It's a big year for Merge Records. The Durham-based label is celebrating its 25th birthday with a series of events, which has included concerts, limited release recordings and a 25K run.
Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance founded the label in Chapel Hill to promote their band, Superchunk. A quarter-century later, dozens of other celebrated artists have jumped on board, including the Grammy-winning Arcade Fire.
Some of Merge's long-time fans are maturing and starting families, so the label is working to accommodate them with their summertime events. McCaughan says in addition to hosting late-night concerts, some performances will start earlier in the evening. The Merge 25 festival schedule can be found here. Duke Performances will also host live music in Duke Gardens.
The Durham Bulls baseball team will host Merge Night, June 5th. Mount Moriah's Heather McEntire will sing the National Anthem and Mac McCaughan will throw out the first pitch.