merge-30-festival

Merge Records 30th Anniversary fest announces initial lineup

merge-30-festival

Merge Records turns 30 this year and they’re celebrating three decades as an independent label with the MRG30 festival this summer, taking place July 24–27 in Carrboro and Durham, NC. The initial lineup was just announced and includes Superchunk, Fucked Up, the Mountain Goats, Waxahatchee, Lambchop, Ibibio Sound Machine, Hiss Golden Messenger, Wye Oak, Destroyer, Sneaks, and Swearin’, with lots more still to be announced. Festival passes are on Friends of Merge presale now and go on sale to the general public on Friday, February 8 at 11 AM Eastern.

There’s also a MRG30 kickoff show on March 18 at the Haw River Ballroom in Saxapahaw, NC with Teenage Fanclub, Eric Bachmann, and The Love Language (tickets).

Merge is also celebrating its 30th anniversary with a subscription record series called Born Under a Good Sign. The first release was a live recording of 2017 concert A Merge Group Performs “Heroes” which featured Mac McCaughan (Superchunk), Dan Bejar (Destroyer), Brad Cook (Hiss Golden Messenger), William Tyler, Ken Vandermark, Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak), and Joe Westerlund (Megafaun) performing David Bowie’s classic album in full. You can listen to “Heroes” from that below.