Name	Sam Bush
Background	solo_singer
Born	April 13, 1952Bowling Green, Kentucky, US
Instrument	Mandolin, Fiddle, Guitar
Genre	Bluegrass, Progressive bluegrass
Occupation	Musician
Years active	1963-present
Label	Flying Fish, Sugar Hill
Associated acts	Bluegrass Alliance, New Grass Revival, Strength in Numbers, Nash Ramblers, Sam Bush Band
Url	http://sambush.com

Sam Bush (born April 13, 1952 in Bowling Green, Kentucky) is an American bluegrass mandolin player considered an originator of the Newgrass style.

History

Sam Bush was exposed to country and bluegrass music at an early age through his father Charlie's record collection, and later by the Flatt & Scruggs television show. Buying his first mandolin at the age of 11, his musical interest was further piqued when he attended the inaugural Roanoke, VA Bluegrass Festival in 1965. As a teen Bush took first place three times in the junior division of the National Oldtime Fiddler's Contest in Weiser, ID. He joined guitarist Wayne Stewart, his mentor and music teacher during Sam's teen years, and banjoist Alan Munde (later of Country Gazette) and the three recorded an instrumental album, Poor Richard's Almanac, in 1969. In the spring of 1970, Bush attended the Fiddlers Convention at Union Grove, NC, and was inspired by the rock-flavored progressive bluegrass of the New Deal String Band. Later that year, he moved to Louisville and joined the Bluegrass Alliance. In the fall of 1971, the band dissolved and reformed as the New Grass Revival.

The New Grass Revival went through numerous personnel changes, with Bush remaining as the sole original member. Bassist and vocalist John Cowan joined in 1974, with banjo ace Béla Fleck and acoustic guitarist Pat Flynn being enlisted in 1981. From 1979 through 1981, the group toured with Leon Russell, opening the shows and backing Russell during his headlining set.

Beginning in 1980, Bush and Cowan periodically jammed with the Nashville-based Duckbutter Blues Band, whose other members were blues guitarist Kenny Lee, drummer Jeff Jones, and bassist Byron House. Bush recorded his debut solo album, Late as Usual, four years later. In 1989, Bush and Fleck joined Mark O'Connor, Jerry Douglas, and Edgar Meyer in an all-star bluegrass band, Strength in Numbers, at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. When the New Grass Revival dissolved in 1989, Bush joined Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers, touring and recording with Harris for the next five years.

In 1995, Bush worked as a sideman with Lyle Lovett and Bela Fleck's Flecktones. He formed his own band, featuring Cowan and ex-Nash Ramblers Jon Randall and Larry Atamanuick, shortly before recording his second solo album, Glamour & Grits, in 1996. He released his next album, Howlin' at the Moon, in 1998, with many of the same players and special guests, including Harris, Fleck and J. D. Crowe.

In the winter of 1997, Bush and the New Grass Revival reunited for an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien as the backup band for Garth Brooks. On March 28, 1998, Bush's hometown of Bowling Green, KY, honored him with a special "Sam Bush Day" celebration.

Following Howlin' at the Moon in 1998, he released Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride in 2000, which was a live recording. In 2004, Randall left Bush's band and Brad Davis (musician) took over harmony vocals and guitar duties.

In 2006, Bush released Laps in Seven. The release was significant because it marked the return of the banjo to Bush's recordings, performed by Scott Vestal. The guitarist, Keith Sewell, performed on the recording, but shortly after took a job with the Dixie Chicks. Bush sought a new guitarist for his recordings and road band and found Stephen Mougin.

In 2007, Bush released his first live concert DVD, titled On The Road. 2007 also marked the first time he had been chosen to host the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards.

In March 2010, Legislation passed in Kentucky that officially named Bowling Green the "Birthplace of Newgrass" and Sam Bush the "Father of Newgrass." The Resolution, sponsored by Representative Jim DeCesare, passed the Kentucky Senate 37-0 on March 25. It passed the House on March 3, 99-0.

Performance

As well as being an accomplished bluegrass vocalist, Bush also is an accomplished instrumentalist on guitar and fiddle winning title of National Fiddle champion at fifteen years of age. He was a founding member of the New Grass Revival and has been called a modern day Bill Monroe, or as Sam would tell . .

Sam, affectionately "Sammy", or "Mr. Entertainment", also recalls meeting Mr. Monroe as a young teen. After demonstrating his mandolin technique Monroe offered the advice: "stick to the fiddle". Sam is one of the main attractions at the annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado and plays the eight p.m. set on Saturday night as well as many guest appearances throughout the weekend. He is affectionately known as "The King of Telluride" for his perennial appearances there (and Emmylou Harris the "Queen of Telluride"). Sam did tour with Harris' band, The Nash Ramblers. Additional collaborations include recording and live performances with many virtuoso musicians and artists such as Doc Watson, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Ann Savoy, Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, Russ Barenberg, David Grisman, Mark O Connor, Edgar Meyer, and importantly; "Strength in Numbers", a band consisting of Bela Fleck, Tony Rice, Mark O Connor, Edgar Meyer, Jerry Douglas, and Sam Bush.

Strength in Numbers was a collaboration born from jam sessions at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The music on their CD release entitled "The Telluride Sessions" was all instrumental and recorded live, showcasing the individual talent of each player and their ability to improvise. During recent years (2000–2008) there have been many variations of the Strength in Numbers band, also known as "Bluegrass Sessions", always including Jerry Douglas, (Dobro), and usually bassist Byron House, also from Bowling Green, KY. Other musicians include Gabe Witcher (fiddle), Brian Sutton (guitar), Tim O'Brien (fiddle, mandolin, guitar, vocals) and Darol Anger, (fiddle).

Sam Bush Band tours extensively, appearing at many small venues and large festivals such as the Strawberry Music Festival (Memorial Day and Labor Day), Rockygrass (late July), and every spring at the Americana Festival, Merlefest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Sam Bush is known as one of the liveliest performers at these festivals, and makes many guest appearances with the other artists.

Distinctions and awards

Chosen to host the 2007 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, held at the Grand Ole Opry. Sam walked away with an award himself for Mandolin Player of the Year IBMA 2007. Nominated as "Instrumentalist of the Year" by the Americana Music Association. He is affectionately known as "The King of Telluride" for his perennial appearances there (Emmylou Harris as the "Queen of Telluride"). Known as "King of Newgrass".

Discography

Solo albums

DVDs

On the Road (2007) Sugar Hill ASIN: B000RHRG5S

Specialty projects

Drive - Béla Fleck - Rounder Records 1988

The Telluride Sessions by supergroup Strength in Numbers - MCA 1989

Short Trip Home - Sony Classical 1999

:(Edgar Meyer & Joshua Bell with Sam Bush and Mike Marshall)

Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza - Acoustic Disc 1999

:(w/ David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, Jesse McReynolds, Ricky Skaggs, others)

The Bluegrass Sessions - Béla Fleck - Warner Bros. 1999

Soulgrass - Bluegrass and Jazz Fusion 2005

2007, performing "Rising Sun" with Marc Broussard

New Grass Revival

New Grass Revival (1972) Hollywood

Fly Through the Country (1975) Flying Fish

When the Storm Is Over (1977) Flying Fish

Too Late to Turn Back Now (1977) Flying Fish ASIN: B000000ME2

Barren County (album) (1979) Flying Fish ASIN: B000000MEL

Leon Russell & New Grass Revival (1981) Paradise

Commonwealth (1981) Flying Fish ASIN: B000000MGE

On the Boulevard (1984) Sugar Hill ASIN: B000000EZL

Live in Toulouse (1984) Sugar Hill ASIN: B000000F0O

New Grass Revival (1986) Capitol

Hold to a Dream (1988) Capitol

Friday Night in America (1989) Capitol

When the Storm Is Over/Fly Through the Country (1992) Flying Fish ASIN: B000000MDQ

Best of New Grass Revival (1994) Capitol ASIN: B000002TNY

(2005) Capitol ASIN: B0009ML1RK

Collaboration

Bush appears on numerous country and bluegrass albums, including those by:

Video

"The River's Gonna Run - Sam Bush" YouTube.com

"Sam Bush & Pat Flynn of New Grass Revival - Beaumont Rag" YouTube.com

"The New Grass Revival (Live) - Metric Lips" YouTube.com

See also

Bluegrass music

Country music

Mandolin

Grammy Awards

New Grass Revival

Progressive bluegrass

Telluride Bluegrass Festival

Merlefest

International Bluegrass Music Association

Americana Music Association

Grand Ole Opry

Bowling Green, Kentucky

References

Further reading

Bush, Sam (1999). Sam Bush Teaches Mandolin Repertoire and Technique (Listen & Learn), Hal Leonard, ISBN 0-7935-9950-4.

Rosenberg, Neil V.(2005). Bluegrass: A History, University of Illinois Press, ISBN 0-2520-7245-6.

External links

Official site

Sam Bush Music Video

Category:1952 births

Category:Living people Category:People from Bowling Green, Kentucky Category:American folk guitarists Category:Musicians from Kentucky Category:New Grass Revival members Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American music educators Category:American bluegrass fiddlers Category:American bluegrass mandolinists

Name	John Cowan
Background	solo_singer
Born	August 24, 1952Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
Instruments	Bass guitar
Genre	Bluegrass
Occupation	Musician, Bass guitarist, Singer
Years active	1970s–present
Label	Sugar Hill, RCA
Url

John Cowan (b. August 24, 1952 in Evansville, Indiana) is an American soul music and progressive bluegrass vocalist and bass guitar player. He was the lead vocalist and bass player for the New Grass Revival.

Biography

After the breakup of the New Grass Revival, Cowan released a soul record of covers, called "Soul'd Out", on the Sugar Hill Records label in 1990.

Cowan appeared as a duo with Sam Bush on the PBS series, Lonesome Pine Special in 1992, and also appeared with other artists on the program.

From 1988 to 1996 Cowan teamed with Rusty Young of Poco, Bill Lloyd of Foster & Lloyd and Pat Simmons of the Doobie Brothers in a band originally called Four Wheel Drive which was later changed to the Sky Kings. Several singles were released but failed to chart well. Two albums were recorded but not released by RCA until 1997 after the group's demise as the Sky Kings, "Out of the Blue".

Thanks in part to his collaboration with Simmons in Four Wheel Drive, Cowan also found himself the bass player for the Doobie Brothers from 1993-1995. His song Can't Stand To Lose, co-written with Rusty Young, was featured on the Doobies' 2000 album Sibling Rivalry.

In addition, throughout the 1990s, Cowan picked up session work singing harmony vocals and/or playing bass on recordings of Travis Tritt, Steve Earle, Garth Brooks, and Wynonna.

From 1996 through 1998, Cowan was the bassist and harmony vocalist in Sam Bush's touring band.

The new century brought a blues record from Cowan. By 2002, his projects on Sugar Hill turned more to his "newgrass" stylings.

In 2006, Cowan left Sugar Hill and went to the independent label Pinecastle Records. In 2008, Cowan was chosen to participate in a movie on the life of Billy Graham, titled, Billy: The Early Years.

In May 2010, due to an illness to The Doobie Brothers bassist Skylark, Cowan returned to the Doobies as their touring bassist.

Footnotes

External links

Official site

John Cowan collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive

Category:1952 births Category:Living people Category:American bass guitarists Category:American male singers Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:New Grass Revival members Category:People from Evansville, Indiana

Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Instrument	Dobro
Name	Jerry Douglas
Landscape	Yes
Born	May 28, 1956Warren, Ohio
Genres	Americana, Bluegrass, Country, Jazz
Labels	E1 Music, Rounder, MCA, Sugar Hill, Koch
Years active	1970s–present
Url	Official website

Jerry Douglas (born Gerald Calvin Douglas, May 28, 1956 in Warren, Ohio) is an American record producer and resonator guitar player. Called "Dobro's matchless contemporary master," by The New York Times, and lauded as "my favorite musician" by John Fogerty, Douglas is one of the world’s most renowned Dobro players.

Career

In addition to his twelve solo recordings, Douglas has played on more than 1600 albums.

External links

Jerry Douglas Official site

Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas Official site

Folk Radio UK review of Jerry Christmas

Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:Alison Krauss & Union Station members Category:American country guitarists Category:American bluegrass guitarists Category:American male singers Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:Slide guitarists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Musicians from Ohio Category:Resonator guitarists Category:People from Warren, Ohio Category:The Country Gentlemen members Category:Weissenborn players

:This article is for the guitarist. For the former football player see Tony Rice (American football).

Name	Tony Rice
Landscape	Yes
Background	solo_singer
Born	June 08, 1951in Danville, Virginia
Genre	Bluegrass, Folk
Occupation	Musician, songwriter
Instrument	Guitar
Label	Rounder
Years active	1970 - present
Url	Official website
Notable instruments	1935 Martin D-28 (previously owned by Clarence White)Santa Cruz Tony Rice Professional

Tony Rice (born David Anthony Rice, June 8, 1951, Danville, Virginia) is an American acoustic guitarist and bluegrass musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.

Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from traditional bluegrass to jazz-influenced New Acoustic music, to songwriter-oriented folk. Over the course of his career, he has played alongside J. D. Crowe and the New South, David Grisman (during the formation of “Dawg Music”) and Jerry Garcia, led his own Tony Rice Unit, collaborated with Norman Blake, recorded with his brothers Wyatt, Ron and Larry and co-founded the Bluegrass Album Band. He has recorded with drums, piano, soprano sax, as well as with traditional Bluegrass instrumentation.

Early years

Rice was born in Danville, Virginia but grew up in Los Angeles, California, where he was introduced to bluegrass by his father, a semi-professional musician named Herb Rice. Tony and his brothers learned the fundamentals of bluegrass and country music from hot L.A. pickers like the Kentucky Colonels, led by Roland and Clarence White. Clarence White in particular became a huge influence on Tony Rice. Crossing paths with fellow enthusiasts like Ry Cooder, Herb Pedersen and Chris Hillman reinforced the strength of the music he had learned from his father.

In 1970, Rice had moved to Louisville, Kentucky where he played with the Bluegrass Alliance, and shortly thereafter, J.D. Crowe's New South. The New South was known as one of the best and most progressive bluegrass groups - eventually adding drums and electric instruments (to Rice's displeasure). But when Ricky Skaggs joined up in 1974, the band recorded "J. D. Crowe & the New South", an acoustic album that became Rounder’s top-seller up to that time. At this point, the group consisted of Rice on guitar and lead vocals, Crowe on banjo and vocals, Jerry Douglas on Dobro, Skaggs on fiddle, mandolin, and tenor vocals, and Bobby Slone on bass and fiddle.

David Grisman Quintet

Around this time, Rice met mandolinist David Grisman, who played with Red Allen during the '60s and was now working on some original material that blended jazz, bluegrass and classical styles. Rice left the New South and moved to California to join Grisman’s all-instrumental group. As part of the David Grisman Quintet, Rice expanded his musical horizons beyond three chord bluegrass, studying chord theory, learning to read charts and expanding the range of his playing. Renowned guitarist John Carlini was brought in to teach Rice music theory, and Carlini helped him learn the intricacies of jazz playing and musical improvisation in general. The David Grisman Quintet's 1977 debut recording is considered a landmark of acoustic string band music.

Solo career and Bluegrass Album Band

In 1979, Rice left Grisman's group to pursue his own brand of music. He recorded "Acoustics", a jazz-inspired acoustic record, and then Manzanita, a collection of vocals and instrumentals, mostly in the bluegrass, but also folk style. This album doesn't include the five-string banjo. In 1980, Rice, Crowe, Bobby Hicks, Doyle Lawson and Todd Phillips formed a highly successful coalition, attacking bluegrass standards under the name the Bluegrass Album Band. This group recorded six volumes of music from 1980 to 1996.

Rice’s solo career hit its stride with "Cold on the Shoulder", a collection of bluegrass-inspired vocals. With this album, "Native American" and "Me & My Guitar", Rice arrived at a formula that incorporated his disparate influences, combining bluegrass, the songwriting of folk artists like Ian Tyson, Joni Mitchell, Phil Ochs, Tom Paxton, Bob Dylan and especially Gordon Lightfoot, with nimble, jazz-inflected guitar work. Simultaneously, he pursued his jazz-infused, experimental “spacegrass” with the Tony Rice Unit on the albums "Mar West", "Still Inside", and "Backwaters".

Collaborations

In 1980 he recorded an album of bluegrass duets with Ricky Skaggs, called Skaggs & Rice. Two highly regarded albums with traditional instrumentalist and songwriter Norman Blake garnered a great deal of acclaim, as well as two Rice Brothers albums (1992 and 1994) that featured him teamed with his late elder brother, Larry and younger brothers, Wyatt and Ronnie. In 1993 he joined David Grisman and Jerry Garcia, to record The Pizza Tapes. Year after, Rice and Grisman recorded Tone Poems, an original collection of material, where they used historical vintage mandolins and guitars, different for each track. In 1995, Rice recorded folk album featuring just two guitars with John Carlini, who also worked for David Grisman Quintet. In 1997, Tony, his brother Larry, Chris Hillman (founder of Byrds) and banjoist Herb Pedersen, founded so-called "anti-supergroup" Rice, Rice, Hillman & Pedersen and produced three volumes of music between 1997 and 2001.

Tony Rice today

in Kent, Ohio, November 2008]]

Since the early nineties, Rice's singing voice has silenced due to dysphonia, but he remains one of new acoustic music's top instrumentalists, bringing originality and vitality to everything he plays. He has often collaborated with Peter Rowan and they have recorded two CDs for Rounder Records: "You Were There For Me," released 2004, and "Quartet," released in 2007. For the second recording, Rice and Rowan were joined by Bryn Davies on vocals/bass and Sharon Gilchrist on vocals/mandolin. 2007 saw Tony team up with Alison Krauss and Union Station for a string of spring concerts, drawing material from Rice's 35-year career. Krauss always has cited Rice as being her prime musical influence. Rice resides in Reidsville, North Carolina.

Publications

The authorized biography of Tony Rice, titled "Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story," has been completed by Tim Stafford (a member of award-winning bluegrass ensemble Blue Highway) and Hawai`i journalist Caroline Wright, and was published by Word Of Mouth Press in Kingsport, TN, USA in 2010. The book's official release took place at Merlefest in North Carolina, USA.

Discography

Awards

Grammy Awards

Best Country Instrumental Performance - The New South, Fireball - 1983

IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Awards

Instrumental Performer of the Year - Guitar - 1990, 1991, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2007

Instrumental Group of the Year - The Tony Rice Unit - 1991, 1995

Instrumental Group of the Year - The Bluegrass Album Band - 1990

Instrumental Album of the Year - Bluegrass Instrumentals, Volume 6 (Rounder) ; The Bluegrass Album Band - 1997

References

External links

Official site

http://www.classicwebs.com/bg_allia.htm

1998 Flatpicking Guitar Magazine Article

Tony Rice on You Tube

*Manzanita

*Ten Degrees and Getting Colder

*Church Street Blues

*Cold on the Shoulder

*Shenandonah

*Freeborn Man

*Where the Soul of Man Never Dies (duet with Ricky Skaggs)

*Tipper

*Blue Railroad Train

*Old Home Place

*Nine Pound Hammer

*Little Sadie

Category:1951 births Category:Living people Category:People from Danville, Virginia Category:People from Los Angeles, California Category:People from Louisville, Kentucky Category:Musicians from Virginia Category:Musicians from California Category:Musicians from Kentucky Category:American acoustic guitarists Category:American bluegrass guitarists Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:American male singers Category:Rebel Records artists Category:Rounder Records artists Category:American Christians Category:American people of English descent Category:American people of French descent Category:American musicians of Italian descent

Name	Doc Watson
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Arthel Lane Watson
Alias	Doc Watson
Born	March 03, 1923Deep Gap, North Carolina US
Instrument	Vocals, guitar, banjo, harmonica
Genre	Blues, bluegrass, country, folk, Gospel
Occupation	Musician, Singer-Songwriter
Label	Folkways, Vanguard, United Artists, Flying Fish, Sugar Hill

Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (born March 3, 1923) is an American guitar player, songwriter and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues and gospel music. He has won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson's flatpicking skills and knowledge of traditional American music are highly regarded. He performed with his son Merle for over 15 years until Merle's death in 1985, in an accident on the family farm.

In 1953, Doc joined the Johnson City, Tennessee-based Jack Williams' country and western swing band on electric guitar. The band seldom had a fiddle player, but were often asked to play for square dances. Following the example of country guitarists Grady Martin and Hank Garland, Doc taught himself to play fiddle tunes on his Les Paul electric guitar. He later transferred the technique to acoustic guitar, and playing fiddle tunes became part of his signature sound. That move ignited Doc's career when he played on his first recording, Old Time Music at Clarence Ashley's. He also began to tour as a solo performer and appeared at universities and clubs like the Ash Grove in Los Angeles. Watson would eventually get his big break and rave reviews for his performance at the renowned Newport Folk Festival in 1963. He recorded his first solo album in 1964 and began performing with his son Merle the same year. The pair would tour and record together until 1985 when Merle was tragically killed in a tractor accident.

After the folk revival waned during the late 1960s, Doc's career was sustained by his performance of "Tennessee Stud" on the 1972 live album recording Will the Circle Be Unbroken. As popular as ever, Doc and Merle began playing as a trio, with T. Michael Coleman on bass, in 1974. The trio toured the globe during the late seventies and early eighties, recorded nearly fifteen albums between 1973 and 1985, and brought Doc and Merle’s unique blend of acoustic music to millions of new fans.

Doc plays guitar in both flatpicking and fingerpicking style, but is best known for his flatpick work. His guitar playing skills, combined with his authenticity as a mountain musician, made him a highly influential figure during the folk music revival. He pioneered a fast and flashy bluegrass lead guitar style including fiddle tunes and crosspicking techniques which were adopted and extended by Clarence White, Tony Rice and many others. Watson is also an accomplished banjo player and in the past has accompanied himself on harmonica as well. Known also for his distinctive and rich baritone voice, he has over the years developed a vast repertoire of mountain ballads which he learned via the oral tradition of his home area in Deep Gap, North Carolina. His affable manner, humble nature and delightful wit have endeared him to his fans nearly as much as his musical talent has.

Doc played a Martin model D-18 guitar on his earliest recordings. In 1968 he began a relationship with Gallagher Guitars when he started playing their G-50 model. His first Gallagher, which Doc refers to as "Old Hoss", is on display at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. In 1974, Gallagher created a customized G-50 line to meet Doc's preferred specifications, which bears the Doc Watson name. In 1991, Gallagher customized a personal cutaway guitar for Doc that he plays to this day and refers to as "Donald" in honor of Gallagher guitar's second generation proprietor and builder, Don Gallagher.

In 1986 he received the North Carolina Award and in 1994 he received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award. Also in 1994, Watson teamed up with Randy Scruggs and Earl Scruggs to contribute "Keep on the Sunny Side" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization.

In 2000 he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor. In 1997, Doc received the National Medal of Arts from U.S. president Bill Clinton.

In recent years, Watson has scaled back his touring schedule. As of 2007, he is generally joined onstage by his grandson (Merle's son) Richard, as well as longtime musical partners David Holt or Jack Lawrence. Recently, on June 19, he was accompanied by Australian guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel at the Bass Performance Hall. He also, accompanied by Holt and his grandson, Richard, performed at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in 2009, as he had done in several previous years.

He is host to the annual MerleFest music festival held every April at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. The festival features a vast array of acoustic style music focusing on the folk, bluegrass, blues and old-time music genres. It is named in honor of Merle Watson and is one of the most popular acoustic music festivals in the world, drawing over 70,000 music fans each year.

In 2010, Blooming Twig Books published "Blind But Now I See" by Dr. Kent Gustavson, the first comprehensive biography of the seminal flatpicking guitarist.

Discography

Grammy awards

1973 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording (Including Traditional Blues): Doc Watson for Then And Now

1974 Best Ethnic Or Traditional Recording: Merle Watson & Doc Watson for Two Days In November

1979 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Doc Watson & Merle Watson for Big Sandy/Leather Britches

1986 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for Riding The Midnight Train

1990 Best Traditional Folk Recording: Doc Watson for On Praying Ground

2002 Best Traditional Folk Album: Doc Watson & David Holt for Legacy

2004 Lifetime Achievement Award

2006 Best Country Instrumental Performance: Bryan Sutton & Doc Watson for Whiskey Before Breakfast track from Not Too Far From The Tree by Bryan Sutton

References

External links

Doc's Guitar : A site dedicated to the guitar and music of Doc Watson

Podcast of Doc Watson and Jack Lawrence performing live at the 1996 Florida Folk Festival from the Florida Folklife Collection (made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida)

Live 1977 recording of "The Cuckoo Bird" by Doc and Merle Watson from the Florida Folklife Collection (made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida)

Live 1996 recording of "Shady Grove" by Doc and Jack Lawrence from the Florida Folklife Collection (made available for public use by the State Archives of Florida)

MerleFest

* MerleFest official website

* "Doc's orders: No heavy metal at MerleFest" 2007 article in the Hook weekly

National Public Radio

* Guitarist Arthel 'Doc' Watson Interview on NPR's Fresh Air

* Morning Edition's Bob Edwards interview Doc Watson from 1985

* Morning Edition's Bob Edwards interview Doc Watson from 1989

Prairie Home Companion

* Doc Watson & Taj Mahal August 9, 1986 (db.etree.org)

* October 23, 1999

* February 14, 2004

Article on Doc Watson and other western NC guitar players

Category:1923 births Category:American banjoists Category:American bluegrass guitarists Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:American blues guitarists Category:American blues singer-songwriters Category:American buskers Category:American country guitarists Category:American country singer-songwriters Category:American folk guitarists Category:American folk singers Category:American guitarists Category:Appalachian culture Category:Blind bluesmen Category:Blind musicians Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Category:International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor inductees Category:Living people Category:Musicians from North Carolina Category:National Heritage Fellowship winners Category:Old-time music Category:People from Watauga County, North Carolina Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients Category:Vanguard Records artists

Name	Béla Fleck
Background	non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth name	Béla Anton Leoš Fleck
Born	July 10, 1958New York City, New York, U.S.
Origin	Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Instrument	Banjo, guitar, dobro
Genre	Jazz, jazz fusion, Bluegrass, folk, classical, World music
Occupation	Musician, songwriter, composer,
Years active	1976–present
Associated acts	Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, Trio!, Chick Corea, Strength in Numbers, New Grass Revival, Sparrow Quartet
Url	www.BelaFleck.com
Notable instruments	Deering Crossfire electric banjo with custom pickups and synthesizer pickup

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. Widely acknowledged as one of the world's most innovative and technically proficient banjo players, namely country, pop, jazz, bluegrass, classical, folk, spoken word, composition, and arranging.

In 2001, Fleck collaborated with long-time friend and playing-partner Edgar Meyer to record Perpetual Motion, an album of classical material played on the banjo along with an assortment of accompanists, including John Williams, Evelyn Glennie, Joshua Bell and Gary Hoffman. The album includes selections such as Chopin's Etude Op. 10 No. 4 in C# minor, Debussy's Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum, and Paganini's Moto Perpetuo (from which is derived the name), as well as more lyrical pieces such as the first movement of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, two of Chopin's mazurkas, and two Scarlatti keyboard sonatas. Perpetual Motion won two Grammys at the Grammy Awards of 2002 for Best Classical Crossover Album and Best Arrangement for Fleck and Meyer's arrangement of Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum. Fleck and Meyer have also composed a double concerto for banjo and bass, and performed its debut with the Nashville Symphony Orchestra.

Fleck names Chick Corea, Charlie Parker, and the aforementioned Earl Scruggs as influences.

Solo and with the Flecktones, Fleck has appeared at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Merlefest, Montreal International Jazz Festival, Toronto Jazz Festival, Newport Folk Festival, Austin City Limits Music Festival, Bonnaroo, and Jazzfest, among others.

He has also appeared as a sideman with artists ranging from Tony Rice to Dave Matthews Band to Ginger Baker and Phish. One notable appearance with the Dave Matthews Band, along with the rest of the Flecktones, resulted in the longest singular live song in DMB history, #41, at 32:03 in length.

In 2005, while the Flecktones were on hiatus, Fleck undertook several new projects: recording with African traditional musicians; cowriting a documentary film called Bring it Home about the Flecktones' first year off in 17 years and their reunion after that time; coproducing Song of the Traveling Daughter, the debut album by Abigail Washburn (a young banjo player who mixes bluegrass and Chinese music); forming the acoustic fusion supergroup Trio! with fellows Jean-Luc Ponty and Stanley Clarke, and recording an album as a member of the Sparrow Quartet (along with Abigail Washburn, Ben Sollee, and Casey Driessen).

, March 1, 2008]] In late 2006, Fleck teamed up with Chick Corea to record an album, The Enchantment, released in May 2007. Fleck and Corea toured together throughout 2007.

As a follow-up to the Fleck/Meyer double concerto mentioned above, the two were commissioned for a trio concerto, for which they teamed up with Indian tabla player Zakir Hussain. It debuted in Nashville in 2006 and was later recorded for a CD, The Melody of Rhythm. The trio subsequently toured together in 2009 and 2010.

In July 2007 at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, he appeared and jammed with Toumani Diabaté, a kora player from Mali. He is also scheduled to play the 2009 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival with Toumani Diabaté.

Fleck has also played with Malian ngoni (ancestor of the banjo) player Cheick Hamala Diabate.

In December 2007, he performed charity concerts in Germany to help promote AIDS awareness. His largest concert was held in Grosse Halle Bern on December 1, 2007.

On June 13, 2008, he performed as part of The Bluegrass Allstars, composed of bluegrass heavyweights Sam Bush, Luke Bulla, Edgar Meyer, Bryan Sutton, and Jerry Douglas at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee.

The next day Fleck performed with Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet at the same festival.

In 2009, an independent film documentary of Fleck's visit to Uganda, Tanzania, The Gambia, and Mali, was released to limited run engagements in US cities. "Throw Down Your Heart" was directed by Sascha Paladino, Fleck's half brother. It was filmed during Fleck's year off from touring with the Flecktones.

Personal life

In August 2007 at Paladino's wedding, Fleck brought Abigail Washburn as his "girlfriend", both to play in a scratch band composed of wedding party members. In May 2009, the Bluegrass Intelligencer satirized the upcoming "strategic marriage" of Washburn and Fleck, joking that the couple promise to have a "male heir" who will be the "Holy Banjo Emperor". In February 2010, The Aspen Times reported that Washburn had become Fleck's wife in the previous year. In a July 2010 interview, Washburn said she first met her husband in Nashville at a square dance—she was dancing and he was playing.

Banjos played

Nechville Meteor Electric Banjo made by Nechville Musical Products

Nechville Nextar Banjo made by Nechville Musical Products

Deering Crossfire Banjo made by the Deering Banjo Company

Deering Tenbrooks Saratoga Star made by the Deering Banjo Company

Deering John Hartford banjo made by Deering Banjo Company

Gibson TB-75 Flathead banjo with reproduction five-string neck

Rickenbacker Banjo - Looks like a 360.

Discography

Grammy awards

1995

*Best Country Instrumental Performance, Hightower by Asleep at the Wheel with Béla Fleck and Johnny Gimble

1996

*Best Pop Instrumental Performance, The Sinister Minister by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones (with Sam Bush & Paul McCandless)

1998

*Best Instrumental Composition, Almost 12 by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones

2000

*Best Contemporary Jazz Album, Outbound by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones

*Best Country Instrumental Performance, Leaving Cottondale by Alison Brown and Béla Fleck

2001

*Best Instrumental Arrangement, Doctor Gradus Ad Parnassum from Children's Corner Suite (Debussy) by Béla Fleck and Edgar Meyer

*Best Classical Crossover Album, Perpetual Motion by Béla Fleck with Edgar Meyer, Joshua Bell, and others

2006

*Best Contemporary Jazz Album, The Hidden Land by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones

2009

*Best Pop Instrumental Album, Jingle All The Way by Béla Fleck And The Flecktones

2010

*Best Pop Instrumental Performance, Throw Down Your Heart by Béla Fleck

*Best Contemporary World Music Album, Throw Down Your Heart: Tales From The Acoustic Planet, Vol. 3 by Béla Fleck

Grammy nominations

Béla Fleck has been nominated in more categories than any other musician in Grammy history.

2009

*Best Contemporary World Music Album Throw Down Your Heart

*Best Pop Instrumental Performance Throw Down Your Heart

*Best Classical Crossover Album The Melody Of Rhythm

2008

*Pop Instrumental Album Jingle All The Way

*Country Instrumental Performance Sleigh Ride (from Jingle All The Way)

2006

*Pop Instrumental Subterfuge (from The Hidden Land)

2005

*Country Instrumental Who's Your Uncle (from Best Kept Secret by Jerry Douglas)

*Contemporary Jazz Album Soulgrass by Bill Evans

2002

*Country Instrumental Performance Bear Mountain Hop (from The Country Bears Soundtrack)

2000

*Pop Instrumental Zona Mona (from Outbound)

1999

*Bluegrass Bluegrass Sessions

1998

*Pop Instrumental Big Country (from Left Of Cool)

*Country Instrumental The Ride (from Restless On the Farm by Jerry Douglas)

1996

*World Music Tabula Rasa

1995

*Country Instrumental Cheeseballs In Cowtown (from )

1994

*Spoken Word For Children The Creation by Amy Grant

1992

*Jazz Instrumental Magic Fingers (from UFO Tofu)

1991

*Jazz Album Flight of the Cosmic Hippo

*Jazz Instrumental Blu-Bop

1990

*Jazz Album Bela Fleck & The Flecktones

*Jazz Instrumental

1989

*Country Instrumental Bigfoot (from Friday Night In America by New Grass Revival

1988

*Bluegrass album Drive

1987

*Country Instrumental Metric Lips (from Hold to a Dream by New Grass Revival)

1986

*Country Instrumental Seven By Seven (from New Grass Revival by New Grass Revival)

Further reading

Gray, Michael (1998). "Béla Fleck". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 174–5.

References

External links

BelaFleck.com - Bela Fleck Official website

Flecktones.com - Flecktones Official Website

Category:1958 births Category:American bluegrass musicians Category:American buskers Category:American country banjoists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jazz banjoists Category:Latin Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:Musicians from New York City Category:New Grass Revival members