Last Friday’s show at the Blue Ridge Music Center was billed as an unforgettable night of hot picking, down home stories and the best of American music—Appalachian Guitar Masters. As a prelude to the 17th annual Wayne C. Henderson Festival & Guitar Competition, Wayne Henderson & Friends heated things up on the Music Center stage in a big way before turning it over to living legend, Doc Watson & multi-instrumentalist David Holt.
Henderson is involved in passing the art to the next generation; he had several kids onstage playing with him during part of his performance. Some of the proceeds from the annual Festival are placed into a scholarship fund to aid local young musicians in continuing their educations.
At 88, Doc Watson has reached iconic status among guitar players and listeners alike. He has a broad appeal due to his diverse blend of blues, old-time songs, and fiery bluegrass picking combined with warm, genuine tales of his life growing up in Deep Gap, North Carolina. Doc has a large following of fans everywhere he goes.
Joining Doc was four-time Grammy Award winner David Holt – a musician, storyteller, historian, television host and entertainer, dedicated to performing and preserving traditional American music and stories. Holt plays ten acoustic instruments and has released numerous award winning recordings of traditional mountain music and southern folktales.
The Blue Ridge Music Center is located at milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway near the Virginia-North Carolina state line, ten miles south of Galax. Visit www.blueridgemusiccenter.org
