MerleFest Completes 2025 Artist Lineup, with Leftover Salmon, I’m With Her, Sam Bush’s Late Night Jam and More
MerleFest has announced its complete lineup for the spring festival happening on April 24-27, 2025 at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, N.C. The announcement offers diverse additions to the ticket–now featuring over 50 top-tier acts–including Leftover Salmon, I’m With Her and Becky Buller. This new cohort will join the stacked initial lineup of Americana favorites, led by country veteran Bonnie Raitt, Canadian bluegrass favorites The Dead South and North Carolina’s own The Avett Brothers.
On Thursday, April 25, MerleFest will come into full swing with headline performances from The Dead South and Wyatt Flores, following earlier sets from The SteelDrivers, Donna the Buffalo, Woody Platt and the Bluegrass Gentlemen, and more. A thrilling final act from Raitt will highlight Friday’s bill, alongside stagings from The War and Treaty, Tony Trischka’s Earl Jam and newly announced entries like the super trio I’m With Her, comprising Sara Watkins, Sarah Jarosz and Aoife O’Donovan, and Tami Nelson, among others.
Saturday’s roster will be led by The Avett Brothers–who recently celebrated the opening of their Broadway musical Swept Away–and Sam Bush, plus new entries The Steel Wheels and Emily Nenni. On Sunday, the legendary festival founded by the great Doc Watson will close out another year with an abbreviated bill, featuring spots from Leftover Salmon, Watchhouse, The Lil Smokies, Scythian, Donna the Buffalo (who will make regular appearances throughout the weekend) and Peter Rowan.
Among MerleFest’s many annual highlights is the Late Night Jam, which will return in 2025 with host Sam Bush. The highly-anticipated lineup for this special event includes exclusive live collaborations between genre leaders like East Nash Grass, Jack Lawrence, Joe Smothers, Rowan, T. Michael Coleman, Trischka and Platt, with more to be announced soon.
“The Late Night Jam was always a unique and fun bonus set of music where you never knew who would show up or what you might hear,” Lindsay Craven, MerleFest Artist Relations Manager shared in a release. “We took a pause on this offering so that we could revamp and revitalize it for our fans and bring it back bigger and better than ever. Late Night Jam with Sam Bush and Friends will embody the spirit of MerleFest with unique collaborations that you can only see here and the highest quality musical performances in the roots scene.”
Tickets for MerleFest are available now. For more information, visit merlefest.org.
