Flatpicking folk musician Doc Watson is being remembered today for his amazing flatpicking guitar style that influenced many, and intimidated others. And his smooth baritone voice was nothing to sneeze at either.
Blind since the age of one, Watson first learned how to play the harmonica at age 6, and learned banjo at 11, on a guitar his father made with the skin of the family cat who had died at age 16. (Creepy, or cool?) He learned to play guitar at a school for the blind in Raleigh N.C. on a Stella guitar his dad bought him for $12.
Hey, my first guitar was a Stella too...his must have had some magic in it for him to learn to play that well. Or he practiced, one of the two.
A lot of folks first heard Doc Watson's music on the amazing Will the Circle Be Unbroken album, a three album set that came out in 1972. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band got together all these old country and bluegrass performers and basically let them go..with most songs recorded on the first or second take, with delightful stage banter included.
So many of those performers have passed on (Earl Scruggs, Mother Maybelle Carter, Merle Travis, Roy Acuff), perhaps they're having a big old jam on the other side!
I'm lucky enough to have seen Doc Watson play the Madison Civic Center in the 1990s, and I was impressed at his ability. And I have to thank my boyfriend Mike for exposing me to his music. Mike said that Will the Circle Be Unbroken album was the one present he asked for in 1973, and he listened to it over and over again. Had I never met Mike I may have missed out on that music entirely.
Happy birthday to the Cute Beatle, SIr Paul McCartney! He turns 71 today.
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This week' s Gabby's Pick is another track from emerging artist ZZ Ward's debut album , called "365 Days."
In addition to all the radio airplay " Put The Gun Down" has received, you may also have heard her music on several television...
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Happy birthday to the Cute Beatle, SIr Paul McCartney! He turns 71 today.
One of the rules for Beatles fans is that you must memorize tidbits of Beatle trivia to try and impress other Beatle fans. This is not that easy to do....as things like...
In 1968, Jeannie C. Riley topped both the pop and country charts with "Harper Valley PTA". She was the first female singer to accomplish that feat and it wasn't repeated until Dolly Parton did it in 1981 with the song "9 to 5". The song was...
This week we're doing story songs on the World's Worst iPod. We start with the story of Billy who really wanted to be a hero. He was a hero, but didn't live to see it and his girlfriend was pretty angry. The song was originally done by...
This week' s Gabby's Pick is another track from emerging artist ZZ Ward's debut album , called "365 Days."
In addition to all the radio airplay " Put The Gun Down" has received, you may also have heard her music on several television...
Apparently Oreo flavored Oreos are not sufficient.
Nabisco is continuing its trend of introducing special limited edition flavors for its Oreo cookies. Last year, the internet was all abuzz about candy corn Oreos, which supposedly didn't really...
One small detail I like about Bonnaroo ... the security people's shirts say "Safety" and "Here to help". They seem well-trained and they do the things security folk do ... but I like the emphasis on safety and that they're doing these things...
