![]() ![]() Later, while attending school in Raleigh, two things happened to Arthel: (1) He began to study various forms of music such as big band, jazz, rock, and swing and (2) He fell in love with the guitar.Īfter leaving school, Arthel returned to his Appalachian home. He loved to learn songs sung by the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers, songs he first heard played on a wind-up Victrola owned by his parents. Beginning with a harmonica, Arthel soon taught himself to pick tunes on a homemade fretless banjo. Patron Church and listening to the harmony and shape-note singing.”Īs a boy, Arthel attempted to play anything that would make a sound. Arthel has said that his earliest memories of music reach back to his days as a young child being held in his mother’s arms at the Mt. Arthel’s father, a farmer and laborer, led the singing at the local Baptist church. “In the evenings the family read from the Bible and sung hymns from the Christian Harmony, a shape-note book published in 1866. The sixth of nine children, Arthel grew up in an environment focused on family, church, and music. It was in this setting in 1923 that Tom Watson’s most famous descendent, Arthel Lane Watson was born. The isolation of the mountainous terrain created a fertile cultural seedbed responsible for producing and preserving a rich repository of original song and lore. During that period, traditional folk music was one of the threads that linked together families, neighbors, and entire communities. Over time, many of Watson’s descendants migrated west into a remote, upper corner of North Carolina bordering modern-day Tennessee and Virginia. Regionally, the Watson name dates back to the late 18 th century when a Scots pioneer named Tom Watson homesteaded over 3000 acres in North Carolina. However, for many years before this timeless artist emerged into the national spotlight he belonged primarily to his beloved native homeland which were the hills of southern Appalachia – a natural and fitting starting point from which to explore the roots and life of such a unique musical treasure. That characteristic is certainly true of folk musician and singer, Doc Watson. It is understood when you reach a marked degree of fame that you give up your rights to any amount of privacy – that your “personal life” in essence belongs to the world. ![]() He hosted Wilkes County’s Merlefest for many years until his death in 2012. ![]() His many Grammy Awards and his recognition as a premier American artist are testimony to his impact on the nation’s musical culture. He became one of the most popular performers on the folk circuit. In the early phase of a national folk music revival in the 1960s, “Doc’s” genius as a traditional musician was discovered. He played music at home and with neighbors until the 1950’s when he joined a western swing band, playing electric guitar. He learned ballads and sacred songs from his mother and from the radio. Creative Commons Image Obtained Through FlickrĪrthel Lane “Doc” Watson was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina, in 1923, into a family with a rich musical tradition, Young Arthel lost his vision to an eye infection prior to his first birthday.
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