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 . Duke Performances will also host .
The Durham Bulls baseball team will host , June 5th. Mount Moriah's Heather McEntire will sing the National Anthem and Mac McCaughan will throw out the first pitch.