Doc Watson has been a profound part of our musical development.  Anyone who has even a passing knowledge of Americana roots music in its purest form needs to know about this man.  He died at age 89 on May 29.

As former U.S. President Bill Clinton said, in awarding the National Medal of Arts “There may not be a serious, committed baby boomer alive who didn’t at some point in his or her youth try to spend a few minutes at least trying to learn to pick a guitar like Doc Watson.”

I was privileged to meet this gracious man when he was 55 years old, at time in his life when we was already highly sought after and highly regarded as a guitar player.  I made a point of seeing him and Norman Blake in the 70‘s at Spring Fling in Schaefferstown, Penn. It’s hard to describe the feeling and the influence of watching those two players.  It was a combination of awe, and a sense of history even at that time.  For them, it was probably just another show.  But for me, wow.  A powerful memory.

The true Guitar Hero