Doc Watson

Doc was blind from infancy due to an eye infection before his first birthday. He grew up playing harmonica and a homemade banjo but learned guitar after his father bought him a $12 Stella acoustic when he was 13. He attended North Carolina's school for the visually impaired. He was born Arthel Lane Watson and picked up the nickname "Doc" at the suggestion of an audience member at a radio broadcast when he was in his teens. Watson was instrumental in developing the canon for 1960s folk musicians with his recordings of traditional tunes like Deep River Blues and Shady Grove; he didn't play just the music of the Appalachian Mountains. Before folklorist and musician Ralph Rinzler first recorded him backing old-time banjo player Clarence "Tom" Ashley in 1960, he worked with a local dance band, playing honky-tonk, rockabilly, pop and square-dance tunes. 1999 saw a release of a compilation album The Best of Doc Watson 1964-1968.He was a master of both finger-picking and flat-picking styles. In 1997, Watson received the National Medal of Arts from President Bill Clinton. In 2000, Watson was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in Owensboro, Kentucky. Watson also won seven Grammys over a 33-year period and received Grammy's lifetime achievement award in 2004. For many years, Watson toured with his son, Merle Watson, who died in a 1985 tractor accident. Merle's memory is honored by MerleFest, an annual North Carolina roots-music festival that the elder Watson hosted. Held on the last weekend in April since 1988, MerleFest draws more than 75,000 annually to Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, N.C. In late May 2012, Watson was listed in critical condition but was responsive at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after undergoing colon surgery. The 89-year-old Watson had fallen early in the week. No bones were broken, but an underlying condition prompted the surgery. He passed May 29, 2012 after surgery.