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The Staley Distinguished Scholar series is a project of the Thomas F. Staley Foundation of Larchmont, New York, established in 1969 by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Staley of Rye, New York, in memory of their parents, Dr. and Mrs. Thomas F. Staley and Judge and Mrs. H.H. Haynes of Bristol, Tennessee.
The Staley Foundation firmly believes that the message of the Christian Gospel, when proclaimed in its historical fullness, is always contemporary, relevant and meaningful to any generation. To this end, the foundation seeks to bring the college and university campuses distinguished scholars who hold to the historic Christian faith and who can clearly communicate with students.
The most recent event that was part of the Staley Distinguished Scholar series was Doc Watson's Journey through Faith and Music - a private performance with David Holt. The private performance took place Saturday, April 4 at 7:00 p.m. in Hayes Auditorium.
Click here to see photos from this event.
Click here for past Staley
Distinguished Lecturers.
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Doc Watson with David Holt -
My Journey through Faith and Music
A Private Performance for Lees-McRae College
Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in Hayes Auditorium
Living legend and "mountain-music patriarch,"1 Doc Watson is
Lees-McRae's Spring 2009 Staley Distinguished
Lecturer. Doc Watson
and David Holt will play a private performance titled "My Journey
through Faith and Music" for Lees-McRae students,
faculty and staff Saturday, April 4, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. in Hayes Auditorium.
The performance is limited to students, faculty and staff of Lees-McRae College.
"Doc Watson is a living legend who will not be with us forever. To have Doc give a performance about his journey through faith and music is an incredible blessing for Lees-McRae College," said Dr. Andrew Saldino, Chair of the Staley Committee. "I expect that Doc will utilize this intimate venue--(Doc Watson for FREE in an 700 person theater--are you kidding me!)-- to speak and play directly into the hearts, minds, and souls of our campus community. This is not an event to be missed."
Read more about Doc Watson and David Holt below.
Doc Watson
Recipient of the National Medal of Arts, National Heritage Fellowship and eight Grammy Awards (including Lifetime Achievement), Doc Watson is a legendary performer who blends his traditional Appalachian musical roots with bluegrass, country, gospel and blues to create a unique style and an expansive repertoire. He is a powerful singer and a tremendously influential picker who virtually invented the art of playing mountain fiddle tunes on a flattop guitar.
Doc
was born Arthel L. Watson in Deep Gap, NC on March 12, 1923, into a
family already rich in musical tradition. His mother, Annie Watson, sang
traditional secular and religious songs, and his father, General Watson,
played the banjo, which was Doc’s first instrument, as well. Then, at
age thirteen he taught himself the chords to “When the Roses Bloom in
Dixieland” on a borrowed guitar, and his delighted father bought him a
$12 Stella. He later picked up some chords from a fellow student at
Raleigh School for the Blind, and began to incorporate material that he
heard on records and the radio with the music of his heritage.
Back home he played mostly with neighbors and family, among them
fiddler Gaither Carlton, who became his father-in-law when Doc married
Rosa Lee Carlton in 1947. They became parents of two children, Merle and
Nancy Ellen.
It wasn’t until 1953 at age thirty that he met Jack Williams, a local piano player, and began to play gigs for money. Doc played with Williams’ rockabilly/swing bang for seven years, a period and a style that he revisited in the recent album Docabilly. But he continued to play traditional music with his family and with his banjo playing neighbor, Clarence “Tom” Ashley. In 1960, spurred by the growing folk revival, Ralph Rinzler and Eugene Earle came south to record Ashley and Doc Watson in the process. These sessions resulted in Doc’s first recording, Old-Time Music at Clarence Ashley’s. In recent years Doc has returned to this old-time pre-bluegrass style in collaborations with David Grisman and David Holt. The latter, entitle Legacy, received the Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Recording of 2002.
In 1961 the Friends of Old-Time Music invited Doc, Ashley, Clint Howard and Fred Price to perform at a now-legendary concert in New York City, and one year later Doc gave his first solo performance at Gerde’s Folk City in Greenwich Village. From then on, he was full-time professional, playing a wide range of concerts, clubs, colleges and festivals, including the Newport Folk Festival and Carnegie Hall.
As the late sixties brought a waning of the folk revival, Doc’s son Merle provided the musical and emotional companionship that he needed to continue touring. With Merle playing guitar and banjo and serving as partner and driver, the father-son team expanded their audience nationwide. After working for a while with the band Frosty Morn, they continued to tour with bassist T. Michael Coleman, and brought their music to Europe, Japan and Africa. A series of remarkable recordings, including collaborations with Flatt & Scruggs, Chet Atkins and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, helped make Watson the gold standard among traditional pickers.
Although he briefly stopped performing after Merle died in a 1985 tractor accident, Doc (accompanied by guitarist Jack Lawrence) now accepts a limited number of engagements. For the past several years he has hosted the annual Merle Watson Memorial Festival in Wilkesboro, where, surrounded by family and collaborators (including grandson Richard Watson), he can give full breadth to his musical imagination and still sleep in his own house, deep in the Blue Ridge, on land homesteaded by his great-great-grandfather.
Visit www.docsguitar.com, or to learn more about MerleFest visit www.merlefest.org.
David Holt
Grammy award winner David Holt is a musician,
storyteller, historian, television host and entertainer,
dedicated to performing and preserving traditional American music and
storytelling.
For over thirty years, David Holt has been living in the Blue Ridge Mountains, collecting and performing songs and stories of the old-time mountaineers. He has learned this treasure trove of music directly from musical greats like Fred Cockerham, Byard Ray, Roy Acuff and Doc Watson.
David is a Grammy Award winner (and four-time nominee). He is known for his folk music and storytelling recording, his numerous programs on TNN, Folkways on PBS, Riverwalk on public radio, and for his popular concerts performed throughout the country. David was founder and director of the Appalachian Music Program at Warren Wilson College from 1975-1981. He is a three-time winner of Frets magazine readers’ poll for “best old-time banjoist.” Southern Living magazine recently featured David as a “Southerner Making a Difference.”
Doc Watson and David Holt have known each other since 1971 and have made several CDs together including the three-volume Legacy.
Visit David Holt's website at www.davidholt.com.
For information about this event, contact Meghan Wright, Communications, at wrightm@lmc.edu or (828) 898-8729. Tickets are only available for Lees-McRae College students, faculty and staff.
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1. The New York Times
