Doc to Perform Benefit Concert Friday

By Allison Canter

Legendary musician Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson will perform a benefit concert for the West Jefferson Lions

Club on Friday, May 15, at 7 p.m. at the Mountain Music Jamboree, located at 9331 NC Highway 16 in Glendale Springs. Watson will perform with Boone resident Jeff Little, Doc's grandson, guitarist Richard Watson and guitarist Charles Welch. Tickets are for sale in advance or at the door for $25 and include a hot dog dinner with all the trimmings, potato salad, slaw, dessert and a drink.

Lions club vice district governor, Dot Nichols, said the concert will serve as a fundraiser for the West Jefferson Lions Club for ongoing projects to benefit the blind.

"It is a thrill to have Doc play at the Jamboree. He has entertained people across the United States in all kinds of venues, from the Kennedy Center to Los Angeles," said Arvill Scott, owner of Mountain Music Jamboree. "I remember first seeing him and his son, Merle, when I was in college. Now he is performing with his grandson, Richard. Last year, when the Lions club show was held at the Jamboree, there were people that came from Orlando, Fla. and Richmond, Va."

Watson was born in Stoney Fork in Watauga County on March 3, 1923. A native of Deep Gap, he was born with a defect in the vessels that carry blood to the eyes. He later developed an eye infection which caused him to completely loose his vision before his first birthday.

Watson said his earliest memories of music reach back to his days as a young child being held in his mother's arms at the Mount Paron Church, hearing songs such as The Lone Pilgrim and There is a Fountain.
"Singing led to an interest in making music and I began playing with anything around the house that made a musical sound," said Watson, according to docsguitar.com. He learned to play the harmonica at the age of six and was given a new one every year in his Christmas stocking. His first stringed instrument was a banjo his father built for him when he was 11 years old. His father, General Dixon Watson, taught him the basics of playing the banjo and the rest, Watson taught himself.

At age 13, he taught himself the chords to When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland on a borrowed guitar, and his father was so happy he bought him a $12 Stella guitar. He later picked up some chords from a fellow student at the Raleigh School for the Blind, and began to incorporate material that he heard on records and the radio with the music of his heritage.

In 1947, Doc married Rosa Lee Carlton, the daughter of popular fiddle player Gaither Carlton.

In 1953, Doc met Jack Williams, a local swing band piano player, and began to play gigs for money, playing rock, western swing and rockabilly with Williams' band for seven years, during which time he switched to electric guitar. During the years that he toured Tennessee and North Carolina with Williams' band, Watson continued to play traditional music with his family and with his banjo playing neighbor, Clarence "Tom" Ashley.

In 1960, spurred by the growing folk revival, Ralph Rinzler and Eugene Earle came south to record Tom Ashley. They heard Watson's banjo picking in the process and decided to record the two together.

In the early 1970's he participated in the legendary Will the Circle Be Unbroken recording sessions along with Merle Travis, Mother Maybelle Carter, Vassar Clements, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and several others. The three disc album introduced Watson to a younger audience. In the 1980's he recorded several albums with his son, Merle Watson.

In October of 1985, tragedy struck the Watson family when Merle was killed in a tractor accident at the age of 36. Watson not only lost his son and partner, he lost, as Watson said, "the best friend I ever had in this world."

A concert is held in his memory every year on the campus of Wilkes Community College. The concer, Merle Fest, brings thousands of music lovers to Wilkesboro each April. Watson feels that Merle was the most talented picker of the family. In an article printed in Acoustic Guitar Magazine, Watson says, "what impressed me the most about Merle's guitar playing was the tasteful style that he had developed and his ability to learn very quickly,"

Merle's son, Richard, has been performing with his grandfather at shows close to home for the past several years.

In addition to winning eight Grammy awards over the past three decades, Watson has been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Artist and the National Medal of Honor from President Clinton. He is also a member of the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame.

"I have always enjoyed Doc's voice and song selections, as well as his ability on the guitar. He has a style of his own," said Scott. "Many of today's top professional musicians are strongly influenced by Doc. He is truly a legend, more so on a national level than he is in his own backyard. If people have never heard him play in person, they should. He is a treasure."

According to Watson on his three CD biographical recording Legacy, he got the nickname "Doc" during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name, Arthel, was odd and he needed an easy nickname to go by. A fan in the crowd should, "call him Doc" presumably in reference to the Sherlock Holmes sidekick, Doctor Watson. The name stuck ever since.

For more information about the concert, call (336) 982-8288 or (336) 846-7215.