Earl Scruggs Music Festival '24

“Oh boy, it’s pretty nice”: 3rd Earl Scruggs Music Festival resonates

In the centennial year of Earl Scruggs’ birth, the music festival held in Mill Spring, NC bearing his name still has its new-car-smell. In only its third year, the Labor Day weekend festival is held 40 miles due west of the banjo legend’s birthplace of Shelby. But for those still kicking its tires, figuring out all the bells and whistles, making the logistical leap from brochure to banjo event of the year is like a fantastical frolic up the neck of a five-string.

The Venue

The 1,450 acre Tryon Equestrian Center provides an auspicious setting for all-things-Earl. One can almost taste the mint in the juleps of Derbyesque grandeur, from the distinctive sand-and-cotton horse arena ground surface that looks for all the world like an expansive beach to the adorned hurdles, charming carousel, and equine art throughout the campus. Even the restrooms are so ample and plush as to make the port-a-john village set up under the shadow of an enormous American flag superfluous..

12-year-old Chet Rickman on stage with the Grascals. Photo by Donna Davis.

A vendor village lines the entrance walkway with colorful displays of turquoise jewelry, tie dye clothing, barn quilts, and even bonafide bags of a Southern staple –grits. Instruments hang on display like prized spoils of the hunt, the sun catching their shiny parts in kaleidoscopic reflection. The most useful item for the weekend proves to be the cardboard hand-held fan, a cut-out of the banjo man himself, given away by the Earl Scruggs Center. With direct sun and temps reaching 92 degrees, spectators flail face-fans like Palm Sunday foliage.

Food trucks tout their wares aromatically, including one emblazoned with “We out here slangin’ biscuits!” Desire for regional authenticity doesn’t extend quite so far as to include a local staple: livermush.

Marty Stuart photo by Donna Davis

Shuttles (“the Earl Express”) run throughout the day to and from parking and patches of grass anointed as portable sleeping areas for the weekend. Camping takes a variety of forms, from on-site cabins, RV spots (with or without electricity), and tents set up in grassy fields. For a premium, berm-camping permits tents to be set up on a hill in direct line of sight to the main Flint Hill Stage. From the looks of it, the quickest way from tent to stage would be to stop, drop and roll like an Easter egg on the White House lawn.

Budget-minded campers and those with a desire for a nighttime reprieve from jamming had the option to utilize outside campgrounds or rentals within a 10-mile or so radius that were reasonably priced and convenient enough for daily commutes.

The festival facility has ample room for growth and flexibility, including the main Flint Hill stage, the Foggy Mountain gazebo-style stage closer to the vendors and main building, and the Legends workshop, a sheltered area providing a reprieve from the sun, within view of a horse arena. Scruggs fans recognize the stage names’ connections to the musician. Earl and his brother Horace grew up playing banjo and guitar in the little community of Flint Hill, near Shelby. The “Flint Hill Special” was recorded in 1952 by Lester Flatt, Earl Scruggs, and the Foggy Mountain Boys.

Festivalians had a range of ticketing options to cater to their sense of economy, on the one hand, and desire for pampering on the other. Actually, the basic general admission ticket garnered some premium spots for placing folding chairs directly in front of the Flint Hill stage that was set up on one side of an enormous horse arena. A VIP section was beside it, but during the hot part of the day, most VIP patrons opted for seating in the mostly-sheltered grandstand across the arena, which also provided access to refreshments.

Occasionally festivals of this magnitude receive some criticism for what is perceived as pricing outside the reach of the average fan. In actuality, the need for volunteers and the attractive perks offered to them (including free festival admission) provides an entry point for those willing to contribute to the success of the festival. Many of the volunteer positions are seated and shaded, so even available to those with mobility constraints.

The Earls of Leicester photo by Donna Davis

The Music and the Man

What sets this festival apart? What is its brand? Well, Merlefest is built on the legend of Doc and Merle Watson, and as tempting as it is to call this festival “Earlefest,” that’s a nomenclature no-no. But no matter, the festival never loses sight of its icon, from signage to workshops where Earl nerds can feed their fancy like an all-you-can-eat banjo buffet. The schedule includes a series of events hosted by the self-proclaimed “Wizard of the Workshop,” Tommy Goldsmith, noted music journalist and musician.

Charlie Cushman, banjo player with the Earls of Leicester who is credited for playing as close to the Scruggs style as can be found, shared his thoughts during a workshop: “Earl’s style was legible to the listener: they could hear the verse and chorus. Some players go all wacko on you.”

Kristin Scott Benson, six-time IBMA banjo player of the year recipient, said, “What he created serves the genre so well. It speaks to his brilliance that we’re all still trying to do what he did, and we still don’t manage to.”

Bob Carlin photo by Donna Davis

If attendees walked away from the festival without being a ringer for the next Jeopardy category, “All things banjo,” they weren’t paying attention. Did you know the banjo was so popular in the 1950s, you could buy a banjo bridge in a drugstore? Or that 1960 is when plastic banjo heads began being used instead of skin heads that were so prone to splitting? Scruggs began banjo when he was six years old, playing “Cripple Creek” in a banjo competition. These and many more intriguing bits were shared on the workshop stage, including Marty Stuart’s poignant story of his role in encouraging Scruggs to visit Flatt at his deathbed, following the duo’s estrangement. Banjo player, writer and former member of John Hartford’s band, Bob Carlin simply marked time as “BE” and “AE”: before Earl and after Earl.

But the musicians who were clearly unabashed Scruggs fans did more than talk about him. Over 50 performers paid tribute in the best way they knew how: through the music. Darrell Scott sang “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive.” Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives lived up to the band’s name, including guitarist “Cousin Kenny,” drummer “Handsome Harry,” and “Professor Scruggs” (Earl Scruggs’ grandson) on bass. (Stuart was celebrating the 52 year anniversary of his career move to Nashville.) Peter Rowan deftly rendered “Walls of Time,” a song he co-wrote with Bill Monroe during his time as a Bluegrass Boy. The Earls of Leicester, who have spent the past decade keeping the music of Flatt & Scruggs alive, included fiddle player Johnny Warren, son of Flatt & Scruggs’ fiddle player Paul Warren, and recreated the iconic live album “Flatt & Scruggs at Carnegie Hall,” with guest musicians contributing.

Jerry Douglas photo by Donna Davis

As festival host, 16-time Grammy winner Jerry Douglas was omnipresent, making surprise guest appearances with his Dobro, joining in on other acts throughout the weekend.

Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show proclaimed in the band’s set: “That is some Earl Scruggs-approved hillbilly music in the old North State on a Saturday night. We’re celebrating the contributions of Earl Scruggs to the story of country music, bluegrass, and old time. It should come as no surprise to anybody that it came out of a sleepy town in western North Carolina.”

Marty Stuart, sharing a phrase that Scruggs was known to say quite frequently perhaps summed up the spirit of the festival best: “Oh boy, it’s pretty nice.”