Blue Merle was an American band centered in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. Their name comes from the lyrics of a

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

song, ''

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'' from

Led Zeppelin III ''Led Zeppelin III'' is the third studio album by the English 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 Stones Mobil ...

, referring to a "blue-eyed merle"

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. The band was fronted by lead singer

Luke Reynolds Lucas Fitzpatrick Reynolds (born April 20, 1979) is an American guitarist and multi-instrumentalist, artist, writer and producer. He also plays the But Why theme song which comes from his song “no way to know what’s coming.” Career Stud ...

. 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 () is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991, with Chicago becoming its permanent location beginning in 2005. Music genres i ...

in 2005, and toured with

Guster Guster is an American alternative rock band formed in Somerville, Massachusetts. Founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel began practice sessions while attending Tufts University and formed the band in 1991. The mem ...

, Jem, J.J. Cale, 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 is an indie rock band active since the early 2000s in and out of Philadelphia. The band was founded as a collaboration between singer-songwriter Alec Ounsworth, Sean Greenhalgh, Robbie Guertin, Lee Sargent, and Ty ...

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 New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the so ...

.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