NO DEPRESSION SESSIONS at MerleFest: Emily Nenni

No Depression set up the "studio" at the 37th annual MerleFest for a dozen sessions with legends and legends-in-the-making. The festival was founded in 1988 in memory of Doc Watson’s son Merle, and features “traditional plus” music, meaning a broad range of styles from the sweet falsetto harmonies of East L.A. to the high lonesome sounds of the Appalachian Mountains.

Nashville honky-tonk songstress Emily Nenni stripped her MerleFest x No Depression session down to a duo, featuring pedal steel expert James Wyatt Woodall in a three-song mini-set spanning her catalog. Opening with “Long Game,” Nenni’s unmistakable voice carried us through a relentlessly optimistic tune, confident that it’ll all work out if she just keeps grinding. “Rootin’ For You,” from her most recent album Drive & Cry, came next, and she closed with the title track from her 2022 release On the Ranch.

Please enjoy this performance, and stay tuned for more No Depression x MerleFest '25 sessions in the pipeline. Special thanks to everybody who made this series happen: MerleFest director Wes Whitson and his team of aces including artist relations manager Lindsay Craven, production managers Jim and Katherine, Carrie and Lauren for keeping us fat and happy, Danielle and the Victory Lap family for bringing us together in the first place, and of course to the team at Window World for making it all possible!

Setlist:
"Long Game"
"Rootin' For You"
"On The Ranch"

Personnel:
Emily Nenni - Vocals, guitar
James Wyatt Woodall - Pedal steel