The Mona Lisa of acoustic guitar?

“I have seen the David, I’ve seen the Mona Lisa, too, and I have heard Doc Watson Play ‘Columbus Stockade Blues’"  – Guy Clark, Dublin Blues

Fans of the Avett Brothers, Nickel Creek (and their mandolin wizard Chris Thile) and Old Crow Medicine Show, all of whom have helped breathe new life into roots music, may not know it. But they have a guitar player and singer named Arthel “Doc” Watson to thank.

Watson, who died in 2012 at age 89, never had fame or fortune to match his artistic stature. But in nearly 60 years of making music, he left behind a lot of fans, among them musicians influenced by his fast, clean guitar picking, warm singing, generous and gentle personality, and vast repertoire of songs: fiddle tunes, early country, bluegrass, ancient ballads, blues, folk and gospel.

Not bad for a blind boy who grew up in the mountains of western North Carolina and lived there all his life.

Before finding a national audience, Doc spent much of the 1950s playing electric guitar for a local band that played western swing, country and popular music. The band had no fiddler, so Doc taught himself to play fiddle tunes on the electric guitar. But it was his acoustic picking with Clarence Ashley’s String Band that gained attention of audiences in New York during 1960s folk revival. In fact, Doc’s first solo performances at Gerdes Folk City are available on CD, and it’s amazing to listen to that time capsule and hear the musical technique, repertoire, and stage personality so fully developed already.

Once he was discovered by national audiences and began recording, Doc’s repertoire consisted largely of picking old fiddle tunes on acoustic guitar. He also championed songs by the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Mississippi John Hurt, and many mountain ballads, gospel songs, and folk and country songs. He was accomplished on banjo and harmonica as well, but it was his dazzling, fast yet clean guitar picking technique that gained the most influence and recognition.

Doc toured and recorded until shortly before his death in 2012, leaving behind dozens of albums. He recorded for several labels and the best of his work has been anthologized several times over. I discovered Doc’s music in 1976 and got to see him play three times, all in the 1980s: at a bluegrass festival at Longmont, Colo.; in the high-school auditorium in my own town, Scottsbluff, Neb.; and at another bluegrass festival in Red Rocks, the concert venue built into a natural amphitheater in the mountains west of Denver.  

Watson won seven Grammy awards and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and his music and influence have been cited by generations of musicians. Music fan who haven’t heard Doc should do themselves a favor and check out his studio recordings as well as audio or video recordings of his live performances. YouTube is a good place to start.

For me, Doc Watson is not only a sheer joy to listen to, but he also opens the door to a world of music that I might not otherwise be exposed to. Do  any artists do the same for you?

Doc Watson playing Black Mountain Rag: