Doc Watson, born on this day in 1923 in Deep Gap, North Carolina. | Dust-to-Digital

Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson (1923-2012) was born 100 years ago today in Deep Gap, North Carolina. Here he performs his arrangement of “Deep River Blues.” By the time Doc was “discovered” by folklorists Ralph Rinzler and Eugene Earle in the late summer of 1960, he was already a proficient guitarist with a local reputation. Through Rinzler and Earle’s efforts, Doc was brought onto the folk music circuit of coffee houses, colleges, and festivals. He would go on to become one of America’s premier acous