Doc Watson: R.I.P.

A PIONEER PASSES AWAY AT 89

Doc Watson By Gabe Nelson

After being airlifted to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina earlier this week following a fall in his home, Doc Watson died on May 29th after undergoing abdominal surgery. A true original in the worlds of bluegrass, folk and country, Watson pioneered the flat picking style of acoustic guitar playing, and his influence is pervasive both within those genres and more broadly on the instrument he so masterfully imagined new possibilities on.

It’s a shock to the system for fans of string music since it seemed as if Watson, who had been present at the birth of bluegrass and country in the 20th century, would always be around, his blind eyes – since he was a baby – seemingly seeing things the rest of us just didn’t catch. Watson was a key figure in the 1960s folk revival and went on to influence touchstones in the modern jam-grass world like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Leftover Salmon and Yonder Mountain String Band., all while remaining a fixture on the festival and performance circuit (though less so in recent years). Gallagher Guitars makes a custom guitar that bears Watson’s name in the G-50 series, just one of many concrete marks the man made on music during his long tenure as one of the premiere players on his instrument. Watson was 89-years-old when he passed away on Tuesday.