Company’s Array of Music Mics Help Amplify the Acoustic Feel of the Performances
WILKESBORO, NORTH CAROLINA ― As thousands of bluegrass fans gathered in the rolling hills of North Carolina for MerleFest 2026, one thing remained at the heart of every performance: authenticity. Unlike many modern music festivals, where massive production and heavily processed sound take center stage, MerleFest is built around the subtleties of acoustic performance. Every banjo roll, fiddle phrase and vocal harmony carries weight and preserving the natural character of bluegrass and Americana music requires tools that faithfully capture every nuance. The technology used on stage must support the music without becoming part of the story, and this year, DPA Microphones helped deliver that experience.
“We used all of our DPA microphones on multiple stages at MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina,” says DPA Application Specialist Gabriel Antonini and Mid-Atlantic Sales Manager Chris Kontopanos. “Whether it’s banjo, mandolin, fiddle, any instrument, it was acoustic. Our job was to get out of the way to make it sound like there was no microphone at all. That’s what came through the PA.”
That philosophy resonated with engineers throughout the festival. At the B-Towns Americana Stage, Cameron Grogan of SE Systems relied on a full complement of DPA microphones, including the company’s DDK4000 Drum Microphone Kit and 2028 Vocal Microphone.
“We had a full kit of DPAs on stage, including the full drum miking kit,” says Grogan. “Those are beautiful mics — punchy, open, natural, everything you want in the drum kit. We also used the 2028s on vocals, which were phenomenal. They’ve got a great low-mid body that is present, but not overpowering. Turn it up, it still sounds excellent. The 2028 blows me away; everything about it is great. As an engineer at a festival, there’s enough hard things going on. Knowing you can gain up a mic and it’s going to be clean, and you’re going to get power out of it, there’s nothing more you can ask for. I would love to use DPA again in the future because it makes my job easy, and it makes the stage cleaner.”
That same performance extended to engineers working at some of the busiest stages of the festival. Dale Bode, Front of House Engineer and Production Manager for The Wilder Blue, found the DPA vocal mics particularly well-suited to the demands of live performance. “I got to use all those vocal mics; they’re nice,” he says. “I need lots of headroom, and they give me all of it. So, they were great. I really enjoyed the warmth.”
While vocals play a critical role in bluegrass and Americana music, the genre’s intricate acoustic instrumentation presents its own set of challenges. Capturing those details while maintaining separation on a busy stage is where DPA’s 4099 CORE+ Instrument Microphones proved particularly valuable. “I’m a big fan of the 4099,” says Front of House Engineer Joel Rose, who has worked with bands such as Railroad Earth and Green Sky Bluegrass, as well as the Bay Area touring audio company, ULTRASOUND. “I’ve done a lot of work in the bluegrass scene, and the mandolin player for Green Sky uses the 4099 for clarity and even response.”
The microphone could be found across the stages, on instruments central to the MerleFest sound. “The 4099 was a great asset at the festival,” adds Antonini. “We used it on mandolin and fiddle, and we made a special solution for the banjo. We also put the 4099 on its own stand, so musicians could work the microphone and get the perfect sound for their music.”
For Monitor Engineer Haley Coots of SE Systems, the microphones’ ability to isolate instruments while maintaining a natural presentation makes them indispensable in an acoustic environment. She points to the directional characteristics as a key advantage. “World-class musicians come across these stages, who are focused so much on their tone, and you have to present that honestly,” she says. “I use the 4099s because there is isolation within the capsule, and I’m able to accurately represent what they’re giving me because of the rejection. You can definitely tell the difference. When the musicians feel that on stage, they’re comfortable and it translates out front [to the audience]. So, when they’re happy, FOH is happy and the audience is happy, that makes every bit of difference.”
That sentiment captures what MerleFest is all about — great performances that depend on the connection between musicians, engineers and guests. When every element works together, technology fades into the background and the music takes over. “MerleFest, just like DPA, is about music, moments and memories,” adds Antonini. “We made a lot of friends and a lot of memories there. I hope we can go back next year as well.”
Microphones from Austrian Audio, a DPA brand, were also used across the festival’s stages. These solutions further complemented the event’s commitment to authentic, natural sound reproduction, helping artists deliver performances that stayed true to the spirit of MerleFest.