We have word that Doc Watson is home and recovering nicely from his recent surgery.

In spite of a slight problem on the way home that caused a return to the hospital, Doc arrived at home last night and is healing up nicely. At 85 years old, the legendary guitar picker is quite strong and his doctors expect a quick return to health.

Thank you to everyone who sent cards and letters, they have been forwarded to Doc and I’m sure he’ll enjoy being able to look through them at his leisure as he recuperates.

Bluegrass and folk music icon Doc Watson is undergoing micro-surgery today at Duke Hospital in Durham, NC.

Doc is a beloved fixture of this music and his doctors feel his health is very good for his advanced age of 85. Please remember him in your prayers and picking today as he has this surgery.

Jack Lawrence gives us the details.

There is a very small spot in the center lobe of his right lung that will be removed. It has not spread so the prognosis is very good and no radiation or chemo will be required. The micro-surgery is much less invasive than the standard procedure so he should be out of the hospital about three days afer the procedure. He’s in good spirits, but understandably ready to have it over. His GP told the surgeons that he had an 85 year old man with the body of a 50 year old that needed surgery. Of course, Doc loved that! The surgeons agreed and decided that Doc would come through this just fine.

If anyone wishes to send Doc a card or letter of encouragement, please send them to us at the following address and we will forward them to Doc.

The Bluegrass Blog
P.O. Box 1069
Pulaski, VA 24301

Last Friday, June 13, the Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame held a ceremony inducting its charter members. The ceremony took place at the Walker Center on the campus of Wilkes Community College, the home of Merlefest.

The Hall of Fame is located on the second floor of the Wilkes Heritage Museum, housed in a turn of the century (1902) historical courthouse. The exhibit actually opened on May 29, featuring instruments, biographies, and historical recordings. Intending to include both famous musicians, as well as those who have worked behind the scenes to make the music possible, from a geographic area ranging from northern Georgia into northern Virginia, the Hall of Fame inducted the following persons.

• Doc Watson
• Dolly Parton
• Wayne Henderson
• David Johnson (a studio musician and performer from Wilkes County)
• Earl Scruggs

Deceased inductees:

• The Carter Family
• Ralph Epperson (the founder of radio station WPAQ in Mount Airy)
• Tommy Jarrell (an influential banjo player and fiddler from Surry County)
• Folklorist Ralph Rinzler of the Smithsonian Institution
• Sam Love Queen Sr. (known as the Square Dance King of Western North Carolina)

You can see photos and short bios of each inductee at this link.

Art Menius, a longtime fixture at MerleFest and now director of Appalshop, a nonprofit group in Whitesburg, Ky., that documents and celebrates the culture of Appalachia, will be an honorary inductee. He did much of the preliminary work for the hall of fame.

Art is an active member of the online bluegrass community and we congratulate him on this well deserved honor.

Ten years ago a CD was released that was probably the very first mashup to feature bluegrass music (mashed with some groovy funk). The CD was GrooveGrass 101, produced by Scott Rouse.

This week Warner Brothers released the CD on iTunes for the first time and I’m told it’s selling quite well.

The CD features bluegrass legend Doc Watson together with Bootsy Collins on Wabash Cannonball and Blue Moon of Kentucky. Other stars making appearances include Mac Wiseman, Jerry Douglas, Ronnie and Rob McCoury, Jason Carter, Mike Bub, Bernie Leden (from the Eagles), and many more. Flatpicking master Steve Kaufman rips off some great solos on Little Cabin Home on the Hill mixed up with all the groovy stuff.

If you’ve never heard GrooveGrass 101, do yourself a favor and go give it a listen on iTunes.

Earlier this year Old Wilkes, Inc. and The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame (BRMHoF) committee announced the initial induction of several prominent musicians from the Blue Ridge region.

The charter inductees to be honored at the first annual Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony, to be held at the Walker Center on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro on Friday, June 13, 2008, are: Doc Watson, Earl Scruggs, The Carter Family, Tommy Jarrell, Dolly Parton, David Johnson, Ralph Rinzler, Ralph Epperson, Wayne Henderson and Sam Love Queen, Sr.

Each of these individuals is well noted for their considerable contributions to the special cultural and musical heritage of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with many having world-wide influence.

The Blue Ridge Music Hall of Fame, created in 2006, will be housed on the second floor of the Wilkes Heritage Museum (in the restored, famous old Wilkes Courthouse) located at 100 East Main Street, Wilkesboro, NC. Wilkesboro is located less than twenty miles from milepost 235, or the halfway point on the Blue Ridge Parkway, easily allowing a visit the Hall of Fame or Museum.

Tickets for the June 13 concert and induction ceremony, to be emceed by Mike Cross, are on sale now and may be purchased from the Walker Center box office (336-838-6260). A limited number of dinner tickets are available with a cost of $75 that includes seats for the ceremony. Tickets for the Concert and Induction Ceremony are $25.

Today’s (1/27) edition of The Washington Post has a lengthy feature on flatpicking icon and folk music hero Doc Watson.

The article by Post staffer Tim Warren in Greensboro, NC where he interviewed Doc before a concert with David Holt on January 11. Warren reviews the show, and includes a number of personal revelations from Watson, including a question about how much longer he can keep going at age 85.

He locked his blind eyes on his questioner and said finally, quietly, “I haven’t the faintest idea. But I’ll have to sooner or later, because my hands can’t do this much longer. I can’t play like I could 30 or 40 years ago. The speed’s not there and the clarity’s not there. My reflexes are slowing down, and there’s not a thing I can do about it.”

You can read the entire piece online.

HT: Katy Daley

Merlefest 2007 is over and the reports are that it was a spectacular festival. I’ve heard several people recount for me the highlights of this year’s event. But my friend Scott Rouse, a Nashville based producer, had what must have been the coolest experience of the festival this year. Scott spent Thursday afternoon with Doc Watson and Elvis Costello.

He and Doc hung out in my hotel room and laughed and told stories for a little over 30 minutes. They both had a great time. Elvis’ “cool” is for real. what an awesome guy. He was relaxed and there to listen to whatever Doc wanted to say and talk about. Doc told stories from his childhood and so did Elvis. They talked about their wives and the festival and even food. Afterwards when Elvis left Doc said “That Elvis Costello is a good boy. I really like him. Yeah, he’ll do.”

Scott’s dad, Jim Rouse, was there with them and took the picture.

Elvis Costello at Merlefest? I wondered how that went over, but Scott assured me it was a hit.

Elvis did an awesome show and was welcomed with open arms into the Bluegrass world when he let go with some of his biggest tunes done acoustically. Sam Bush on mandolin, Byron House on bass etc. Its hard to go wrong there. His show floored the crowd.

His respect and love for Bluegrass runs deep. He, for real, loves it. The British really understand the importance of the history of bluegrass and music in general. They get all up in it. Take John Paul Jones for instance. He spent a couple of nights at the Carter family’s home. He’s read the book twice and the Carter family is one of the first things he wants to talk about when you talk to him. He’s totally obsessed with absorbing and learning all he can about our music. And it isn’t just the non de-script, overall view type info most people get from just learning a little bit about bluegrass and its history. He can go DEEP into where our music came from. There’s a guy, who was in one of the biggest rock bands of all time, and he is totally humbled by Mother Maybelle. It really makes you think about how important our heroes really are, not only to us, but to the most potent musicians in the world.

Yes, bluegrass may be a smaller genre in the larger music world, but it’s important. It’s important to us, and it’s important to musicians in other genres as well. And if you like good music, I guess you almost have to like Doc Watson!

The 49th annual Grammy Awards were presented last night, and a few of our own were honored with awards.

The biggest bluegrass award of the night was given to Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder who took home the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, for their most recent work, Instrumentals. I believe this is the 12th Grammy win for Skaggs and the 6th for the band. Congratulations guys!

Best Country Instrumental Performance was handed to Bryan Sutton and Doc Watson for their duet rendition of the tune Whiskey Before Breakfast, from Bryan’s latest CD, Not Too Far From The Tree.

Best Contemporary Jazz Album was awarded to Bela Fleck & The Flecktones for the CD The Hidden Land.

Even though it’s not strictly bluegrass, we’ll claim Vince Gill as one of our own and acknowledge his win for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his song The Reason Why.

Several of my favorites won in non-bluegrass categories as well, especially in the classical genre. The Grammy website has the complete list of nominees and winners posted so you can check to see if your favorites won.

The popular Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival in NY is celebrating their 30th Anniversary this year by joining forces with FestivaLink to make audio from this year’s fest available for online purchase. These will be full-length recordings which can be purchased for download, or on audio CDs, and will be available shortly after the festival concludes. Grey Fox 2006 runs July 13-18.

FestivaLink also recorded a number of sets at this year’s MerleFest. Audio from Doc Watson, John Cowan, Nashville Bluegrass Band, Hot Tuna, Mike Seeger and others can be purchased online. Prices range from approximately $10 for MP3 downloads to $17 for an audio CD of each set.