Blue Merle was an American band centered in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. Their name comes from the lyrics of a

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ci ...

song, ''

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'' from

Led Zeppelin III ''Led Zeppelin III'' is the third studio album by the English rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin, released on 5 October 1970. It was recorded in three locations. Much of the work was done at Headley Grange, a country house, using the Rolling St ...

, referring to a "blue-eyed merle"

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. The band was fronted by lead singer

Luke Reynolds Luke Reynolds (born April 20, 1979) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, artist, writer and producer. Career Studio work As a guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, he has worked with Sharon Van Etten, The Staves, Adrian Utley, ...

. The band was first formed when Luke Reynolds and Jason Oettel met and began to work together. A friend in a studio offered them some recording time, and they began recording several demo tracks. While they were doing so, the President of Sony Publishing happened to be there, and offered them a contract. While they passed on it, it was a start. Reynolds then met Beau Stapleton, a Mandolin player, on his way back to his home in Vermont and invited him to join. Oettel brought one of his own friends, William Ellis, a drummer into the band as well. It was William who came up with the band's name. The last member to join was Luke Bulla, a fiddle player, who had been asked to fill in for a couple weeks, and soon was a full-time member. In February 2005, Blue Merle released ''Burning In The Sun'', which features the singles "Burning In The Sun", "Every Ship Must Sail Away", and "Lucky To Know You". The album hit #8 on the

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Heatseekers chart and peaked at #199 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Blue Merle played

Lollapalooza Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...

in 2005, and toured with

Guster Guster is an American alternative rock band from Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel began practice sessions while attending Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and fo ...

, Jem,

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, and

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. In April 2006, the band broke up. They played their last show, 45 minute set, on Friday, April 21 at

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's Rites of Spring music festival along with

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (sometimes abbreviated to CYHSY) is the musical project of American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Alec Ounsworth, active since the early 2000s in and out of Philadelphia. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have rel ...

and

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. Since the band's breakup, Luke Reynolds released two solo EPs entitled ''The Space Between the Lines'' and ''Maps'', before joining the band Guster full-time. Beau Stapleton also released a solo EP, ''Will I Shine For You Still''. Luke Reynolds's last project was named Pictures and Sound, and released their self-titled debut album August 19, 2008 on

Vanguard Records Vanguard Recording Society is an American record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York City. It was a primarily classical label at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s, but also has a catalogue of recordings by a n ...

.http://vanguardrecords.com/bio.asp?idArtist=57 In August 2008, NBC used Blue Merle's song "Burning in the Sun" during a feature on the Women's Pole Vault during the Beijing Olympics. The song "If I Could" was also prominently featured in the '' Friday Night Lights'' episode "Let's Get It On" (first aired Nov 2 2007). "Every Ship Must Sail Away" was the final song in Season 1, Episode 2 of the TV series "Bones".

Discography

*''Blue Merle'' EP (2003) *''Blue Merle'' The Fires EP (2004) *''Burning in the Sun'' (2005) *''Live at Bull Moose'' EP (2005)

References

{{Authority control Musical groups from Nashville, Tennessee Island Records artists Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 American bluegrass music groups Vanguard Records artists