Doc Watson at Gerdes Folk City

DocWatson

Sugar Hill Records has released the classic Doc Watson at Gerdes Folk City – a definitive collection of historic live Doc Watson recordings from 1962-1963. Doc Watson has had a profound influence in traditional, folk and bluegrass music ever since coming to national attention in the early 1960′s. His recordings and performances have inspired generations [...]

Doc Watson Statue for Downtown Boone

News from North Carolina The Downtown Boone Development Association is erecting a statue of Doc Watson on King Street in Boone, North Carolina. The Downtown Boone Development Association is raising money to have a life-size statue of Doc Watson playing his favorite guitar, a customised Gallagher. Created by noted sculptor Alex Hallmark, the statue, cast [...]

Something Truly American

Abigail Washburn

In a recent Tiny Desk Concert on NPR, singer Abigail Washburn talked about how Doc Watson’s music, specifically his LP of ‘Shady Grove,’ inspired her to pick up her banjo and tour the East Coast.  She called his music, “Something truly American,” and is something she can be “proud of.” Doc Watson’s biography Blind But [...]

Blind But Now I See

Blind But Now I See

The Biography of Music Legend Doc Watson By Kent Gustavson, PhD Author Kent Gustavson has written the first comprehensive biography of music legend Doc Watson published by Blooming Twig Books. Dr. Kent Gustavson earned his PhD from Stony Brook University in New York, where he now teaches music, leadership, and language. He speaks around the [...]

Doc Watson Awarded Doctor of Music

Doc Watson - photo by Ted Lehmann

Merlfest 2010 Legendary  guitarist Doc Watson was presented with an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee on Saturday 1st May at MerleFest, in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The award was presented by Matt Glaser who is the artistic director of Berklee’s American Roots Music Program. Also on stage was and professor Stephen Webber. and Rusty [...]

Merlfest 2010 Line UP

MerleFest 2010, presented by Lowe’s and scheduled for 29th April – 2nd May 2010, has announced the line up for the event’s 23rd year. The following artists will join host Doc Watson on the campus of Wilkes Community College for a celebration of traditional-plus music, a term Doc coined to describe the unique mix of [...]

Merlefest at 21, Doc Watson at 85

Doc Watsom - Photo G.McGrath

A Great American Music Festival and its Host At The Crossroads by Derek Halsey. …Doc would learn how to play that little 8-inch diameter banjo, as well as the harmonica and guitar, as time went on. As he grew older, however, the guitar would become his first love. By the 1950′s Doc was playing electric [...]