1951 Charly Beutin*
1951 Ron Levy*
1954 Stoney B*
1970 Julian Sas*
2005 Percy Strother+
2012 Doc Watson+
Andreas Ernstberger*
Eddie Martin*
1951 Ron Levy*
1954 Stoney B*
1970 Julian Sas*
2005 Percy Strother+
2012 Doc Watson+
Andreas Ernstberger*
Eddie Martin*
Happy Birthday
Julian Sas *29.05.1970
Julian Sas (* 29. Mai 1970 in Beneden-Leeuwen, Niederlande) ist ein niederländischer Blues- und Bluesrock-Gitarrist und -Sänger.Im Alter von 12 Jahren bekam Julian Sas seine erste Gitarre. Er verschrieb sich der Musik von Jimi Hendrix, Alvin Lee, Freddie King, Elmore James und Peter Green. Im Alter von 17 Jahren sah er zum ersten Mal Rory Gallagher live in Utrecht, von dessen Musik er stark beeinflusst wurde.
Mit 26 Jahren gründete er die Julian Sas Band, mit der er bis heute in verschiedenen Besetzungen tourt. Aktuell gehören am Bass Tenny Tahamata und an den Drums Rob Heijne zur Band. Das musikalische Programm wird geprägt von Blues, Bluesrock und Boogie. Als Zeichen seiner Verbundenheit spielt Sas bei jedem Konzert neben Eigenkompositionen Stücke von Rory Gallagher oder Jimi Hendrix. Mehrfach spielte Julian Sas mit den ehemaligen Mitgliedern von Rory Gallaghers Band, dem Bassisten Gerry McAvoy sowie dem Drummer Brendan O'Neill
Im Mai 2008 spielte Sas als Headliner auf dem alljährlich stattfindenden Rory Gallagher-Tribut-Festival Going to my Hometown in Ballyshannon, dem Geburtsort des irischen Musikers.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Sas
My name is Julian. I was born on a river in 1970 in a small town in the center of the Netherlands called Beneden-Leeuwen. Since I was born I have been a restless person, This is something that I still have today. Only until I was 6 years old I knew where this was coming from; I saw this movie called the Toronto rock 'n roll festival. There I saw Jerry lee lewis and Chuck Berry. From that day on I knew what I was going to be In my life I wanted to make music. I was hooked as a little child on what I felt when I saw this movie, it was Jerry lees immense energy and maybe more important for my future I saw Chuck's guitar.
My mother saw that I dreamed and talked only about guitars from that day on. So they gave me little toyguitars and stuff like that but I kept dreaming about the real thing. By the time I was 10 I was into bands like Motorhead and AC/DC, Judas priest and Iron Maiden and more heavy stuff. Loud guitars and big Marshall amps and again a lot of energy. They saw me listening to music that most children of my age weren't doing at that time so I started again about a real guitar and when I was about 12 years old I got one an Ibanez les paul copy which I still have today.
With a guitar comes an amplifier so they gave me this 30 watt Yamaha where I could practice with. I started to listen to anything I could lay my hands on, and this is something that I still do today. I have never had no musical schooling so this is for me the only way to learn music. By listening and playing you start to know how things work. A friend of mine taught me some basic chords and a few scales and something about where to put your fingers and that was it. The rest was up to me. By the time I was 13 I heard something that really got me deep emotionally and his name was Muddy Waters. From that day on I decided to dedicate my life to blues and bluesrock.
When I was not in school I played guitar, I kinda locked myself in my room to become what I wanted. The guitar became and still is an obsession for me. I'm a very quiet guy in fact and this instrument really gave me the chance to express my feelings. When I was 17 years old it was 1987 and that was great year for me because I met a girl who is now my wife; someone who knows what drives me in being a musician and understand what music means to me. And it was the first time I saw Rory Gallagher. He shocked my world big time. That was what I was going to be. I started a band and two years later I quit school, because we had a lot of gigs and becoming a history teacher was not my thing.
I must have had a thousand jobs and a lot of jams and bands and duo's but by the time I was 26 I started this band called Julian Sas Band. We got a record deal and the first album was called 'Where will it end!?'. And that my friends is still the story today, when it is up to me we got along time coming, because we really love what we do. For me being a musician is all about freedom and doing what you really love. I am fortunate to be in such a position but then again I worked hard for it and still work hard for it because nothing in life comes easy.
So this is my story. I want to tell you that for me playing music is something I try to do until the day I will lay my guitar down and I will meet the great spirits in the sky. I will always write songs about loneliness and oppression and being free out on the road. Music still comforts my ever restless soul. Which after all these years is still inside of me...
Thank you for making my dream come true......... Julian
My mother saw that I dreamed and talked only about guitars from that day on. So they gave me little toyguitars and stuff like that but I kept dreaming about the real thing. By the time I was 10 I was into bands like Motorhead and AC/DC, Judas priest and Iron Maiden and more heavy stuff. Loud guitars and big Marshall amps and again a lot of energy. They saw me listening to music that most children of my age weren't doing at that time so I started again about a real guitar and when I was about 12 years old I got one an Ibanez les paul copy which I still have today.
With a guitar comes an amplifier so they gave me this 30 watt Yamaha where I could practice with. I started to listen to anything I could lay my hands on, and this is something that I still do today. I have never had no musical schooling so this is for me the only way to learn music. By listening and playing you start to know how things work. A friend of mine taught me some basic chords and a few scales and something about where to put your fingers and that was it. The rest was up to me. By the time I was 13 I heard something that really got me deep emotionally and his name was Muddy Waters. From that day on I decided to dedicate my life to blues and bluesrock.
When I was not in school I played guitar, I kinda locked myself in my room to become what I wanted. The guitar became and still is an obsession for me. I'm a very quiet guy in fact and this instrument really gave me the chance to express my feelings. When I was 17 years old it was 1987 and that was great year for me because I met a girl who is now my wife; someone who knows what drives me in being a musician and understand what music means to me. And it was the first time I saw Rory Gallagher. He shocked my world big time. That was what I was going to be. I started a band and two years later I quit school, because we had a lot of gigs and becoming a history teacher was not my thing.
I must have had a thousand jobs and a lot of jams and bands and duo's but by the time I was 26 I started this band called Julian Sas Band. We got a record deal and the first album was called 'Where will it end!?'. And that my friends is still the story today, when it is up to me we got along time coming, because we really love what we do. For me being a musician is all about freedom and doing what you really love. I am fortunate to be in such a position but then again I worked hard for it and still work hard for it because nothing in life comes easy.
So this is my story. I want to tell you that for me playing music is something I try to do until the day I will lay my guitar down and I will meet the great spirits in the sky. I will always write songs about loneliness and oppression and being free out on the road. Music still comforts my ever restless soul. Which after all these years is still inside of me...
Thank you for making my dream come true......... Julian
Ron Levy *29.05.1951
„Er ist einer der besten Musiker, mit dem ich je gespielt und gearbeitet habe“, sagt Blueslegende B.B. King über Ron Levy (*1951, Cambridge, MA). Und er muss es wissen, schliesslich war Levy sieben Jahre mit ihm auf Tour und hat 13 Alben mit B.B. aufgenommen.
Ein Konzert von Ray Charles packte den jungen Ron dermassen, dass er umgehend Piano lernte. Bereits mit 18 Jahren spielte er für Albert King. Im Verlauf seiner langen Karriere stand er mit unzähligen Blueslegenden auf der Bühne. Er arbeitete als Organist, Pianist, Komponist, Arrangeur, Sideman oder Solist, Produzent und A&R-Mann (er war Mitbegründer der famosen Labels „Rounder“ und Canonball“) für über 200 Projekte mit traditionellem und modernem Blues, R&B, Jazz, Gospel usw.
Ron Levy erhielt viele Auszeichnungen und neun Grammy-Nominierungen und seine Kompositionen/Aufnahmen wurden auf TV-Networks und in mehr als einem Dutzend Filmen und Fernsehserien verwendet.
Mitte der 80er Jahre gründete er seine eigene Formation „Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom Band“ mit Musikern von Roomful of Blues, Neville Brothers und den Fabulous Thunderbirds. Sein neustes Album „Funky Fiesta“ überschütten die Kritiker mit Lobeshymnen. Aufsehen erregt Levy derzeit auch mit seinem Webbook „Tales of a Road Dog“, einer spannenden und humorvollen Aufzeichnung seiner Reisen und Erlebnisse im Musikbusiness.
Ron Levy (born Reuvin Zev ben Yehoshua Ha Levi, May 29, 1951)[1] is an American electric blues[2] musician and composer.
Levy was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. He primarily plays piano and organ. Levy grew up in Brookline, MA, and began playing the piano after seeing Ray Charles in concert at age 13.[1] He later switched to playing a Hammond organ. After gaining experience playing in Boston nightclubs, Levy was hired by Albert King in 1968. After an eighteen month association, Levy joined B. B. King's backing band. Throughout the years, Levy has performed and recorded with a wide range of blues, funk and jazz musical groups, notably including Roomful of Blues (1983–87) and Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom (1988 - 2014).[1]
After learning and refining his studio chops with Hammond Scott's Blacktop Records in New Orleans, Levy became the in-house record producer and co-founder, A&R for Rounder Records' Bullseye Blues record label, where he was nominated nine times for a Grammy Award as producer. He then recorded and produced 16 albums for his own label Cannonball Records from 1997 - 2000. He has since released numerous albums on his own imprint Levtron.com Records. Levy wrote in 2013 the book, Tales of A Road Dog - The Lowdown Along the Blues Highway (self-published by Levtron.com). Today, he teaches, records, produces and performs with his Soul-Jazz-Blues Hammond organ based group, Ron Levy's Wild Kingdom Trio.
Ron Levy - Blues for BB.wmv
Roomful of Blues with Special Guest Ron Levy Live @ The Bull Run 10/5/13
Charly Beutin *29.05.1951
Die Charly Beutin-Story ist die Geschichte von einem Jungen, der in einer Norddeutschen Arbeitersiedlung aufgewachsen ist, in der der Horizont schon am Ende der Straße aufhört. Vater erst Schuster, dann Kriegsheimkehrer. Das Haus war klein, man lebte in Wohnküche und einem Zimmer, das andere war für gut vorbehalten. Gut war nicht so oft im Hause Beutin.Der Junge wurde am 29. Mai 1951 geboren. Erst einmal natürlich zur Volksschule. Rainer war oft krank, deshalb konnte er weder da mithalten noch auf dem Bolzplatz. Endgültig zum Außenseiter machte ihn ein ärztliches Attest „Beutin darf nicht geschlagen werden”. So war das damals. Aber Außenseiter entwickeln oft besondere Talente, um Anerkennung zu finden. Schon als Kind lebte er die Vision, dass seine Zukunft mehr für ihn bereit halten würde als die Knochenarbeit auf der Werft oder „auf Dünger”, bei der nahen Kunstdüngerfabrik, die für die Kinder in seiner Straße vorgezeichnet war.
Karrierestart durchs Klofenster
10 Jahre weiter und einige Schrammen auf der sensiblen Seele mehr kamen Rock’n Roll- und R&B-Musik an die Eider. Einige der Bands, die einen Gig im Hamburger Starclub hinter sich hatten, zogen weiter übers flache Land und traten im „Saatsee-Club” auf, ganz in der Nähe. Sogar welche in der Güteklasse wie die Kinks. Die Große Freiheit in der Provinz. Rainer fühlte sich magisch angezogen, half beim Aufbau, schleppte die Anlage und sicherte sich damit einen Platz im Backstagebereich, ganz nah an den Künstlern. Da gingen bei ihm alle Lampen an. Er beschloss, Rockstar zu werden und gründete die erste Garagen-Band. Klappte erstmal nur bedingt - die anderen mussten immer schon um 6 Uhr zuhause sein. Er eigentlich auch, aber er kletterte gleich wieder aus dem Klofenster zurück in die Konzerte und Gigs mit Sly & The Family Stone, Frumpy und so weiter. Irgendwann in diesen Jahren wurde aus Rainer Charly, der lernte Gitarrespielen, aber dessen Hauptinstrument war seine markante Stimme, die er gnadenlos in allen Facetten zwischen markerschütternd kreischend und schmuseweich-schmeichelnd ausreizte. Der Übergang vom Amateur zum Profi geschieht schnell und wie von selbst.
Ein besonderes Gespür beweist Rainer Beutin, indem er immer wieder mit Passion und Überzeugungskraft Musiker aus der obersten Liga für sich gewinnen kann. Die ersten drei Langspielplatten, die er zwischen 1981 und 1988 veröffentlicht, bekommen durch die Bank allerbeste Rezensionen und werden alle drei mit dem offiziellen Vierteljahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik ausgezeichnet. Hattrick. Später kommen noch Album 4 und 5 dazu die so geehrt werden. Insgesamt hat Beutin 10 Alben veröffentlicht, viele davon mit Sammlerwert.
Authentische Songs, nur echt aus Beutins Bauch und Herz, Kopf und Seele.
Seine Musik begeistert mit leidenschaftlichem Soul, packendem Rock, groovendem Boogie und immer wieder mit dem authentischsten R&B-Feeling zwischen Eider und Isar. Einerseits besticht die musikalische Brillanz, zum anderen sind es die pointierten Texte zwischen rau und zart, zwischen poetisch und lakonisch. Das Engagement seiner Musiker ist unschätzbar. Deshalb werden sie jetzt auch beim Namen genannt und müssen sich nicht mehr in der „Schreckschuss”-Anonymität verbergen. Am längsten dabei sind der Bassist Bernd Ohnesorg und der Drummer Jörg Berger, dann kam Wolfgang Meis, seit neuestem der Akkordeonist Kai Dorenkamp. Immer wieder gesellt sich Manne Kraski dazu, dann wird der Gitarrensound mächtig wie eine Kathedrale. Manne Kraski ist auch als Produzent für das neue Album „Wildes Herz und Klare Kante” zuständig.
Wenn die Gitarre mal im Koffer bleibt:
Charly Beutin lebt in Klein-Königsförde, direkt am Nord-Ostsee-Kanal. Die großen Schiffe pusten Diesel und Fernweh in seinen Garten. Mit seiner Frau Hanna hat er drei Kinder großgezogen. Wenn er nicht Musik macht, ist Beutin als Masseur mit eigener Praxis in Rendsburg tätig. Und wenn dann noch Zeit bleibt, holt er die Fender rein und segelt in der Flensburger Förde oder macht sein Seekayak klar. Zwischen Wasser und Wolken lädt er die Energien auf, die er auf der Bühne mit Windstärke 10 rauslässt.
Charly Schreckschuss-Band
Andreas Ernstberger *29.05.
Andreas Ernstberger – Deutscher Musiker & Fotograf
Sein Name ist in kommerziellen Kreisen nicht so bekannt und auch wenn er sich selbst als Newcomer bezeichnet, hat "Ernie" schon einige Stationen in seiner Laufbahn beschritten. In den 80er Jahren aktiv in den Gruppen "Atlantis" und "inteam" - später mit seinem ganz eigenen Bandprojekt - gründete er 1994 das Musiklabel "Secret-Word-Records" und begann mit der Produktion verschiedener Künstler.
In seinem Haus entstanden z.B. die beiden Soloscheiben von Reinhard Fissler. Angestachelt aus dieser Zusammenarbeit machte sich Ernie wieder an eigene Songs, die auf den bisher zwei erschienen CDs zu hören sind.
Das Bemerkenswerte ist die musikalische Vielfalt, die in keine Schublade passt und gemischt mit deutsch und englischen Texten versehen sind.
Flo bei Ernie mit The Wind cries mary (cover)
Ernstberger !
Live aus dem Lichthof 2014
Eddie Martin *29.05.1965
b. c. 1965, London, England. Martin played acoustic guitar from his mid-teens and was deeply influenced by early and middle period American folk musicians such as Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Later influences included contemporary bluesmen such as Joe Hill Louis and Dr. Ross. He later took up the electric guitar and fell under the spell of Freddie King’s Texas blues playing. Despite these many influences, Martin very soon brought them under the wing of his own distinctive styling. He quickly built a reputation not only for his skill but also for the authority of his playing. In addition to working as a solo act, playing guitar, harmonica and singing, Martin has worked in trio with Marion Dolton (bass) and Michael Wiedrich (drums). He has also headed larger bands, usually using Dolton and Wiedrich, plus Jason Smith (trumpet), Dominic Norcross (saxophone) and Paddy Milner (keyboards). In addition to playing and singing, Martin writes some of the material that he plays, bringing a contemporary British edge to the style and content of his lyrics while never losing an aural connection with the country blues and folk masters of the American past.
Martin toured the USA in 1999, heading a trio, the Texas Blues Kings, with Guthrie Kennard (bass) and Jimmie ‘Blue Shoes’ Pendleton (drums). Based in Bristol, where he plays regularly at the Hard Rock Bar, Martin continues to tour in the 00s and regularly draws enthusiastic and appreciative crowds at blues venues throughout the UK. He has also played in Europe, notably in France and Germany. Among his successes in Germany was his being named as an important innovator on harmonica at the 2006 World Harmonica Festival. In addition to playing clubs and concerts, Martin has also performed and composed for the soundtracks of films and television shows. Despite his success, Martin did not become a full-time musician until the late 90s. His 2006 trio featured Dolton and Wiedrich. In addition to his playing, while on tour Martin also conducts workshops in different aspects of guitar playing.
Eddie Martin in concert
at the Rhythm n Blues Club Moscow 31st January 2014, with Galina
Kiselva on bass, and Vladimir Vojevodin drums. The concert was part
of the British Blues Invasion Festival organised by Moscow promoter
Boris Litvintsev.
Stoney B (Michael Stone) *29.05.1954
STONEY B - Band Leader, Guitar & Vocals
Stoney B (Michael Stone) was born May 29th, 1954 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up listening to the blues. His father Lil' Howling Wolf, who now lives in Memphis, Tennessee, played and performed the blues in Chicago. Stoney B’s passion for the blues really took hold when he began teaching himself the bass guitar at the age of 13. Stoney B started performing at age 15 in his first band called The Rayshons. They performed and competed mostly in talent shows including one he recalls against The Jackson 5 at the Regal Theatre.
Since then he has continued to fulfil his heart felt desire of bringing his music to audiences around the US. In 2013, with 46 years of experience, he has become a highly accomplished guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and recording artist of the Blues. Stoney B not only has lots of talent but that wonderful gift of communication which grabs people’s attention as he brings them into a truly enjoyable, masterful and often humorous experience as he entertains them with the Down Home Blues. He feels and shares at a soulful level the essence of the blues with strong influences from Muddy Waters, BB King and Jimmy Reed.
After a number of years in the Army, where in his spare time he continued his self education on his Fender Stratocaster guitar, he came back to Chicago and started playing rhythm guitar for Johnny Guitar Embry and the Blues Kings mostly around the Southside of Chicago. He went on to play for Johnny’s wife, Queen Silvia Embry, opening sets for her. He sang and played the bass and then switched to the guitar when she came on stage. This began a number of years of playing in bands in Chicago including Junior Wells, James Cotton, Koko Taylor, Johnny Dollar, Lefty Dizz, Johnny Littlejohn, Lovelle White, Lovie Lee, Zora Young, Frank Pelligrino & The Kingston Mines All Stars and The Pete Allen Band, who backed up Buddy Guy.
He formed his first Stoney B Blues band in 1982 and soon after was featured on the cover of the Chicago Reader entertainment magazine. They performed regularly at The Kingston Mines, Lee’s Unleaded Blues, B.L.U.E.S., Momma Roseas and Wise Fools. Stoney B Blues captured the interest of Johnny Winters and Albert King who came to see his band perform. He also played in the Chicago Blues Festival with Queen Silvia Embry. Stoney B also played in a gig with his father, Lil’ Howlin’ Wolf, around this time. They have taken separate paths musically over the years, however, it is rumoured they will perform and record together some time in late 2010.
Stoney B left Chicago in 1986 and headed south to Greenville, Mississippi. In his 3 years there he played in Roosevelt Boobie Barnes band performing as his opening act and rhythm guitarist. He moved on to form another band of his own with some local musicians who played at the Flowing Fountain on Nelson Street, the home of Little Milton. Stoney B was then approached by Lockett Staple, the owner of the Rum Boogie Hotel in Leland, Mississippi, to play in the band he managed, The FM Stereo Band. They were the best R&B band in the Delta at that time. He also played with other local musicians Willie Mississippi Foster, Jessie Clay and T-Model Ford. In 1989 Stoney B moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he met Eric King who was a DJ on WRFG and booked the acts for Blind Willies, Atlanta’s most noted Blues Club. He quickly created a new Stoney B Blues band and played at Blind Willies along with well known blues artists Luther Houserocker Johnson, Chicago Bob Nelson, Sandra Hall and Butch Travette. Stoney B Blues were the house band at Muddy Waters in Sandy Springs , Georgia and played at Clancys in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Roosters in Macon, Georgia and Jerry Zambino’s Club in Savannah, Georgia.
On the move again Stoney B landed in New Orleans, Louisiana in late 1992. He began playing as a street musician and soon after his next Stoney B Blues Band was formed. His talent appreciated by local club owners had his band playing regular gigs along Bourbon Street. They played at The Funky Pirate, The Old Absinthe House Bar, where he also joined Bryan Lee on occasions, The Tricou House and The R&B Club.
He met another well known street musician, Elliott Small, during this time and the act known by many as Stoney B and Grampa was born. Stoney B created the character of Grampa through his quick wit and talent and Elliott took to it like a duck on water! When they got together and combined Stoney B’s vocals and guitar with Elliott’s vocals and harmonica it came naturally and it was like magic. In Stoney B’s words, ‘We have never practised or rehearsed anything….Never!’ Yet they appeared as a highly polished act right from the beginning. Usually found on Royal Street in the French Quarter, their musical talents and experience created captivating entertainment for many travellers from all over the world.
THE STONEY B BLUES BAND PROMO SEPT 2010
R.I.P.
Doc Watson +29.05.2012
Arthel Lane „Doc“ Watson (* 3. März 1923 in Deep Gap, North Carolina; † 29. Mai 2012 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina[1]) war ein US-amerikanischer Gitarrist und Sänger von Country-, Bluegrass-, Gospel- und Folksongs.Zu seinem Künstlernamen „Doc“ kam Arthel Lane Watson während einer Radioübertragung aus einem Möbelhaus in Lenoir (North Carolina) zu Beginn der 1940er Jahre. Der Sprecher fand seinen Namen Arthel zu unaussprechlich für die Sendung, und eine Zuhörerin vor Ort schlug vor ihn „Doc“ zu nennen, möglicherweise in Anspielung auf Sherlock Holmes’ Assistenten. Von da an hieß er in der Öffentlichkeit Doc Watson.
Kindheit und Jugend
Der im ersten Lebensjahr an den Folgen einer Augeninfektion erblindete Watson wuchs in einer außerordentlich musikalischen Familie auf. Mutter Annie war eine Sängerin traditioneller und religiöser Lieder, während Vater General das Banjo spielte, das auch Watsons erstes Saiteninstrument wurde.
Watson besuchte die Blindenschule, in der er mit Jazz, Klassik und der Musik von Django Reinhardt konfrontiert wurde. Dadurch machte er wesentlich mehr musikalische Erfahrungen als andere und bekam einen umfassenderen Zugang zu Musik. Hier unterschied er sich später deutlich von anderen Countrymusikern. Der Talentescout, Musiker und Produzent Ralph Rinzler schrieb über ihn: „Doc ist ein musikalischer Mischling, aber ein Mischling von besonderer Art.“
Im Alter von dreizehn Jahren spielte Watson seinem Vater auf einer ausgeliehenen Gitarre das selbst erlernte Stück When the Roses Bloom in Dixieland vor. Dieser war vom Können seines Sohnes so beeindruckt, dass er ihn in einen Laden mitnahm und ihm dort eine 12-Dollar-Stella-Gitarre kaufte.
Watson entwickelte in weiterer Folge einen eigenständigen, persönlichen Stil, der beeinflusst wurde durch Platten des Banjospezialisten Clarence Ashley, der Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers u. a. durch die damals sehr einflussreichen Country-Radioprogramme und außerdem durch die traditionelle Musik, die er von seinen Eltern vermittelt bekam.
Heirat und Kinder
Watson machte nun in erster Linie Musik mit der Familie und Nachbarn wie dem Fiddler Gaither Carlton, dessen Tochter Rosa Lee er 1947 heiratete. 1949 wurde Eddy Merle Watson (so benannt nach Eddy Arnold und Merle Travis) geboren. Tochter Nancy Ellen Watson kam 1951 zur Welt.
Musikerkarriere
Es dauerte bis 1953, ehe Watson mit dem Pianisten Jack Williams und dessen Country and Western Swing Band erste bezahlte Auftritte spielte. Das Repertoire beinhaltete neben Western Swing auch Rockabilly und eine dem Kommerz angepasste Countrymusik. Watson spielte Lead-Gitarre, wobei er eine Gibson Les Paul E-Gitarre als Instrument verwendete. Im 1995 erschienenen Album Docabilly würdigte Watson diesen für ihn eher untypischen Karriereabschnitt noch einmal.
1960 besuchte Ralph Rinzler Docs Nachbarn Clarence Ashley, um mit ihm Aufnahmen zu machen. Dabei lernte Rinzler auch Watson kennen und war von dessen instrumentalen Fertigkeiten so beeindruckt, dass er ihn kurzerhand in die Aufnahmesessions mit Ashley miteinbezog. Das daraus entstandene Album war Watsons erste Plattenaufnahme und erschien unter dem Titel Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley’s.
Die Phase der stromverstärkten Gitarre war damit vorbei und Watson nahm im folgenden Jahr mit Clarence Ashley, dem Fiddler Fred Price und dem Gitarristen Clint Howard am später legendär gewordenen Friends of Old Time Music Concert in New York teil. In weiterer Folge gab Watson Konzerte in der Carnegie Hall und beim Newport Folk Festival. Dort wurde 1963 und 1964 das Doppelalbum The Essential Doc Watson mitgeschnitten, auf dem er von Junior Huskey (Bass), Floyd Cramer (Piano), Shot Jackson (Dobro), Buddy Harman (Schlagzeug) u. a. begleitet wurde. Auf solchen Live-Alben erzählte Watson auch schon mal humorige Kurzgeschichten wie The Preacher and the Bicycle; zu finden auf der Doppel-LP Doc Watson on Stage. Ab Mitte der 1960er Jahre arbeitete Watson ebenfalls mit dem „Father of Bluegrass“ Bill Monroe zusammen, mit dem er auf den verschiedenen Bluegrass- und Folk-Konzerten auftrat. Ihre Zusammenarbeit gipfelte 1978 mit dem gemeinsamen Album Bill and Doc Sing Country Songs.
Seine Auftritte in Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village brachten ihn in Kontakt mit Musikern, die in ihren Songs Kritik an politischen und gesellschaftlichen Missständen übten. Durch das persönliche Kennenlernen dieser Künstler entwickelte Watson, der sich selbst stets der konservativen Haltung seiner Eltern verbunden fühlte, eine offenere Haltung gegenüber Musikern wie Joan Baez und Tom Paxton. Auch hier bestand ein Unterschied zu vielen anderen Countrymusikern.
Spieltechnik und Einflüsse
Von Maybelle Carter von der Carter Family übernahm Watson zunächst die in der traditionellen „Old Time Music“ übliche Daumenpick-Technik (to pick: [Gitarre] „zupfen“), auch Fingerstyle genannt. Beeinflusst von Jimmie Rodgers wechselte er dann zum Straight Pick und entwickelte in weiterer Folge das Flatpickingspiel zu einer konzertanten Perfektion. Neben dem großen Vorbild Django Reinhardt übten auch noch andere Musiker wie die Delmore Brothers, Merle Travis, Chet Atkins u. a. einen maßgeblichen Einfluss auf Doc Watson aus. Bestimmend blieb für ihn jedoch zeitlebens die Musik seiner Heimat in den Appalachen. Diese Gebirgsregion gilt als die Wiege der weißen, amerikanischen Bluegrass-, Hillbilly- und Countrymusik.
Merle Watson
Merle Watson, der sich im Lauf der Jahre selbst zu einem erstklassigen Gitarristen und Banjospieler entwickelt hatte und trotz des direkten Einflusses des Vaters ebenso wie dieser seinen eigenen, an Musikern wie Mississippi John Hurt orientierten Stil fand, arbeitete ab Mitte der 1960er Jahre mit seinem Vater in musikalischer wie in administrativer Weise zusammen. Dieses produktive Zusammenwirken führte die beiden bei Tourneen durch Europa und Asien; außerdem wurden mehr als ein Dutzend Platten eingespielt. Durch einen Traktorunfall, bei dem Merle 1985 ums Leben kam, fand diese Phase ein abruptes Ende.
Jack Lawrence, ein Freund von Merle, nahm – zumindest als Musiker – dessen Platz neben Doc Watson ein. Obwohl dieser vom Verlust seines Sohnes schwer getroffen wurde, führte er seine Tätigkeit als Musiker fort und veröffentlichte in fast regelmäßigen Abständen Alben wie das 1990 erschienene On Praying Ground und Legacy aus dem Jahr 2002.
Würdigung
In seinem Genre nimmt Doc Watson eine Sonderstellung ein. In puncto Geschwindigkeit, Präzision und musikalischem Ausdruck setzte Watson mit seinem Gitarrenspiel neue Maßstäbe. Er übte nicht nur auf die amerikanische Folkmusik, sondern genreübergreifend auf Gitarristen in der ganzen Welt einen großen Einfluss aus. Es ist zu einem großen Teil sein Verdienst, dass die Gitarre in der Folk-, Bluegrass- und Countrymusik das führende Instrument wurde. Sein Bluegrass-Leadguitarstil wurde von Musikern wie Clarence White und Tony Rice übernommen und weiterentwickelt. Dan Miller vom „Flatpicking Guitar Magazine“ über Watson: „Playing for the Love of Music is what has sustained Doc Watson...“
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. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded. He performed with his son, guitarist Merle Watson, for over 15 years until Merle's death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm.[1][2][3]
Biography
Early life
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 the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!" presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes's sidekick Doctor Watson. The name stuck ever since.[4]
An eye infection caused Doc Watson to lose his vision before his first birthday. He was taught by his parents to work hard and care for himself. He attended North Carolina's school for the visually impaired, The Governor Morehead School, in Raleigh, North Carolina.[5]
In a 1989 radio interview with Terry Gross on the Fresh Air show on National Public Radio, Watson explains how he got his first guitar. His father told him that if he and his brother David chopped down all the small dead chestnut trees along the edge of their field, he could sell the wood to a tannery. Watson bought a $10 Stella guitar from Sears Roebuck with his earnings, while his brother bought a new suit.[6] Later in that same interview, Watson explained that his first high-quality guitar was a Martin D-18.[7]
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 the guitar was "When Roses Bloom in Dixieland", first recorded by the Carter Family in 1930. Watson stated in an interview with American Songwriter that, "Jimmie Rodgers was the first man that I started to claim as my favorite."[8] 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 the time Watson reached adulthood, he had become a proficient acoustic and electric guitar player.[9]
Career
In 1953, Watson joined the Johnson City, Tennessee-based Jack Williams' 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 Les Paul electric guitar. He later transferred the technique to acoustic guitar, and playing fiddle tunes became part of his signature sound.[1][10] During his time with Jack Williams, Doc also supported his family as a piano tuner.
In 1960, as the American folk music revival grew, Watson took the advice of folk musicologist Ralph Rinzler and began playing acoustic guitar and banjo exclusively.[5] 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 was his February 11, 1961 appearance at P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village.[11] He subsequently 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, the same year.
After the folk revival waned during the late 1960s, Watson's career was sustained by his performance of the Jimmie 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, recorded nearly fifteen albums between 1973 and 1985, and brought Doc and Merle's unique blend of acoustic music to millions of new fans.[10] In 1985, Merle died in a tractor accident on his family farm.
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 the acoustic music scene."[12]
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. Watson 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 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. His affable manner, humble nature and delightful wit endeared him to his fans nearly as much as his musical talent.
Watson played a Martin model D-18 guitar on his earliest recordings. In 1968, Watson began a relationship with Gallagher Guitars when he started playing their G-50 model. His first Gallagher, which Watson refers to as "Old Hoss", is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1974, Gallagher created a customized G-50 line to meet Watson's preferred specifications, which bears 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.[13] For the last few years, Doc had been playing a Dana Bourgeois dreadnought given to him by Ricky Skaggs for his 80th birthday.
In 1986, Watson received the North Carolina Award and in 1994 he received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award. Also in 1994, Watson teamed up 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.
Later life
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.[14] In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.[15]
In his later life, Watson scaled back his touring schedule. Watson was generally joined onstage by his grandson (Merle's son) Richard, as well as longtime musical partners David Holt or Jack Lawrence. On one occasion, 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 in several previous years.
Watson hosted 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.[16]
Watson was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010.[17]
Personal life and death
In 1947, Doc married Rosa Lee Carlton, the daughter of popular fiddle player Gaither Carlton. Watson and Rosa Lee had two children – Eddy
Merle (named after country music legends Eddy Arnold and Merle Travis) in 1949 and Nancy Ellen in 1951.[5]
On April 29, 2012, Watson performed with the Nashville Bluegrass Band on the Creekside Stage at MerleFest. It was an annual tradition for Watson to join the Nashville Bluegrass Band for a gospel set on the festival's Sunday morning. Watson was in good form that morning, straying from the set list prepared by his supporting band. It would be his final performance.
On May 21, 2012, Watson fell at his home, after which he was sent to Watauga Medical Center in nearby Boone, North Carolina. He was listed in critical condition but was responsive at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after undergoing colon surgery.[18] Watson was not seriously injured in the fall, but an underlying medical condition prompted the surgery which required him to be airlifted to Winston-Salem.[19] Watson died on May 29, 2012 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center[20] of complications following the surgery at the age of 89.[21] He is buried in the Merle and Doc Watson Memorial Cemetery, Deep Gap. Watauga County, North Carolina with his wife and son. According to the Find A Grave database "This memorial cemetery is on the private property of the Watson Family and is not open to visitors."[22]
Legacy
In 2002, High Windy Audio released a multi-CD biographical album 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.[23] The collection won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album.[24]
In 2010, Blooming Twig Books published a comprehensive biography of Doc 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 the Seeger family, Michelle Shocked and many others. The book also goes into detail on the life, supporting role and ultimate death of Merle Watson.[25] An updated edition was released by Sumach-Red Books in March 2012.[26][27][28]
In April 2013, Open Records released a multi-disc collection of unreleased recordings by Doc Watson. The collection, titled Milestones, features 94 songs as well as stories, remembrances, and over 500 photographs. The collection was created by Watson's daughter Nancy and is being produced by ETSU Bluegrass and ETSU professor Roy Andrade.[29]
Awards and honors
Grammy awards
1973 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording (Including Traditional Blues): Doc Watson for
Then And Now
1974 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording: Merle Watson & Doc Watson for Two Days in
November
1979 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Doc Watson & Merle Watson for Big
Sandy/Leather Britches
1986 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for Riding The Midnight Train
1990 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for On Praying Ground
2002 Best Traditional Folk Album: Doc Watson & David Holt for Legacy
2004 Lifetime Achievement Award
2006 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Bryan Sutton & Doc Watson for Whiskey
Before Breakfast track from Not Too Far From The Tree by Bryan Sutton
Biography
Early life
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 the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!" presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes's sidekick Doctor Watson. The name stuck ever since.[4]
An eye infection caused Doc Watson to lose his vision before his first birthday. He was taught by his parents to work hard and care for himself. He attended North Carolina's school for the visually impaired, The Governor Morehead School, in Raleigh, North Carolina.[5]
In a 1989 radio interview with Terry Gross on the Fresh Air show on National Public Radio, Watson explains how he got his first guitar. His father told him that if he and his brother David chopped down all the small dead chestnut trees along the edge of their field, he could sell the wood to a tannery. Watson bought a $10 Stella guitar from Sears Roebuck with his earnings, while his brother bought a new suit.[6] Later in that same interview, Watson explained that his first high-quality guitar was a Martin D-18.[7]
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 the guitar was "When Roses Bloom in Dixieland", first recorded by the Carter Family in 1930. Watson stated in an interview with American Songwriter that, "Jimmie Rodgers was the first man that I started to claim as my favorite."[8] 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 the time Watson reached adulthood, he had become a proficient acoustic and electric guitar player.[9]
Career
In 1953, Watson joined the Johnson City, Tennessee-based Jack Williams' 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 Les Paul electric guitar. He later transferred the technique to acoustic guitar, and playing fiddle tunes became part of his signature sound.[1][10] During his time with Jack Williams, Doc also supported his family as a piano tuner.
In 1960, as the American folk music revival grew, Watson took the advice of folk musicologist Ralph Rinzler and began playing acoustic guitar and banjo exclusively.[5] 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 was his February 11, 1961 appearance at P.S. 41 in Greenwich Village.[11] He subsequently 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, the same year.
After the folk revival waned during the late 1960s, Watson's career was sustained by his performance of the Jimmie 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, recorded nearly fifteen albums between 1973 and 1985, and brought Doc and Merle's unique blend of acoustic music to millions of new fans.[10] In 1985, Merle died in a tractor accident on his family farm.
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 the acoustic music scene."[12]
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. Watson 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 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. His affable manner, humble nature and delightful wit endeared him to his fans nearly as much as his musical talent.
Watson played a Martin model D-18 guitar on his earliest recordings. In 1968, Watson began a relationship with Gallagher Guitars when he started playing their G-50 model. His first Gallagher, which Watson refers to as "Old Hoss", is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1974, Gallagher created a customized G-50 line to meet Watson's preferred specifications, which bears 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.[13] For the last few years, Doc had been playing a Dana Bourgeois dreadnought given to him by Ricky Skaggs for his 80th birthday.
In 1986, Watson received the North Carolina Award and in 1994 he received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award. Also in 1994, Watson teamed up 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.
Later life
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.[14] In 2010, he was awarded an honorary doctor of music degree from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.[15]
In his later life, Watson scaled back his touring schedule. Watson was generally joined onstage by his grandson (Merle's son) Richard, as well as longtime musical partners David Holt or Jack Lawrence. On one occasion, 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 in several previous years.
Watson hosted 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.[16]
Watson was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2010.[17]
Personal life and death
In 1947, Doc married Rosa Lee Carlton, the daughter of popular fiddle player Gaither Carlton. Watson and Rosa Lee had two children – Eddy
Merle (named after country music legends Eddy Arnold and Merle Travis) in 1949 and Nancy Ellen in 1951.[5]
On April 29, 2012, Watson performed with the Nashville Bluegrass Band on the Creekside Stage at MerleFest. It was an annual tradition for Watson to join the Nashville Bluegrass Band for a gospel set on the festival's Sunday morning. Watson was in good form that morning, straying from the set list prepared by his supporting band. It would be his final performance.
On May 21, 2012, Watson fell at his home, after which he was sent to Watauga Medical Center in nearby Boone, North Carolina. He was listed in critical condition but was responsive at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, after undergoing colon surgery.[18] Watson was not seriously injured in the fall, but an underlying medical condition prompted the surgery which required him to be airlifted to Winston-Salem.[19] Watson died on May 29, 2012 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center[20] of complications following the surgery at the age of 89.[21] He is buried in the Merle and Doc Watson Memorial Cemetery, Deep Gap. Watauga County, North Carolina with his wife and son. According to the Find A Grave database "This memorial cemetery is on the private property of the Watson Family and is not open to visitors."[22]
Legacy
In 2002, High Windy Audio released a multi-CD biographical album 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.[23] The collection won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Folk Album.[24]
In 2010, Blooming Twig Books published a comprehensive biography of Doc 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 the Seeger family, Michelle Shocked and many others. The book also goes into detail on the life, supporting role and ultimate death of Merle Watson.[25] An updated edition was released by Sumach-Red Books in March 2012.[26][27][28]
In April 2013, Open Records released a multi-disc collection of unreleased recordings by Doc Watson. The collection, titled Milestones, features 94 songs as well as stories, remembrances, and over 500 photographs. The collection was created by Watson's daughter Nancy and is being produced by ETSU Bluegrass and ETSU professor Roy Andrade.[29]
Awards and honors
Grammy awards
1973 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording (Including Traditional Blues): Doc Watson for
Then And Now
1974 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording: Merle Watson & Doc Watson for Two Days in
November
1979 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Doc Watson & Merle Watson for Big
Sandy/Leather Britches
1986 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for Riding The Midnight Train
1990 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for On Praying Ground
2002 Best Traditional Folk Album: Doc Watson & David Holt for Legacy
2004 Lifetime Achievement Award
2006 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Bryan Sutton & Doc Watson for Whiskey
Before Breakfast track from Not Too Far From The Tree by Bryan Sutton
Percy Strother +29.05.2005
For
a sense of the blues at its most tangible, one needs to look no further
than singer/guitarist Percy Strother, who triumphed over incredible
tragedy to create music of genuine pain and sorrow. Born July 23, 1946
in Vicksburg, Mississippi, he was still a child when his father died
violently; his mother passed away shortly afterward, and rather than
submitting to life in an orphanage, Strother simply took to the road. He
drifted from job to job for a number of years, all the while fighting a
battle with alcoholism; discovering the blues turned his life around,
however, and after sobering up he began teaching himself guitar, honing
his chops in virtual anonymity before recording his debut LP A Good
Woman Is Hard to Find in 1992. The Highway Is My Home followed in 1995,
and in 1997 Strother returned with It's My Time. He toured Europe
several times and recorded Home at Last there, which saw release in
2001. A legend in his adopted home of Minneapolis, Percy Strother was
diagnosed with liver cancer and passed away May 29, 2005.
PERCY STROTHER the highway is my home
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