Acoustic Music Legend Doc Watson Brings Mountain Sounds

Media Contact:

Kristen Gleason
Director of Marketing
The Paramount Theater
215 East Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.979.1922 ext. 103
kristen@theparamount.net

For Immediate Release

June 15, 2007

Without doubt a living legend in acoustic music, Arthel "Doc" Watson has been America's most renowned and influential folk guitar stylist for more than four decades.  

A powerful singer and tremendously influential picker who virtually invented the art of playing mountain fiddle tunes on the flattop guitar, Watson blends traditional Appalachian music with bluegrass, country, gospel, and blues in concerts of hot flatpicking tunes, slow romantic ballads, gutsy blues numbers, delicately fingerpicked melodies, and an old-time gospel song or two.

Bringing that mountain music sound to Charlottesville, this extraordinary entertainer comes to The Paramount Theater for a performance on Friday, July 6 at 8 pm. Special Media sponsor for this event is WMRA Public Radio.

This witty, down-to-earth 'man of the mountains' who loves to share the music of his heart and home did not set out from the Appalachian mountains to become a famous musician.  Born in Stoney Fork Township near what is now Deep Gap, North Carolina in 1923, Doc Watson was not yet one year old when an infection, exacerbated by a congenital vascular disorder, took his vision. 

From a musically-inclined family, singing and the sounds of the phonograph were always present.  It wasn’t long before Watson joined in, playing harmonica at age five and banjo by age eleven.  He picked up guitar as a young teenager at North Carolina State School for the Blind in Raleigh, and at 18, he got a gig performing for a radio show.  The announcer felt the name Arthel wasn’t right for radio. While searching for a replacement, someone in the audience shouted, "Call him Doc."  The name stuck.

However, it was not until 1960, as the “folk boom” was emerging, that folklorist Ralph Rinzler “discovered” Watson.  This meeting led Watson to tour the coffeehouse circuit in the Northeast, and eventually to the 1963 Newport Folk Festival, where he was embraced enthusiastically by all ages in the folk community.  His fluid fingerpicking and flatpicking style of guitar, accomplished banjo playing, harmonica, and warm baritone resonate with both fans and critics – among whom his popularity only grows greater with time. 

Watson was awarded the National Heritage Fellowship in 1988, received the National Medal of the Arts from President Clinton in 1997, and was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Honor in 2000. Watson has received seven Grammys, including the 2002 Best Traditional Folk Recording Grammy -- which he shared with David Holt in recognition of their collaboration on the 3-CD set Legacy -- and the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Grammy.

While Watson may have acquired bragging rights through his music and accomplishments, he remains a fundamentally honest man.  He says, “I would rather be remembered as a likable person than for any phase of my picking.  Don't misunderstand me; I really appreciate people's love of what I do with the guitar.  That's an achievement as far as I'm concerned, and I'm proud of it.  But I'd rather people remember me as a decent human being than as a flashy guitar player.  That's the way I feel about it."

Tickets for Doc Watson’s concert at The Paramount on Friday, July 6 are $38.50, $41.50, $44.50, and $49.50.  Half-price student rush tickets and group discounts are also available. 

Tickets and further details may be found online  or through The Paramount’s Box Office at 434.979.1333.