Watson, who died on Tuesday at age 89, is most closely associated with the melodic style of flatpicking that cemented the guitar's role as a solo voice in bluegrass and acoustic country music. But unlike the three-finger "Scruggs style" named after banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs, who crossed musical paths with Watson a number of times across the decades, there isn't a single "Watson style."
The flatpicking turned heads, but the tune that followed it might be a fingerstyle blues, a Travis-flavored country bounce or a parlor song from the Carter repertoire. Watson was a master tailor, not a designer; he fitted techniques to the needs of the song or the generations of players who sat next to him, as if they had been designed that way from the start.
Watson, blind from childhood, took an understated pride in being able to support his family independently. He was already a seasoned local and regional performer, playing both old-time music and what he called "rockabilly and pop standards," when the folk boom of the 1960s put him in front of a new set of audiences with his voice, banjo and acoustic guitar.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/30/showbiz/doc-watson-appreciation/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
The flatpicking turned heads, but the tune that followed it might be a fingerstyle blues, a Travis-flavored country bounce or a parlor song from the Carter repertoire. Watson was a master tailor, not a designer; he fitted techniques to the needs of the song or the generations of players who sat next to him, as if they had been designed that way from the start.
Watson, blind from childhood, took an understated pride in being able to support his family independently. He was already a seasoned local and regional performer, playing both old-time music and what he called "rockabilly and pop standards," when the folk boom of the 1960s put him in front of a new set of audiences with his voice, banjo and acoustic guitar.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/30/showbiz/doc-watson-appreciation/index.html?hpt=hp_c1