Arthel “Doc” Watson, the pioneering flatpicking guitar player and smooth baritone singer known for his blend of folk, bluegrass country, gospel and more, died Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. He was 89.
Watson was hospitalized last Monday, May 21, 2012, after a fall at his home in Deep Gap, N.C. He underwent surgery for an impacted colon on Friday and reportedly had rebounded, though he remained in critical condition.
Read the eight-time Grammy winner’s obituary in Bluegrass Today, and a thoughtful essay on Doc, by Art Menius, who tells of Doc’s influence on the acoustic music world.
Watson also was known for the creation of the enormously popular Merlefest, an annual bluegrass festival held in honor of his son, who died in 1985.
Bicycle riders big and small helped raise nearly $1,400 on Saturday, May 19, 2012 to help the family of Corey Dominick of Norton, who is suffering from stage 4 colon cancer.
The Virginia-based band The Steel Wheels led the way on a local 15-mile bike ride, the route organized by avid cyclist Kevin Mulligan of Norton, a volunteer with the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield. From the adult riders to a children’s ride outside The Children’s Studio preschool in Norton, and a donation from Mansfield Rose Garden Coffeehouse, the event raised $1,381, according to Rose Garden artistic director Mac McLanahan.
Martin Swinger, a lanky, affable man from Augusta, Maine, defeated two performers from Massachusetts Saturday night, winning the 20th performing songwriter competition at the Rose Garden Coffeehouse in Mansfield. Each of the performers played two songs before an expert panel of judges, prior to the season-ending performance from Virginia-based band The Steel Wheels.
Swinger has become good at winning songwriter contests. I saw him win the Ossipee Valley Music Festival songwriters contest last year. On Saturday night, Swinger performed two crowd pleasers: “A Little Plastic Part,” the metaphoric part of any modern-day story, and the silly “Betty Boop & Buddha,” with vocals shenanigans and fine keyboards solo from Ed DesJardins.
For those of us who grew up watching “The Andy Griffith Show,” we knew that the music helped define the times. That music was shaped by Missouri-born Doug Dillard, banjo player and TV personality with The Dillards. Known as “The Darlings” on the TV show, Doug and his brother Rodney were the heart and soul of that group. Doug Dillard died Wednesday, May 16, 2012, in a Nashville hospital, after a long illness. He was 75.
Although the first area bluegrass festival was the Joe Val festival in February, the spring/summer bluegrass season kicks off Friday night in East Wareham with the seventh annual Bluegrass on the Bogs festival. This festival, held May 18-20, has been growing each year and is great exposure for talented regional acoustic acts like Three Tall Pines, Swamp Yankees and Berklee alums Chasing Blue.
VIDEO: The Steel Wheels roll into Mansfield, add benefit ride in Norton; annual songwriters contest Saturday
The Steel Wheels, an outstanding Americana music group who takes their bike riding almost as seriously as their music, will roll into Mansfield’s Rose Garden Coffeehouse for a featured performance on Saturday, May 19 at 8:00 pm. Earlier in the day, the boys will have led a 15-mile charity bike ride to benefit Corey Dominick, a young Norton father of two who was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer just this past Valentine’s Day.
Each time I see the April Verch Band, April gets more impressive, and the band seems more entertaining than ever. The Rose Garden show on April 28 featured much of what we’ve come to expect from Verch, an Ottawa Valley-style fiddler, step-dancer and singer. Her dancing was outrageously wonderful, and her endearing stories and songs made her audience feel right at home. The Mansfield show marked the first time that guitarist Hayes Griffin joined the band (on a single tune) to replace Isaac Callender, though Callender played the entire show.
Last week I had heard that changes were afoot in the management at WUMB-FM radio. Having heard that Patricia Monteith, longtime general manager of the UMass-Boston radio station, had left or would be leaving as general manager, I put out some calls to get more details. Today, UMass spokesman DeWayne Lehman said “Pat Monteith remains aboard at WUMB. Beyond that we don’t discuss personnel matters. ” Calls to Monteith have gone unreturned.
Read Sue Scheible’s blog: “Missing Pat Monteith at WUMB.”
Lehman added that there are no changes in format planned at the folk music radio station. The WUMB Friends Advisory Council, a group of listeners “assisting and advising the radio station’s general manager with fundraising, outreach and community service,” among other things, issued a statement today clarifying what is happening at WUMB:
I first saw The Roys in Nashville in 2011 on the side of a bus before eventually meeting them (life-sized!) in person. The brother-sister duo of Lee and Elaine Roy, Fitchburg, Mass. natives, have been riding a bluegrass/country high for the past couple of years. Two-time Inspirational Country Music Duo of the Year, the pair has taken time away from a busy touring schedule to record seven episodes of the new International television show, “Bluegrass Mountains.” In addition, The Roys will have their own TV show beginning in the fall.
Fans of bluegrass music are in for a treat this Saturday, when New England-based Southern Rail comes to Brockton’s Javawocky Coffeehouse on Saturday, May 5, 2012. The exuberant quartet features core members Jim Muller and his wife, Sharon Horovitch, along with banjo player Rich Stillman and mandolinist John Roc. Together they perform a mix of contemporary bluegrass songs, many originals, and a mix of wonderful harmony vocals. Don’t let the name fool you, Southern Rail has been a stalwart in the Northeast for 30 years.
VIDEOS: Canadian fiddle wonder April Verch returns to Mansfield’s Rose Garden Coffeehouse on Saturday
It’s not often you get the chance to hear and see an Olympic-caliber fiddler and performer. But if you’ve ever attended Mansfield’s Rose Garden Coffeehouse, April Verch‘s name should be familiar. She has performed there several times and returns this Saturday, April 28, 2012. An effervescent Canadian fiddler, stepdancer, singer and songwriter, who performed during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Verch calls the Rose Garden home. So much so that when she recently performed in Australia and discovered a rose on stage, she knew that someone related to the Rose Garden was in attendance. Turns out it was the son of Rose Garden Artistic Director Mac McLanahan.
I’m a big fan of almost anything that promotes folk and bluegrass music. So I was pleased to see that a new film is in the works that tells the story of bluegrass music, its evolution and growth, told by originators of the music to mainstage acts of today and even regular campground pickers. Called “The Porchlight Sessions,” the film is in the works. As an independent venture, the producers are seeking funding. I have no connection to the making of this movie, but I’ve sent in my contribution. Any fans of bluegrass music should do their part, even if it’s only a small amount. Filmmakers who delve into this kind of project are not in it for the money — just for the love of the music.
Peter Yarrow’s show on Saturday at the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse in Franklin was a powerhouse performance. It was no surprise that Yarrow, one-third of the former folk legends Peter, Paul & Mary, came to Franklin expecting people to sing, hear about injustices, learn how to share love and understanding among our fellow people. In short, bring home the Folk Movement to people who both lived it and are passing it on.
Wayne Rice, a bluegrass radio programmer and banjo player recently launched Slacker Radio’s tribute to the late Earl Scruggs. Scruggs, who died March 28, 2012 at 88, can easily be dubbed the Father of Bluegrass Banjo. Although Bill Monroe is known as the Father of Bluegrass Music, it was Scruggs who revolutionized the three-finger picking style on banjo that gives bluegrass music its drive.
VIDEO: Legendary folk singer, activist Peter Yarrow to perform in Franklin on Saturday
Singer-songwriter and activist Peter Yarrow comes to Franklin’s Circle of Friends Coffeehouse this Saturday, April 14, 2012. Yarrow, now 73, is known as one part of the famed folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary. But he also is known for his commitments to equal rights, the environment, homelessness, education, gender equality and other social issues.
It seems this week is a popular one for important voices in folk music. Peter Yarrow makes an appearance on Saturday night in Franklin, Mass., and at Quincy’s Stone Temple Coffeehouse, several acts will perform songs by legendary 60s singer-songwriter and activist Phil Ochs. Och’s sister, Sonny Ochs, will host and reminisce about her brother, and the show will feature performances by Magpie, Kim & Reggie Harris, John Flynn and Sonia — a powerpack of folk singers known for their Ochs tributes.
Canadian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Garnet Rogers will perform Friday night, April 13, 2012, at the Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham. New England-based singer-songwriter John Schindler, 2006 winner of Mansfield’s Rose Garden Coffeehouse’s performing songwriter competition and a winner of the Boston Folk Fest contest, will open for Rogers.
The bluegrass world lost a pioneer yesterday. Earl Eugene Scruggs, known for his distinctive syncopated, three-finger picking style on the five string banjo, popularized its sound. When people think of the sound of the banjo, most people think of the fast-paced rhythms and drive developed by Scruggs. His playing changed the sound of American country and bluegrass music. Born in North Carolina in 1924, Scruggs died of natural causes yesterday, March 28, 2012, at 88.
Although I often try to share my photos and videos between this blog and Facebook and online in various places, sometimes there is a disconnect. If you are regular reader of this irregularly published blog, you may have seen posts to my videos here. But they are all available on my Youtube channel: http://folkbluegrassvideos.com
If you are a follower of folk and traditional music, you probably have heard of the legendary Club 47 in Cambridge, Mass. If you are a music lover and have never heard of it, it’s time to crawl out of your cocoon and learn more about this Harvard Square venue, now known as Club Passim, which helped spawn the careers of Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Tom Rush, Taj Mahal and many other musicians who form the backdrop of our music today.
Tickets now are on sale for a documentary called “For the Love of the Music: The Club 47 Folk Revival,” which will premiere at 6 p.m. on April 17, 2012, at the Boston International Film Festival at the Loews Theatre /AMC Boston Common.
