CMT Blog: Archive

Festival season has started in full force, and our conditioning for outdoor venues, coupled with multiple consecutive dates, has begun. Our weekend started with our departure from Nashville to Ladysmith, Va. Though rain had pounded the festival grounds just days before, it turned into a perfect sunny day. We performed two shows, our last being the festival closer, before we boarded the Martha White Bluegrass Express, en route to Merlefest in Wilkesboro, N.C. Merlefest is completely different than any other venue we ever play, and even more so this year.My morning began with a rehearsal for a special performance with all bluegrass girls, which included Alison Brown, Sierra Hull, Laurie Lewis, Claire Lynch, Missy Raines and Sally Van Meter. The Rage and I performed at 2:50 p.m., and at 5 p.m., we were meeting fans at the autograph tent. Next, it was back to the stage for a bluegrass girl performance titled “Girls for Merle.” My eyes started getting sleepy, but with the help of Mountain Dew, I stayed awake to join our scheduled appearance as part of the Midnight Jam. When we arrived, they ask me to NOT to use my band, but to invite others that I don’t usually work with, to be my band. I quickly invited Bela Fleck to play banjo, Greg Luck to play guitar, along with Hunter and Mickey on fiddle and bass. It turned out to be a lot of fun.

We left Merle Fest at 2 a.m., on our way to the National Cornbread Festival in South Pittsburg, Tenn., where I was performing and cooking in the Celebrity Cornbread Cook-Off. We left the cornbread festival at 6 p.m., back to Nashville. Got to bed at midnight, the alarm rang at 4:45 a.m., and we made our way to the airport, headed to Scottsdale, Ariz. A long white stretch limo was waiting at the airport to take us to the Westin Keirland. The Westin is one of the most incredible resorts I’ve ever stayed at. The food, rooms, view … everything is exquisite. We performed that evening for our corporate sponsor, Martha White. Up again at 4:45 a.m. to travel back to the airport. As I write this, we are now back in Nashville. After a very productive yet challenging weekend, I sit here and reflect on how very lucky we are to live our dream, playing bluegrass music that we love, and traveling the world.