NPR - Fresh Air #- Doc Watson interview

[levin4now]

The other night I went to town with my family and just before we had to go into a store that I really didn't want to have to, Fresh Air came on with Doc Watson. #I sat in the van for 1/2 hour and enjoyed it. #Very nice interview with Doc. #I think it can be heard here (along with the individual songs he played) at this link: Doc Watson on "Fresh Air" #Make sure you listen to "Talking to Casey" #- about 17:45 minutes into the interview....

At one point Terry Gross asks him about his first guitars, and if he ever got caught up in having the absolute best, and custom made guitars, as is the obsession with so many musicians today. #(sound familiar?) #And Doc answered: #"I was fairly contented with what I had never had my hands on a [i]good[/] guitar." #He then goes on to describe how he came into his first good guitar - a Martin D-18 that someone got for him for cost ($90) and he paid it off that summer by picking at the local fruit stand. #

Would we not respect Doc if he still played his old Sears and Roebuck, and not his current model? #Would we not be enamored with our mandolin heroes if they played Pac Rims (or Rigels for that matter #) instead of Loars? # I think in any situation, music is about music, but we as humans have a desire for having the best of earthly possessions. #It's juyst plain envy #and materialism (and I'm guilty of it too every day).

[Coy Wylie]

Great interview. Thanks for the link!

[Richard Polf]

Amen, Alan. Yes! It's about the music and the player, not the instrument they play. Somebody once said that, "Genius will find a way". Doc Watson or Bill Monroe playing "pac rim" instruments would still like the virtuoso/geniuses they are.

[sunburst]

...we as humans have a desire for having the best of earthly possessions. It's juyst plain envy and materialism (and I'm guilty of it too every day).

While I agree that this may be true, I don't think it's "just plain".
You don't have to spend top dollar, but a better quality instrument will make a player sound better.

[Wadefox]

I read somewhere that Doc Watson's first instrument was a banjo his father made for him. He tried to use groundhogs for the skin, but it didn't work, so he had to resort to cat skin.

Can't remember where I read that, and don't know if it's true, but I always liked that story anyway.

[MandoCowboy]

Don't forget John Moore (Thile's instructor) plays a Kentucky mando and he makes that thing sing.

[Michael H Geimer]

While I do agree that it is the player that counts not the axe. A good instrument is a good instrument and good players will recognize a good axe when they pick it up ... and they might even work a whole summer to pay one off ... if it's the right one.

[levin4now]

Oh don't worry - I'd like a 'better' mando someday too, w/o being over the top even. But my days for that are much further down the road. Maybe when i'm doc's age, I'll be looking into something!

Sunburst, i agree with you too. (also...the word "envy" wasn't a good catch-all for everyone's situation that's for sure.)

Doc seems like such a sincere and simple person. I appreciate what he "brings to the table". And I love his picking. He's my first experience hearing any bluegrass whatsoever, and Beaumont Rag was the fiddle tune I ever fell in love with. I can't play it but I love it!