Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States . The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys . Like mainstream country music , it largely developed out of old-time music , though in contrast to country, it is traditionally played exclusively on acoustic instruments and also kept its roots in traditional English, Scottish and Irish ballads and dance tunes , as well as incorporating blues and jazz . It was further developed by musicians who played with Monroe, including 5-string banjo player Earl Scruggs and guitarist Lester Flatt . Bill Monroe once described bluegrass music as, "It's a part of Methodist , Holiness and Baptist traditions. It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound."
78-431: Arthel Lane " Doc " Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass , folk , country , blues , and gospel music . He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award . His fingerpicking and flatpicking skills, as well as his knowledge of traditional American music, were highly regarded. Blind from a young age, he performed publicly both in
156-490: A dance band and solo, as well as for over 15 years with his son, guitarist Merle Watson , until Merle's death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm. Watson was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina . According to Watson on his three-CD biographical recording Legacy , he got the nickname "Doc" during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name Arthel was odd and he needed an easy nickname. A fan in
234-553: A distinct musical form developed from elements of old-time music and traditional music in the Appalachian region of the United States . The Appalachian region was where many Scottish American immigrants settled, bringing with them the musical traditions of their homelands. Hence the sounds of jigs and reels , especially as played on the fiddle, were innate to the developing style. Black musicians, meanwhile, brought
312-647: A fiddle. Many older bluegrass songs come directly from the British Isles . Several Appalachian bluegrass ballads, such as " Pretty Saro ", " Pretty Polly ", " Cuckoo Bird ", and " House Carpenter ", come from England and preserve the English ballad tradition both melodically and lyrically. Some bluegrass fiddle songs popular in Appalachia, such as "Leather Britches" and "Soldier's Joy", have Scottish roots. The dance tune " Cumberland Gap " may be derived from
390-413: A genre within the post-war country/western-music industry, a period of time characterized now as the golden era or wellspring of "traditional bluegrass". From its earliest days, bluegrass has been recorded and performed by professional and amateur musicians alike. Although amateur bluegrass musicians and trends such as "parking-lot picking" are too important to be ignored, it is touring musicians who have set
468-532: A medicine show that happened to be passing through Mountain City. He played banjo and guitar, and performed blackface comedy . Tom would play with medicine shows every summer until the early 1940s. During winters, he organized local concerts at rural schools. He would also play for money at coal camps and rayon mills, often accompanied by influential Johnson County fiddler G. B. Grayson . Tom made his first recordings for Gennett Records during February 1928 with
546-607: A relationship with Gallagher Guitars when he started playing their G-50 model. His first Gallagher, which Watson referred to as "Ol' Hoss", was on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville before residing at the Gallagher shop until 2012, when it was auctioned through Christie's on November 27, 2012. In 1974, Gallagher created a customized G-50 line to meet Watson's preferred specifications, which bears
624-705: A rhythmic alternation between the root and fifth of each chord , with occasional walking bass excursions. Instrumentation has been a continuing topic of debate. Traditional bluegrass performers believe the "correct" instrumentation is that used by Bill Monroe's band, the Blue Grass Boys (guitar, mandolin, fiddle, banjo, and bass). Departures from the traditional instrumentation have included dobro, accordion , harmonica , piano , autoharp , drums , electric guitar , and electric versions of other common bluegrass instruments, resulting in what has been referred to as "new grass." Despite this debate, even Monroe himself
702-415: A tractor accident on his family farm. Two years later Merle Fest was inaugurated in remembrance of him. Arlen Roth writes, "...we can attribute an entirely new style and a whole generation of pickers to [Watson's] inspiration. He was the first rural acoustic player to truly 'amaze' urban audiences in the early 1960s with his dazzling, fast technique, and he has continued to be a driving, creative force on
780-703: A trio called "Byrd Moore and His Hot Shots" at the Johnson City Sessions . During the early 1930s, Ashley again recorded with the Blue Ridge Entertainers, this time for the American Record Corporation . The final recordings from his early era were a series of duets with harmonica player Gwen Foster in 1933. The effects of the Great Depression made money scarce throughout the early 1930s. Not only
858-605: A trucking business in Mountain City that hauled furniture and crops to various cities around the region. Throughout the following decade, Ashley performed as a comedian with the Stanley Brothers. He formed a local string band, the Tennessee Merrymakers . During the folk music revival of the late 1950s and early 1960s, urban ethnomusicologists rediscovered Ashley's music. By this time, Ashley
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#1732798792397936-466: A worldwide audience as a result of its frequent use in the movie "Bonnie and Clyde". But the functionally similar old-time music genre was long-established and widely recorded in the period of the film's events and later CD was released. Ralph Stanley commented about the origins of the genre and its name. Oh, (Monroe) was the first. But it wasn't called bluegrass back then. It was just called old-time mountain hillbilly music. When they started doing
1014-662: Is a common name given in America for the grass of the Poa genus, the most famous being Kentucky bluegrass . A large region in central Kentucky is sometimes called the Bluegrass region (although this region is west of the hills of Kentucky). Exactly when the word "bluegrass" was adopted is not certain, but is believed to be in the late 1950s. It was derived from the name of the seminal Blue Grass Boys band, formed in 1939 with Bill Monroe as its leader. Due to this lineage, Bill Monroe
1092-796: Is a recipient of a 1988 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts , which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. In 2000, Watson was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor in Owensboro, Kentucky . In 1997, Watson received the National Medal of Arts from U.S. President Bill Clinton . In 2010, he
1170-639: Is frequently referred to as the "father of bluegrass". The bluegrass style of music dates from the mid-1940s. In 1948, the Stanley Brothers recorded the traditional song " Molly and Tenbrooks " in the Blue Grass Boys' style, arguably the point in time that bluegrass emerged as a distinct musical form. Monroe's 1946 to 1948 band, which featured guitarist Lester Flatt , banjoist Earl Scruggs , fiddler Chubby Wise and bassist Howard Watts (also known as "Cedric Rainwater") – sometimes called "the original bluegrass band" – created
1248-460: The C.F. Martin Company started to manufacture them in the 1830s. The guitar is now most commonly played with a style referred to as flatpicking , unlike the style of early bluegrass guitarists such as Lester Flatt , who used a thumb pick and finger pick . Bassists almost always play pizzicato , occasionally adopting the "slap-style" to accentuate the beat. A bluegrass bass line is generally
1326-624: The Library of Congress announced that the album, Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's , would be added to the National Recording Registry . The album consists of a series of early-1960s recordings by Ralph Rinzler of folk songs performed by Ashley and bandmates Doc Watson , Clint Howard , Fred Price , Gaither Carlton and Tommy Moore . Ashley learned much of his repertoire from his grandfather and aunts and itinerant musicians lodging at his grandfather's boarding house in
1404-606: The Newport Folk Festival in Rhode Island . Ashley was born Clarence Earl McCurry in Bristol, Tennessee in 1895, the only child of George McCurry and Rose-Belle Ashley. Those who knew George McCurry described him variously as a "one-eyed fiddler, hell-raiser, and big talker." Shortly before Clarence was born, Rose-Belle's father, Enoch Ashley, discovered that his son-in-law George was an adulterer. George
1482-543: The Seeger family , Michelle Shocked , and many others. The book also covers the life, supporting role, and untimely death of Merle Watson . An updated edition was released by Sumach-Red Books in March 2012. In April 2013, Open Records released a multi-disc collection of unreleased recordings by Watson. The collection, titled Milestones , features 94 songs as well as stories, remembrances, and over 500 photographs. The collection
1560-933: The Telluride Bluegrass Festival , RockyGrass in Lyons, Colorado, and MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina began to attract acts from outside the bluegrass tradition, merging the bluegrass community with other popular music scenes across America. Following the death of Jerry Garcia , who began his career playing bluegrass, and the dissolution of the Grateful Dead , the blossoming " jam band " scene that followed in their wake embraced and included many groups that performed progressive bluegrass styles that included extended, exploratory musical improvisation , often called "jamgrass." This style began to define many such acts whose popularity has grown into
1638-413: The fiddle ), five-string banjo , guitar , mandolin , and upright bass ( string bass ) are often joined by the resonator guitar (also referred to as a Dobro ) and (occasionally) harmonica or Jew's harp . This instrumentation originated in rural dance bands and is the basis on which the earliest bluegrass bands were formed. The fiddle, made by Italians and first used in sixteenth century Europe,
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#17327987923971716-426: The key of G , and a I-IV-V chord pattern is common. In traditional bluegrass, instrumental breaks are typically short and played between sections of a song, conventionally originating as a variation on the song's melody. Also common are breakdowns, an instrumental form that features a series of breaks, each played by a different instrument. Particularly since the 1990s, a number of younger groups have attempted to revive
1794-423: The off-beat . The off-beat can be "driven" (played close to the previous bass note) or "swung" (played farther from the previous bass note). Notes are anticipated, in contrast to laid-back blues where notes are behind the beat; this creates the higher energy characteristic of bluegrass. In bluegrass, as in most forms of jazz, one or more instrumentalists take a turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while
1872-484: The 1930s and mid-1940s. However, the term "bluegrass" did not appear formally to describe the music until the late 1950s and did not appear in Music Index until 1965. The first entry in Music Index mentioning "bluegrass music" directed the reader to "see Country Music; Hillbilly Music". Music Index maintained this listing for bluegrass music until 1986. The first time bluegrass music had its own entries in Music Index
1950-436: The 2002 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album . In 2010, Blooming Twig Books published a comprehensive biography of Watson, written by Kent Gustavson . The book, titled Blind But Now I See: The Biography of Music Legend Doc Watson , features never before published content regarding Watson's life and career, gleaned from interviews with Watson's friends and collaborators including Norman Blake , Sam Bush , members of
2028-748: The 21st century, such as Leftover Salmon , The String Cheese Incident , Yonder Mountain String Band , The Infamous Stringdusters , Railroad Earth , Greensky Bluegrass and Billy Strings . In recent years, groups like the Punch Brothers , the Jon Stickley Trio and Nickel Creek have developed a new form of progressive bluegrass which includes highly arranged pieces resembling contemporary classical music played on bluegrass instruments. These bands feature complicated rhythms, chord schemes, and harmonics combined with improvised solos. At
2106-614: The Blue Ridge Mountain Entertainers, which then consisted of Ashley on banjo or guitar, Garley Foster on harmonica, and Clarence Horton Greene on fiddle. Later that year, with the help of Victor producer Ralph Peer , Ashley made several recordings with The Carolina Tar Heels , which consisted of Tom on guitar and vocals, his friend Dock Walsh on banjo, and Gwen or Garley Foster on harmonica. In 1929, Frank Walker of Columbia Records auditioned Ashley to make his first solo recordings, as well as to record with
2184-849: The Chicago Folk Festival in 1962 and the Newport Folk Festival in 1963. Ashley continued touring the folk circuit throughout the mid-1960s. He appeared at Carnegie Hall in New York and played at dozens of venues in California. In 1966, Ashley and Reidsville, North Carolina guitarist Tex Isley toured England. A second tour of England was planned for 1967, but Ashley grew ill and discovered he had cancer before he departed. He died in 1967 at Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina . In March 2013,
2262-458: The Doc Watson name. In 1991, Gallagher customized a personal cutaway guitar for Watson that he played until his death and which he referred to as "Donald" in honor of Gallagher guitar's second-generation proprietor and builder, Don Gallagher. During his last years, Watson played a Dana Bourgeois dreadnought given to him by Ricky Skaggs for his 80th birthday. Another of Watson's favorites
2340-496: The acoustic music scene." Doc Watson played guitar in both flatpicking and fingerpicking style, but is best known for his flatpick work. His guitar playing skills, combined with his authenticity as a mountain musician, made him a highly influential figure during the folk music revival. He pioneered a fast and flashy bluegrass lead guitar style including fiddle tunes and crosspicking techniques which were adopted and extended by Clarence White , Tony Rice and many others. Watson
2418-447: The annual MerleFest music festival held every April at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina . The festival features a vast array of acoustic style music focusing on the folk, bluegrass, blues and old-time music genres. It was named in honor of Merle Watson and is one of the most popular acoustic music festivals in the world, drawing over 70,000 music fans each year. The festival has continued after his death. Watson
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2496-523: The baritone part sung in the normal range of that voice; E.P. Tullock [aka Cousin Jake] normally providing the part, though at times it was handled by Curly Seckler). Bluegrass tunes often take the form of narratives on the everyday lives of the people whence the music came. Aside from laments about loves lost, interpersonal tensions and unwanted changes to the region (e.g., the visible effects of mountaintop coal mining ), bluegrass vocals frequently reference
2574-412: The bluegrass festivals in 1965, everybody got together and wanted to know what to call the show, y'know. It was decided that since Bill was the oldest man, and was from the bluegrass state of Kentucky and he had the Blue Grass Boys, it would be called 'bluegrass.' Traditional bluegrass emphasizes the traditional elements and form of the genre as laid out by Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys band in
2652-524: The borders of the United States and become an internationally appreciated art form. Bluegrass associations now exist worldwide. One such association, the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) was formed in 1985 and presents annual awards. In 2012, the critically acclaimed Dutch -language Belgian film, The Broken Circle Breakdown , featured Flemish musicians performing Bluegrass music central to
2730-741: The crowd shouted "Call him Doc!", presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes 's companion, Doctor Watson . The name stuck. An eye infection caused Watson to lose his vision before his second birthday. He attended North Carolina's school for the blind, the Governor Morehead School , in Raleigh, North Carolina . In a 1989 radio interview with Terry Gross on the Fresh Air show on National Public Radio , Watson spoke about how he got his first guitar. His father told him if he and his brother David chopped down all
2808-460: The definitive sound and instrumental configuration that remains a model to this day. By some arguments, while the Blue Grass Boys were the only band playing this music, it was just their unique sound; it could not be considered a musical style until other bands began performing in a similar fashion. In 1967, the banjo instrumental " Foggy Mountain Breakdown " by Flatt and Scruggs was introduced to
2886-549: The direction of the style. Radio stations dedicated to bluegrass have also proved influential in advancing the evolution of the style into distinctive subgenres. Bluegrass was initially included in the category of folk music and later changed to hillbilly . In 1948, bluegrass was placed under the country and western heading for radio airplay charting. All four of the seminal bluegrass authors - Artis, Price, Cantwell, and Rosenberg - described bluegrass music in detail as originating in style and form, in one form or another, between
2964-455: The early 1900s. His unusual G-modal banjo tuning style, which he called "sawmill" (gDGCD from fifth string to the first), was likely taught to him by family members. He recorded several songs derived from English or Irish ballads that were passed down through generations in Appalachia, the best-known of which included " Coo Coo Bird " (which he learned from his mother), " House Carpenter ", and " Rude and Rambling Man ". Other recordings included
3042-659: The exposure traditional bluegrass received alongside mainstream country music on radio and televised programs such as the Grand Ole Opry , a wave of young and not exclusively Southern musicians began replicating the genre's format on college campuses and in coffeehouses amidst the American folk music revival of the early 1960s. These artists often incorporated songs, elements and instruments from other popular genres, particularly rock and roll. Banjoist Earl Scruggs of Flatt and Scruggs had shown progressive tendencies since
3120-607: The folk revival years of the 1960s, Ashley and his band helped to popularize the 18th century English, Southern hymn, " Amazing Grace ." Several notable musicians cite Ashley as an important influence. Roy Acuff once worked medicine shows with Ashley, and Ashley probably taught him "House of the Rising Sun" (which Acuff recorded during 1938) and "Greenback Dollar." Folk musician Doc Watson began his recording career with Ashley in 1960 and played in Ashley's band throughout much of
3198-401: The group's breakup in 1969. New Grass Revival began utilizing electric instrumentation alongside songs imported from other genres to great popularity in the 1970s and 1980s, and the term "newgrass" became synonymous with "progressive bluegrass". It continued to evolve though the '80s and '90s, moving closer to folk and rock in some quarters and closer to jazz in others, while festivals such as
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3276-432: The group's earliest days, incorporating jazz-inspired banjo and bass duets and complex chord progressions that extended the genre's original rigid, conservative structure. In the late 1960s, Scruggs experimented on duets with saxophonist King Curtis and added songs by the likes of counterculture icon Bob Dylan to the group's repertoire, while bandmate Lester Flatt , a traditionalist , opposed these changes, resulting in
3354-693: The guitar was "When Roses Bloom in Dixieland", first recorded by the Carter Family in 1930. Watson said in an interview with American Songwriter that " Jimmie Rodgers was the first man that I started to claim as my favorite." Watson proved to be a natural musical talent and within months was performing on local street corners playing songs from the Delmore Brothers , Louvin Brothers , and Monroe Brothers alongside his brother Linny. By
3432-522: The hardscrabble existence of living in Appalachia and other rural areas with modest financial resources. Some protest music has been composed in the bluegrass style, especially concerning the vicissitudes of the Appalachian coal mining industry . Railroading has also been a popular theme, with ballads such as " Wreck of the Old 97 " and "Nine Pound Hammer" (from the legend of John Henry ). Bluegrass as
3510-480: The high baritone above Ralph Stanley's tenor, both parts above Carter's lead vocal. This trio vocal arrangement was variously used by other groups as well; even Bill Monroe employed it in his 1950 recording of "When the Golden Leaves Begin to Fall'. In the 1960s, Flatt and Scruggs often added a fifth part to the traditional quartet parts on gospel songs, the extra part being a high baritone (doubling
3588-563: The iconic banjo to Appalachia. Much later, in 1945, Earl Scruggs would develop a three-finger roll on the instrument which allowed a rapid-fire cascade of notes that could keep up with the driving tempo of the new bluegrass sound. Settlers from Britain and Ireland arrived in Appalachia during the 18th century and brought with them the musical traditions of their homelands. These traditions consisted primarily of English and Scottish ballads —which were essentially unaccompanied narrative—and dance music, such as reels , which were accompanied by
3666-475: The late 1940s. Traditional bluegrass musicians play folk songs, tunes with simple traditional chord progressions, exclusively on acoustic instruments , though it is common practice to amplify acoustic instruments during stage performances before larger audiences. In most traditional bluegrass bands, the guitar rarely takes the lead, instead acting as a rhythm instrument, one notable exception being gospel-based songs . Melodies and lyrics tend to be simple, often in
3744-416: The murder ballads " Naomi Wise ", " Little Sadie ", and " John Hardy ", and the folk songs "Frankie Silvers" and "Greenback Dollar". An African-American influence can be heard on Ashley's renderings of "Dark Holler", "Haunted Road Blues", and " Corrina, Corrina ". In 1933, Ashley made the first known recording of " The House of the Rising Sun ", which he claimed he learned from his maternal grandfather. During
3822-418: The ordering and layering of vocal harmony is called the "stack". A standard stack has a baritone voice at the bottom, the lead in the middle (singing the main melody) and a tenor at the top, although stacks can be altered, especially where a female voice is included. Alison Krauss and Union Station provide a good example of a different harmony stack with a baritone and tenor with a high lead, an octave above
3900-438: The others perform accompaniment ; this is especially typified in tunes called breakdowns . This is in contrast to old-time music , where all instrumentalists play the melody together, or one instrument carries the lead throughout while the others provide accompaniment. Breakdowns are often characterized by rapid tempos and unusual instrumental dexterity, and sometimes by complex chord changes . The violin (also known as
3978-445: The parents of his mother, the name "McCurry" was dropped in favor of "Ashley". From infancy, Tom was acquainted with musicians. His grandfather bought him a banjo when he was eight years old, and his mother and aunts taught him to play traditional Appalachian folk songs and ballads . He learned a number of songs and techniques from itinerant lumberjacks and railroad workers lodging at his grandfather's boarding house. In 1911, Tom joined
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#17327987923974056-518: The same time, several popular indie folk and folk rock bands such as the Avett Brothers , Mumford & Sons and Trampled by Turtles have incorporated rhythmic elements and instrumentation from the bluegrass tradition into their popular music arrangements, as has the Branson -based band The Petersens . While originating in the United States, Bluegrass as a genre has expanded beyond
4134-706: The same year. After the folk revival waned during the late 1960s, Doc Watson's career was sustained by his performance of the Jimmy Driftwood song " Tennessee Stud " on the 1972 live album recording Will the Circle Be Unbroken . As popular as ever, Doc and Merle began playing as a trio with T. Michael Coleman on bass guitar in 1974. The trio toured the globe during the late seventies and early eighties, recording eleven albums between 1973 and 1985, and bringing Doc and Merle's unique blend of acoustic music to millions of new fans. In 1985, Merle died in
4212-524: The small dead chestnut trees along the edge of their field, they could sell the wood to a tannery . Watson bought a Sears Silvertone from Sears Roebuck with his earnings, while his brother bought a new suit. Later in the same interview, Watson mentioned that his first high-quality guitar was a Martin D-18. Watson's earliest influences were country roots musicians and groups such as the Carter Family and Jimmie Rodgers . The first song he learned to play on
4290-515: The sound and structure of traditional bluegrass, a trend that has been dubbed neo-traditional bluegrass. The group The Country Gentlemen is credited with starting the progressive bluegrass movement with their 1960 album Country Songs, Old and New , combining traditional ballads such as "The Little Sparrow," "Weeping Willow" and "Ellen Smith" with traditional bluegrass instrumentation and "bouncy" mandolin and banjo parts distinct from those of traditional players such as Monroe and Scruggs. Due to
4368-524: The standard melody line, sung by the female vocalist. However, by employing variants to the standard trio vocal arrangement, they were simply following a pattern existing since the early days of the genre. Both the Stanley Brothers and the Osborne Brothers employed the use of a high lead with the tenor and baritone below it. The Stanleys used this technique numerous times in their recordings for both Mercury and King records. This particular stack
4446-727: The story. International bluegrass groups include Hayde Bluegrass Orchestra and Ila Auto from Norway ; Rautakoura and Steve 'n' Seagulls from Finland ; Druhá Tráva and Poutníci from the Czech Republic (home of the subgenre, Czech bluegrass ); Hutong Yellow Weasels and The Randy Abel Stable from China ; Heartbreak Hill and Foggy Hogtown Boys from Canada ; the U.K. 's The Beef Seeds , Southern Tenant Folk Union , and Police Dog Hogan ; and Australia 's Flying Emus , Mustered Courage , and Rank Strangers . Clarence Ashley Clarence "Tom" Ashley (born Clarence Earl McCurry ; September 29, 1895 – June 2, 1967)
4524-618: The surgery at the age of 89. He is buried in the Merle and Doc Watson Memorial Cemetery, Deep Gap with his wife and son. In 2002, High Windy Audio released a multi-CD biographical album of Watson's work, titled Legacy . The collection features audio interviews with Watson interspersed with music, as well as a complete recording of a live performance at the Diana Wortham Theatre in Asheville, North Carolina . The collection won
4602-544: The technique to acoustic guitar, and playing fiddle tunes became part of his signature sound. During his time with Jack Williams, Watson also supported his family as a piano tuner . In 1960, as the American folk music revival grew, Watson took the advice of folk musicologist and Smithsonian curator Ralph Rinzler and began playing acoustic guitar and banjo exclusively. That move ignited Watson's career when he played on his first recording, Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley 's . Also of pivotal importance for his career
4680-564: The time Watson reached adulthood, he had become a proficient acoustic and electric guitar player. In 1953, Watson joined the Johnson City, Tennessee –based Jack Williams's country and western swing band on electric guitar . The band seldom had a fiddle player, but was often asked to play at square dances . Following the example of country guitarists Grady Martin and Hank Garland , Watson taught himself to play fiddle tunes on his Gibson Les Paul electric guitar. He later transferred
4758-475: The tune that accompanies the Scottish ballad " Bonnie George Campbell ". The music now known as bluegrass was frequently used to accompany a rural dancing style known as buckdancing , flatfooting , or clogging . As the bluegrass sound spread to urban areas, listening to it for its own sake increased, especially after the advent of audio recording . In 1948, what would come to be known as bluegrass emerged as
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#17327987923974836-528: Was Ashley no longer recruited to make records, it was virtually impossible to earn money playing at coal camps or on street corners. The Depression (along with government regulations) also greatly reduced the crowds that attended medicine shows. Ashley worked briefly as a coal miner in West Virginia , and did odd jobs back in Shouns to support his wife, Hettie, and their two children. In 1937, he established
4914-409: Was also an accomplished banjo player and sometimes accompanied himself on harmonica as well. Known also for his distinctive and rich baritone voice, Watson over the years developed a vast repertoire of mountain ballads , which he learned via the oral tradition of his home area in Deep Gap, North Carolina . Watson played a Martin model D-18 guitar on his earliest recordings. In 1968, Watson began
4992-571: Was an American musician and singer, who played the clawhammer banjo and the guitar. He began performing at medicine shows in the Southern Appalachian region as early as 1911, and gained initial fame during the late 1920s as both a solo recording artist and as a member of various string bands . After his "rediscovery" during the folk revival of the 1960s, Ashley spent the last years of his life playing at folk music concerts, including appearances at Carnegie Hall in New York and at
5070-483: Was an annual tradition for Watson to join the Nashville Bluegrass Band for a gospel set on the festival's Sunday morning. It would be his final performance. On May 21, 2012, Watson fell at his home. He was not seriously injured in the fall, but an underlying medical condition prompted surgery on his colon. Watson died on May 29, 2012, at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center of complications following
5148-451: Was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts . There is a sign on U.S. Route 421 near Deep Gap (Watson's birthplace) with the inscription, "Doc and Merle Watson Highway", where that part of the highway is named for both Doc Watson and his son. Bluegrass music Bluegrass features acoustic stringed instruments and emphasizes
5226-502: Was created by Watson's daughter, Nancy, and is being produced by ETSU Bluegrass and ETSU professor Roy Andrade. The popularity of the flat picking style of guitar playing has been partially credited to Doc Watson and bluegrass bands have incorporated it widely including artist such as Billy Strings . In 1986, Watson received the North Carolina Award and in 1994 he received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award . He
5304-405: Was forced to leave town. Rose-Belle moved back in with her father, and around 1900, the family relocated to Shouns, Tennessee, a crossroads just south of Mountain City , where Enoch ran a boarding house. When Clarence was very young, he was nicknamed "Tommy Tiddy Waddy" (after a nursery rhyme) by his grandfather Enoch, and thus became known to friends and acquaintances as 'Tom'. As he was raised by
5382-752: Was generally joined onstage by his grandson (Merle's son) Richard, as well as longtime musical partners David Holt or Jack Lawrence . On June 19, 2007, Watson was accompanied by Australian guitar player Tommy Emmanuel at a concert at the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth, Texas . Watson also performed, accompanied by Holt and Richard, at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival in San Francisco in 2009, as he had done for several previous festivals. Watson hosted
5460-603: Was his Arnold guitar, "The Jimmie", built by luthier John Arnold as a tribute to the famous 1926 Martin 00-18 played by Jimmie Rodgers . In 1994, Watson teamed with musicians Randy Scruggs and Earl Scruggs to contribute the classic song " Keep on the Sunny Side " to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization . In his later life, Watson scaled back his touring schedule. He
5538-677: Was his February 11, 1961, appearance at P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village . He then began to tour as a solo performer and appeared at universities and clubs like the Ash Grove in Los Angeles . Watson would eventually get his big break and rave reviews for his performance at the renowned Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island in 1963. Watson recorded his first solo album in 1964 and began performing with his son, Merle in
5616-604: Was in 1987. The topical and narrative themes of many bluegrass songs are highly reminiscent of folk music. Many songs that are widely considered to be bluegrass are in reality older works legitimately classified as folk or old-time music that are performed in the bluegrass style. The interplay between bluegrass and folk forms has been academically studied. Folklorist Neil Rosenberg, for example, shows that most devoted bluegrass fans and musicians are familiar with traditional folk songs and old-time music and that these songs are often played at shows, festivals, and jams . "Bluegrass"
5694-644: Was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010. In 1947, Watson married Rosa Lee Carlton, the daughter of popular fiddle player Gaither Carlton . The couple had two children, Eddy Merle (named after country music legends Eddy Arnold and Merle Travis ) in 1949 and Nancy Ellen in 1951. On April 29, 2012, Watson performed with the Nashville Bluegrass Band on the Creekside Stage at MerleFest. It
5772-407: Was known to experiment with instrumentation; he once even used a string orchestra, choir, and pre-recorded bird-song track. Apart from specific instrumentation, a distinguishing characteristic of bluegrass is vocal harmony featuring two, three, or four parts, often with a dissonant or modal sound in the highest voice (see modal frame ), a style described as the "high, lonesome sound." Commonly,
5850-682: Was most famously employed by the Osborne Brothers who first employed it during their time with MGM records in the latter half of the 1950s. This vocal arrangement would become the trademark of the Osbornes' sound with Bobby's high, clear voice at the top of the vocal stack. Additionally, the Stanley Brothers also utilized a high baritone part on several of their trios recorded for Columbia records during their time with that label (1949–1952). Mandolin player Pee Wee Lambert sang
5928-490: Was one of the first instruments to be brought into America. It became popular due to its small size and versatility. Fiddles are also used in country , classical , cajun , and old time music. Banjos were brought to America through the African slave trade. They began receiving attention from white Americans when minstrel shows incorporated the banjo as part of their acts. The " clawhammer ", or two finger style playing,
6006-494: Was popular before the Civil War. Now, however, banjo players use mainly the three-finger picking style made popular by banjoists such as Earl Scruggs . Guitars are used primarily for rhythmic purposes. Other instruments may provide a solo on top of the guitar during breaks , guitarists may also provide these solos on occasion. The instrument originates from eighteenth century Spain, but there were no American-made models until
6084-647: Was well known among folk music enthusiasts due in large part to Harry Smith 's Anthology of American Folk Music (1952), which included some of Ashley's early recordings. In 1960, Ralph Rinzler met Ashley at the Old Time Fiddler's Convention in Union Grove, North Carolina . He eventually persuaded him to start playing banjo again and to record his repertoire of songs. Over the next few years Ashley and his friends Doc Watson , Clint Howard, and Fred Price played at numerous urban folk festivals, including
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