Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. Watson won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Watson\'s fingerstyle guitar and flatpicking skills, as well as his knowledge of traditional American music, were highly regarded. He performed with his son, guitarist Merle Watson, for over 15 years until Merle\'s death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm.\n', '

Watson was born in Deep Gap, North Carolina. According to Watson on his three-CD biographical recording Legacy, he got the nickname "Doc" during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name Arthel was odd and he needed an easy nickname. A fan in the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!" presumably in reference to the literary character Sherlock Holmes\'s sidekick Doctor Watson. The name stuck.\n', '

An eye infection caused Doc Watson to lose his vision before his first birthday. He attended North Carolina\'s school for the visually impaired, the Governor Morehead School, in Raleigh, North Carolina.\n', '

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