Arthel L. “Doc” Watson was born in Deep Gap North Carolina in 1922 to a musical family. Blind since infancy Doc started playing harmonica and a homemade banjo as a child.
At 13, armed with a $12 Stella guitar, Doc learned both the traditional tunes passed down through his family as well as the new “pop” songs he heard on the radio and records. Yet it wasn’t until Doc was 30 that he started earning money for his music. Hooking up with a local piano player Doc played rockabilly and swing for pay and traditional tunes in his free time.
The 1960s folk revival brought Doc out of the mountains and into the spotlight. Since his “discovery,” Doc became a full time musical artist. He played concerts clubs colleges and festivals all over the country including the Newport Folk Festival the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Carnegie Hall. His style included everything from Appalachian folk music roots to rockabilly, blues, country, gospel and bluegrass. Doc was acknowledged by fans and critics alike as one of the Unirted States’ most accomplished flat-pickers and his artistic influence cannot be overstated. Doc’s many accolades and honors included five Grammy Awards, two honorary degrees, The National Heritage Fellowship, and The National Medal of Arts.
Doc Watson was a disciple of the legendary guitarist Merle Travis. Together with Merle Travis and Chet Atkins he made up the top tier of country guitar. Doc was able to record with his hero before his death.
He recorded over 50 albums blending Appalachian folk music with bluegrass, country ,gospel and the blues. Virtuoso fiddle player Mark O’Connor believes Doc was “as progressive as anybody I’ve ever heard.” There is no skill on the guitar that Doc hadn’t mastered whether it be speed tone or feeling.
In 1985, Doc’s son, Merle, who was 36-years old, died in a tragic tractor accident a few miles from home. A festival in his honor, Merlefest, was started in North Carolina and has become the largest and most important bluegrass and American folk music festival in the United States.
A historical meeting between Chet Atkins and Doc Watson, two of the 20th century’s most influential American guitarists, was documented in 1980. Released on CD, Reflections has become an influential guitar album.
The Watson family musical tradition continues with yet another generation. An album called Third Generation Blues found Doc carrying the Watson legacy forward, this time with Merle’s son, Richard on 2nd guitar.
Before he died, Doc Watson was semi-retired. He died on Tuesday May 29, 2012 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.