Merge Records is well into it 25th birthday party. The North Carolina-based label is taking all of 2014 to celebrate its silver jubilee. There've been reissues of classic recordings and a 25K run already, but this week is a big one for the music, with a series of concerts. Tonight, Mark Eitzel will be at Baldwin Auditorium on the Duke University campus:
Mark Eitzel
Known for: Melancholy tunes and witty lyrics
"The melancholy is sort of the truth of the world, and the humor is how you get through it... Things are always survivable if you can laugh about them."
Past life: American Music Club
New Album: Don't Be a Stranger
Merge show: July 30 at 7:30 p.m., Duke's Baldwin Auditorium, with Stephin Merritt
Here are some other Merge artists who performed earlier in the month:
Bob Mould
Known for: A dark cloud of words steeped in a sunshine of melody.
"It's something that comes naturally to me... There's the initial confusion, the dark song, the chorus, and then the doo doo doos."
Latest Album: Beauty & Ruin
Past life: Hüsker Dü and Sugar
Merge show: Saturday, July 26th, 4:20pm on Main St. in Carrboro, with Neutral Milk Hotel, Teenage Fan Club, Caribou, and more.
Mount Moriah
Known for: Cathartic looks at the American South.
"It's part of the reason we formed Mount Moriah... It's analyzing the South and who we are as Southerners. What is that crossroads of heritage and culture?"
Latest Album: Miracle Temple
Past life: Working at a music shop in Chapel Hill, NC
Merge show: Performed on Wednesday, July 23rd with Lambchop. However, they stopped by WUNC before for a preview performance.
