American guitarist and folk musician Doc Watson, 89, passed away on May 29, 2012, at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

According to USA Today, Agent Mitch Greenhill, of Folklore Productions, said Watson was responding and recovering last week from undergoing colon surgery he had on Thursday. It was said Watson remained in critical condition on Friday. Nancy, Watson’s daughter, told the Associated Press, Watson fell on Monday.

The legendary guitarist and Grammy winning musician’s death was confirmed Tuesday night.

The folk musician was born Arthel Watson near Deep Gap, North Carolina on March 3, 1923. He lost his vision before he was 1 year old but began playing instruments from a young age, starting with a harmonica and a banjo given to him by his father. When he picked up a guitar he began teaching himself and started playing for tips.

Watson married Rosa Lee Carlton in 1947, they had two children, Merle and Nancy. In 1953, he started playing with country dance band, Jack Williams and the Country Gentlemen. A few years later he sat with Tom Ashley for a recording session, a year later he performed with Ashley and other musicians at a concert in Greenwich Village which was the start of his career.

When Watson’s music career took off in 1963 when he released his solo debut, Doc Watson and Family. In 1964, he began touring with his 15-year-old son Merle Watson.

The father son duo played together for the next 20 years until Merle’s death after a farming accident in 1985. Over the years, Watson won eight Grammys, seven of them for different albums and the eighth Grammy was a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. While he earned many musical awards and honors through out his career, none of his 60+ albums ever went gold according to the Chicago Tribune.

“Doc was a legendary performer who blended his traditional Appalachian musical roots with bluegrass, country, gospel and blues to create a unique style and an expansive repertoire,” his management company, Folklore Productions, said. ”He was a powerful singer and a tremendously influential picker who virtually invented the art of playing mountain fiddle tunes on the flattop guitar.”

Watson made music that influenced many artists and guitarists. Known for his fingerpicking and flat-pick guitar styles, he pioneered a new bluegrass style playing fiddle style tunes on guitar at a quick pace. He changed folk music forever.

“Overall, Doc will be remembered as one of America’s greatest folk musicians. I would say he’s one of America’s greatest musicians,” said David Holt, a longtime friend and collaborator.

Image Courtesy of   prawnpie

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Nashville, U.S.A. – Documentary Channel (DOC) is proud to announce the US television premiere of “Warrior Champions“ on June 10, 2012. An emotional and inspiring story of sacrifice and determination, “Warrior Champions“ follows a group of wounded American soldiers as they fight to turn their nightmares of war into Olympic dreams.

As little as a year after losing limbs and suffering paralysis after fighting for their country in Iraq, four brave men and women set out to do what many considered impossible – to compete in the Paralympic Games. Through failure, pain and triumph, “Warrior Champions“ follows these soldier athletes for a full year as they compete for their positions on the US Paralympic team. Though at times heart wrenching, the film is an uplifting testament to the human spirit that challenges every notion of what it means to be disabled.

Other special programming highlights for June include:

“This Way of Life“ an intimate portrait of a Maori family and their relationship with nature, adversity, their 50 wild horses and society at large.  Set against the stunning beauty of New Zealand’s rugged Ruahine Mountains, two parents struggle to instill in their six children the values of independence, courage and happiness.  Cultivating the magic in the everyday while turning hardship into a meaningful and satisfying life, the family has little in the way of material possession but enjoys a physicality most people today can only dream about.

“His & Hers”, award-winning director Ken Wardrop’s intimate gender and cultural snapshot exploring a woman’s relationships with the men in her life – father, boyfriend, husband, son – through the voices of 70 women.  From kitchens, living rooms and hallways across the Irish midlands, ”His & Hers” tells a 90-year-old love story through little girl to old woman, each character portrait woven with the next to create one perfectly crafted cinematic quilt to celebrate both men and the women who love them.  US Television Premiere

“Murder by Proxy: How America Went Postal“ an unprecedented exploration of the growing epidemic of spree killings in America.  The first documentary film to look at the so called “going postal” phenomenon through the lens of the mounting socio-economic changes that have swept over this country, “Murder by Proxy: How America Went Postal” examines the basic question of what brings a seemingly normal person to the point of committing mass murder, studying the complex interplay of personal and societal factors leading to incidents of workplace massacres, starting with the earliest deadly post office killings in 1986.

Documentary Channel (DOC) is the USA’s first 24-hour television network exclusively devoted to documentary films and the independent documentary filmmaker, providing viewers with round-the-clock opportunities to see fascinating, eclectic and award-winning documentary films of all lengths and genres.

Image Courtesy of  CHEN WS / Shutterstock.com

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This March, Documentary Channel (DOC) honors female filmmakers with “Her Take.” A remarkable blend of unforgettable stories told by some of the most exceptional women in documentary film, every night of “Her Take” promises to enlighten, inform and inspire.

The special line-up begins with the US television premiere of filmmaker Gulcin Gilbert’s ”Pink Skies” (March 3, 8 pm ET/PT), an inspiring film that follows a group of courageous women, many of whom are cancer patients and survivors, as they attempt the World Record All-Women’s Skydiving Formation to raise money for breast cancer.

Other US television premieres in the line-up include ”The Price of Sex” (March 10, 8 p.m. ET/PT) an eye-opening investigation into the netherworld of sex trafficking and abuse from director Mimi Chakarova; filmmaker Joan Braderman’s ”The Heretics” (March 17, 8 p.m. ET/PT), the exhilarating inside story of the New York feminist art collective that produced “Heresies: A Feminist Publication on Art and Politics;”

“Atomic Mom” (March 24, 8 p.m. ET/PT), director M.T. Silvia’s unique exploration of two women, both mothers, and their very different experiences of the atom bomb; and director Gillian Armstrong’s ”Love, Lust & Lies” ( March 31, 8 p.m. ET/PT), the fifth of Armstrong’s unprecedented series about the lives, hopes and dreams of three lively, working-class girls since they were fourteen-years-old in 1976.

The complete “Her Take” schedule is as follows (all times ET/PT):

“HER TAKE” SCHEDULE

• “Pink Skies” – Saturday, March 3 (8 p.m.)
• “Gathering Remnants”- Saturday, March 3 (10 p.m.)
• “The Price of Sex” – Saturday, March 10 (8 p.m.)
• “Holy-Water Gate: Abuse Cover Up in the Catholic Church” – Saturday, March 10 (9:30 p.m.)
• “The Heretics” – Saturday, March 17 (8 p.m.)
• “Polar Opposites”– Saturday, March 17 (10 p.m.)
• “Atomic Mom” – Saturday, March 24 (8 p.m.)
• “All Over But To Cry” – Saturday, March 24 (10 p.m.)
• “Love, Lust & Lies” – Saturday, March 31 (8 p.m.)
• “Ferry Tales” – Saturday, March 31 (10 p.m.)

Documentary Channel is primarily available through satellite television services DISH Network (Channel 197) and DIRECTV (Channel 267). 

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