Guide to MerleFest MerleFest Wild Birds Wild Birds of Western North Carolina of Western North Carolina
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68 MerleFest MerleFest Canceled Amidst Canceled Amidst Covid-19 Concerns Covid-19 Concerns As this edition of Foothills Digest went to press, MerleFest officials made the unprecedented decision to cancel the festival given growing concerns about the coronavirus. The bad news is, no MerleFest. The good news is, organizers care more about safety than money. This cancellation and others like it will have a ripple effect impacting artists, airlines, everyone in the hospitality industry, and almost every non-profit organization in Wilkes County, NC. Keep them all in your thoughts and prayers and, as much as possible, keep them in your spending. Do what you can to support artists; this is not the only festival (read: paying job) that is being canceled. Do what you can to support non- profit groups; they will be serving more with fewer resources. During challenging times, we can shine love. Purchase and play some good music, don your tie-dye t-shirts, spray some patchouli to counteract the odor of that bleach and Lysol, and go serve your fellow humans. We truly are all in this together.
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70 MerleFest’s Old Friends & New Trends By Lisa DeMaio Brewer We hate to miss MerleFest this year, but we still want to highlight the bands that we love, in hopes that you will support them. THURSDAY FRIENDS Willie Nelson – It’s been 20 years since this national treasure performed at MerleFest. Even if you’re not a fan (and we can’t imagine why anyone would not be) don’t get on the road again without attending his headlining set. It’s sure to be memorable! Alison Krauss – Whether accompanied by Union Station or Robert Plant, the most angelic voice in bluegrass never disappoints. Donna the Buffalo – Herd of ‘em? Get ready to dance and feel the peace, love and positive vibes. You’ve not been to MerleFest until you’ve lost your inhibitions (appropriately, of course!) grooving to their funky tunes. THURSDAY TRENDS Los Texmaniacs – Proud of their Mexican culture and U.S. nationhood, this GRAMMY award-winning group has recorded seven albums, including three albums for Smithsonian Folkways. Their music incorporates jazz, rock-and-roll, and “conjunto Tejano.” Keep your dancing shoes handy! Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real – He’s Willie’s son, Neil Young’s band leader and guitarist, and a musical force in his own right. He promises a lively musical and visually interesting show.
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WILLIE NELSON Truly, Willie Nelson has been the soundtrack of our lives: from Patsy Cline’s “Crazy,” to Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind,” to his own hits like “On the Road Again,” “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,” and many, many more. And what he has written, he has delivered with his unmistakable twang, a voice so tender and tough and perfectly suited for everything from lonesome love songs to cowboy brawls and ballads. Willie Nelson performed at MerleFest only once before, in 2000. His long- awaited return during a busy touring schedule follows the recent death of North Carolina native Paul English, Nelson’s bodyguard, best friend, and drummer. Nelson brings with him to the festival his son, Lukas Nelson, and his band, the Promise of the Real. The senior Nelson’s most recent project and 69th solo studio album, Ride Me Back Home, pays tribute to some of the great loves of his storied life: romance, time, and horses. Nelson will celebrate his 87th birthday six days after his MerleFest performance. Turn out for his signature vocal stylings and high wattage grin. WHERE DREAMS COME HOME! Serving the Hickory Metro since 1968 127 1st Ave NE Hickory, NC 28601 (828) 322-1005 www.cbbh.com
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74 ADV ANCE TICKETS $ 15 2019 IBMA Entertainer of the Year Joe Mullins & The Radio Ramblers The Grascals | Junior Sisk | His & Hers & BREWER BREWER Bluegras 9th Annual Carolina Bible Camp Festiva SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2020 Winner, Carolina's Finest Award for Best Festival in the State, 2019! Featuring free kids’ activities - unique vendors - delicious foods classic car show - auction WWW.CBCBLUEGRASS.COM - Carolina Bible Camp 1988 Jericho Church Road - Mocksville, NC
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FRIDAY FRIENDS Kruger Brothers – We dare you to try to predict the set list! The Swiss-born Krugers play it all: bluegrass, classical, Broadway, and original compositions that defy categorization. They are virtuoso instrumentalists (Jens was the 2013 winner of the Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass), moving vocalists, crack entertainers and the very kindest of human beings, full of warmth and humor. Wayne Henderson – The man who made a guitar for Eric Clapton is an American treasure in his own right – in fact, Henderson was awarded a National Heritage Award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1995 (the nation’s highest honor in folk and traditional arts). For the best and cleanest finger-pickin’ and instrument tone, visit Wayne and let him know how much you appreciate him! Alison Brown – She’s a bluegrasser, she’s a jazzer, she’s a Harvard and UCLA-educated former Wall Street investment banker, she’s a wife and mother, she’s a co-founder of Compass Records, she’s a GRAMMY winner, she’s the first woman to win the IBMA banjoist of the year award (an honor she has now won multiple times, making her one of the “First Ladies of Bluegrass”), and she’s a Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass board member. Her music was selected by NASA astronauts for their in-flight wake up call and, well, she’s Superwoman! But forget all that. Just go listen to her! FRIDAY TRENDS Presley Barker – Do you really want to miss Presley Barker’s first set on his own at MerleFest? We didn’t think so. This guitar phenom is gifted, talented, humble and kind. And he can entertain your socks off! Che Apalache – Bela Fleck said their blend of Appalachian and Latin music won him over instantly and resulted in him producing their most recent album. The Buenos Aires-based band has members from the U.S., Mexico and Argentina. Expect the unexpected! Gangstagrass –This fascinating bluegrass and hip-hop fusion band includes one of our favorite fiddlers: Brian Farrow, who toured previously with GRAMMY-winner Dom Flemons (the American Songster and founding member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops). Gangstagrass is highly improvisational in live sets. Do your best to keep up with them!
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76 Some folks are just too good to be true, and 15-year-old Presley Barker of Traphill, NC is one of them. Incredibly talented, refreshingly humble, with squeaky clean good looks and lifestyle to match, Barker is a singer and guitarist who has achieved a great deal in only 15 years. No, he was not named for Elvis Presley but his appeal is similar. At age three, he began playing a little blue guitar, a gift from his uncle Craig Barker. At age seven, he was practicing as much as two to three and then four hours a day. At 11, he and his friends “The Salty Dogs” appeared on Steve Harvey’s talent show, “Little Big Shots.” Barker also has appearances at Tim White’s “Song of the Mountains,” Dollywood, and the Grand Ole Opry under his slim belt. Barker has won adult guitar competitions too numerous to name, including luthier Wayne Henderson’s eponymous contest. He doesn’t play as many competitions anymore, having somewhat lost interest. “I like performing and I like to make people happy,” Barker said in a recent interview. With deep feeling, he added, “I don’t want that ‘golf clap’ [from judges in competitions]! I want to make people feel something!” What’s on his list? “I’m taking it one day at a time,” Barker said thoughtfully, “but I want to play the main stage at MerleFest. And I want to play the Ryman.” PRESLEY BARKER Photo by Rob Laughter Photo by Rob Laughter
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Barker has performed at MerleFest before, but he has never had his own set until this year. He will be backed up by noted bassist Billy Gee and percussionist Jody Call (“if he’s not got a set with the Kruger Brothers that conflicts with mine,” Barker said.) His set will include country, blues, originals, and a few surprises. And he confesses that he would love to meet his country music guitar idol, Brad Paisley. Presley has read Paisley’s book, mother Julie Barker interjected, and added, “It’s uncanny how Presley has followed Brad Paisley’s path. They’ve got the same story.” Barker has been influenced also by friends and mentors Wayne Henderson and Bryan Sutton. He recently signed a contract with Kent Nelson Productions of Nashville (producer and bandleader for Dolly Parton) and received vocal lessons from Nashville coach Ron Browning (whose clients include Alison Krauss, Amy Grant, and Wynonna Judd, among others). He is also co-writing new songs with Nashville songwriters. Barker has come a long way since the day a local guitar teacher put the 6-year- old on a one-year waiting list for lessons. Firmly grounded in hard work, humility and integrity, the 9th grader at East Wilkes High School does daily chores and homework before rewarding himself with guitar time. “I’ve got a back-up plan so I don’t starve to death,” Barker said. His favorite subject is history, and he sees himself with a four-year degree in political science and a career in government and communications. If the music doesn’t work out, that is. He flashes an impossibly endearing grin. C h e c k M e r l e F e s t . o r g a n d PresleyBarkerMusic on Facebook for Barker’s upcoming appearances. Town of Connelly Springs Community Events Annual Town Day-May 9th Summer Concert Series Too Much Sylvia-May 9th Chad Triplett & Two Lane Black Top-June 13 The Extraordinaires-July 11th The Local Boys-August 8th Throwdown Jones-September 12th Town of Connelly Springs PO Box 99, 1030 US Highway 70 Connelly Springs, NC 828-879-2321 www.connellysprings.com
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78 SATURDAY FRIENDS Melissa Etheridge – It’s her first visit to MerleFest and she’s going to rock this place! Keep your palms up and open to the energy, folks; she promises a good musical ride through her hits, and then some. Sam Bush – As Sierra Hull once famously said, “When his head goes this way, his curls go that way!” Sam Bush has been attending MerleFest since the very first one in 1988, sometimes playing multiple sets with friends each day. He is a world-class musician, gracious and kind, and no one plays with more joy. Scythian – Nashville’s Music City Roots describes them as “rock star charisma meets Celtic dervish fiddling.” Bring your world-weary bones to any Scythian set and emerge happy and refreshed. They are some of the nicest guys around and their charity work reflects their good hearts as well as their musical mission. Jim Lauderdale – This GRAMMY-winning North Carolina native son has performed at nearly two dozen MerleFests. An acclaimed songwriter who has written hits for George Strait, Patty Loveless, Lee Ann Womack and more, Lauderdale directs and hosts MerleFest’s Chris Austin Songwriting Contest. Don’t miss his trademark lonesome voice, and his snazzy suits with more rhinestones than any other cowboy! SATURDAY TRENDS Fireside Collective – The runaway winners of the 2016 MerleFest Band Contest have been writing and playing the hottest of hot licks at a dizzying pace. Each member of this high-energy quintet brings rare instrumental and vocal gifts to their sets. They stand alone among the newer bluegrass bands! Rev. Robert Jones – From his native Detroit to tours throughout the world (and a 2018 Kresge Arts Fellowship for Music Composition and Performance), this multi- instrumentalist and ordained Baptist pastor preserves, promotes and performs traditional African music while incorporating blues and original songs. He is a beloved storyteller and co-founder of a non-profit organization, Common Chords, which creates community, cultural and historical connections through music and the arts. Did we mention what a full, rich voice he has? Billy Strings – Billy Apostol, who played MerleFest in 2016, was named one of Rolling Stone’s Top 10 New Country Artists to Know in 2017. He is selling out venues quickly throughout the U.S., playing fast-paced bluegrass with a modern vision.
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79 SUNDAY FRIENDS John Prine – No one writes a lyric like Prine, and no one delivers it like him, either. American folk music’s every man (former mailman, Viet Nam vet, cancer survivor) is a multiple GRAMMY winner and the first singer/songwriter to give a reading at the Library of Congress. Listening to his live renderings of his classics “Angel from Montgomery,” “Illegal Smile,” “Dear Abby” and “Sam Stone” is not to be missed. Pete & Joan Wernick – His Ph.D. in sociology and enthusiastic dedication to teaching closeted banjo aficionados to get out and play has earned him the nickname “Dr. Banjo.” Wernick was a founding member of Hot Rize and currently tours with his wife, Jean, and his bluegrass/jazz combination band, Flexigrass. Mavis Staples –This national treasure marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, performed at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration, was a featured actress in many of our favorite television shows and movies, and sang our soundtrack of the sixties and seventies with her family band, The Staple Singers. Enjoy the power and warmth of a voice that has only improved with precious time. SUNDAY TRENDS Charley Crockett – Catch him at his first (and surely not last!) MerleFest for some straight- from-the-heart country. Straight from the heart? Visit his website for his amazing back story. Hogslop String Band – These first-time MerleFesters promise a foot-stomping, hand- clapping, face-that-hurts-from-smiling good time. Abigail Washburn calls them a “real deal groovilicious honkin’ old-time string band.” Enjoy! Welcome Cycle North Carolina EXHIBITS | PROGRAMS | FACILITY RENTALS Welcome Cycle North Carolina EXHIBITS | PROGRAMS | FACILITY RENTALS 103 S LAFAYETTE STREET SHELBY, NC 28150 704.487.6233 Follow Visit Discover WWW.EARLSCRUGGSCENTER.ORG
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80 Root and Vine chef assembles a Reuben by his wood-fired oven.
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81 MELISSA ETHERIDGE She’s a rock star. And she’s coming to MerleFest. “I’m so excited and thrilled and honored to be invited,” she said in a recent telephone interview. “Someone told me that I’m probably the most rocking thing they’ve had there in a while.” And although it’s too early to produce a set list, the artist has some thoughts about her upcoming festival performance on April 25. “I take in a lot of considerations when making my set list and I don’t do the same thing every night,” Etheridge said. “I really try to tailor it to where I am, when was the last time I was in the area. “We are going to do all the hits,” she said warmly. “Usually, when I’m part of a bigger thing, I want to do songs that people know and remember. I want to lift people up and take people away and entertain people. Bring them something that makes them feel better, a memory, a movement.” Festival patriarch Doc Watson had a positive impact on the Kansas native, a 15-time GRAMMY nominee and 1990 JUNO International Entertainer of the Year award winner. “Doc Watson, yes!” Etheridge said. “I think every singer songwriter has been [influenced by him], you know. Definitely, this has been a place that I have gotten much inspiration from. That area, you call it country, you call it folk, is it rock, is it country, is it all those things? I love living in that area that is undefinable. Doc Watson definitely fit that. MerleFest is about the music and songwriting, and she wants to be a part of that. The GRAMMY award winner (“Ain’t It Heavy” and “Come To My Window”) and Oscar winner (“I Need To Wake Up”) knows a thing or two about songwriting. And her inspirational source? “That’s life,” Etheridge said slowly, savoring the words. She laughed, low and melodic. “That’s everything in life.” She spoke of the song, “I Know You” from her most recent CD project, “The Medicine Show: An Unrivaled True Story of Redemption and a ’74 Fender.” “I love it if I can write something that is intensely personal to me but I know it’s going to be understood by others,” she said. “That’s songwriting gold.” Always writing, she is creating songs now for an album coming out at the end of 2020 or 2021. None will be ready for this year’s MerleFest, she says, but she counts on giving guests a great experience. “I hope people there who might not have seen me might be thinking, let’s give her a chance,” she said. “I hope they feel maybe I’m more than they thought I was. And I hope I lift people up and hear people singing at the top of their lungs ‘Come to My Window’ and ‘I’m the Only One’ and just have a good time.” The 58-year-old mother of two is a breast cancer survivor with a focus on healthy living. “I take care of what I eat, what I put in my body, how much I sleep, my emotional state,” she said. “Am I stressed? This takes a toll. These things are very important.” Hence, the “Medicine Show” album with a focus on healing. Etheridge sees music as a great unifier. “Our strength and our beauty in this gorgeous country of ours is our diversity,” she said. “Sometimes this leads to conflict and that’s natural. Our forefathers really helped us to devise a system to deal with the conflict that comes from diversity. “Music bypasses all of the left brain mind stuff of conflict and just goes into that part of us that is the same in each and every soul, each and every human being, no matter the system that we set up around us and our beliefs. “Being able to reach out and touch people musically is extremely important these days,” Etheridge said. “Redemption means coming from one place and getting to another. It means moving on with hope.”
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Lisa De Maio Brewer is a legal assistant at Brewer & Brewer, PLLC in Wilkesboro, NC. She is the volunteer Executive Director of Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival in Mocksville, NC, winner of Carolina Country’s Best Festival Award for 2019. SATURDAY FRIENDS & TRENDS THURSDAY FRIENDS & TRENDS SUNDAY FRIENDS & TRENDS FRIDAY FRIENDS & TRENDS Use your smartphone to scan these QR codes. They will bring you to YouTube playlists of the bands mentioned as Friends and Trends.
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Bob Kogut By Lisa De Maio Brewer The floor is covered with wood shavings, the walls are covered with artists’ photos, and fiddle luthier Bob Kogut’s face is covered with kindness. He is a gentle man welcoming a guest into his home workshop in Caldwell County’s aptly named Happy Valley community. Recently retired from the medical profession (a physical therapist who didn’t want to climb the administrative ladder further), Kogut is able to devote his time to making the best violins he can make. Bluegrass fiddlers Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, and Nicky Sanders of the Steep Canyon Rangers, among others, own his instruments. Angel Paez, a blind child prodigy and multi-instrumentalist, plays a Kogut five-string violin and has reduced the maker to tears with the beauty of his playing. And Itzhak Perlman is on the waiting list. Waiting list? “Yes,” Kogut grins, “I’m still waiting for him to ask me for one!” Kogut was born and reared in a Polish neighborhood just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a teenager in the late 1960’s, he played on a men’s softball team and was recruited to play upright string bass in a Polish/American string band. “Then I found out we had to make our own costumes to play in the Mummer’s [New Year’s Day] Parade,” he recalled. “I said, ‘I don’t know how to sew!’ and these guys said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll teach you!’ And these softball players, these big longshoremen, and plumbers and police officers, they taught me how to use a sewing machine and make costumes with ostrich plumes, and satin, and mirrors!” On the heels of the Mummer’s Parade, Kogut proceeded to hear bluegrass for the first time at a Maryland festival in the early 1970’s. Thanks to his
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brother, Johnny, he ended up in the front row, ten feet from the stage, listening to none other than Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys. Kogut was in front of fiddler Kenny Baker who played his trademark song, “Jerusalem Ridge.” The haunting, minor-key piece had “drive, beat, and feeling, and Baker played it beautifully. I was hooked!” Kogut said. 30 Third Street NW ▪ Hickory, NC 28601 for show tickets or information hickorytheatre.org CALL 828 • 328 • 2283 OR VISIT Live Theatre. Well Crafted. THE BEST TICKET IN TOWN! 1321 N. Center St Hickory, NC 28601 (828) 327-8300 New Year, New Dentist! Welcome Dr. McDonald to our team! Accepting New Patients
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And thus began his search for the Holy Grail of fiddles: the one with just exactly the very particular tone and color he sought. Kogut was repeatedly “disappointed and dissatisfied with instruments and went through dozens, buying and selling, that I could use to express myself.” When his medical career relocated him to Florida, he met an exceptionally skilled and generous luthier named Bob Bragg. Bragg befriended him and mentored him, allowing Kogut to sample instruments and eventually teaching him how to repair instruments. As Kogut used his spare time learning more sophisticated techniques of restorations and reparations for more valuable violins, he also became more frustrated at failing to find exactly the sound he sought.
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“You have to make one,” Bragg said. After Kogut did so, and “strung it up and it didn’t explode,” Kogut said, Bragg kept it. He kept his star apprentice’s first creation? “He kept it so I would make more,” Kogut recalled, “and he was right. I still make them to get that tone. I don’t want Number One back. Now, I make them to look for better and better voicing and tone, like the first one I ever made.” He is currently working on Number 234. There is a waiting list for instruments, from the $4,000.00 violins to the $5,000.00 five-string instruments with the longer pegbox. “I rarely hear of one of my fiddles going up for resale,” he said, “and they are all over the world: Australia, India, England, Denmark, Holland, Nova Scotia and Hawai’i.” He picked up Number 230 (“I’m keeping her!”) and played a tune. He put down his bow and smiled. It was another beautiful day in the Happy Valley neighborhood. Want to meet Bob Kogut? Drop by his booth at the MerleFest Expo Tent. Lisa De Maio Brewer is a legal assistant at Brewer & Brewer, PLLC in Wilkesboro, NC. She is the volunteer Executive Director of Carolina Bible Camp Bluegrass Festival in Mocksville, NC, winner of Carolina Country’s Best Festival Award for 2019.