American Routes

Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson passed away on Tuesday May 29, 2012 at a hospital in Winston-Salem, NC. He was 89 years old. This simply breaks my Southern heart. There are few people in this world that were both as talented and genuinely humble as Doc.

I remember working as a lighting tech at a show he was performing at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, NC in the summer of 2008. At one point, Doc was in a picking circle backstage with Riley Vargus Baugus [thanks to birdsong4j for the correction] and a number of other friends and acquaintances. Every single person on that job site - the grips, the lighting techs, the caterers, everyone - stopped working and just stood in silent awe, struck by the graceful power of his words and chords. They broke the mold when they made this man.

Read about Doc’s music and life here.