Doc Watson and Jeff Little Headline Song of the Mountains Marion, VA- Doc Watson will headline the September 4th Song of the Mountains concert at the Lincoln Theatre in Marion, Virginia. Doc will be accompanied on stage with his long time friend and piano player phenomenon Jeff Little. Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (born March 3, 1923) is a legendary 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. Doc Watson was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina where he continues to live today. The first song Doc ever learned to play was "When Roses Bloom in Dixieland". His father was so proud that he took Doc to the store and bought him his first guitar, a $12 Stella. Doc proved to be a natural and within months he was performing on local street corners playing Delmore, Louvin and Monroe Brothers' duets alongside his brother Linny. By the time he reached his adult years Doc had become a prolific acoustic and electric guitar player. In 1960 as the American folk music revival grew, Doc took the advice of folk musicologist Ralph Rinzler and began playing acoustic guitar and banjo exclusively.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. In 1986 he received the North Carolina Award and in 1994 he received a North Carolina Folk Heritage Award. 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. He is host to the annual MerleFest music festival held every April at Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. In recent years, Watson has scaled back his touring schedule.

Also on Song of the Mountains September 4th will be bluegrass artists Appalachian Trail, Avery County and the Songcatchers from Mountain State University of Beckley, West Virginia.