Eddy Merle Watson was born February 8, 1949 in Deep Gap, NC.
(Named after Eddy Arnold and Merle Travis)
Doc & Merle Watson Photography Credit: Jim Morton
Merle Watson was born in following a beautiful, spring-like day, which is unusual for February in the northwest mountains of North Carolina. Mother Nature smiled warmly on his birth as the rest of the typically harsh mountain winter was unseasonably mild. Merle was dark-haired like his seventeen-year-old mother, Rosa Lee, and fair-skinned like his father, Arthel "Doc" Watson. When the midwife carried him out to the front room to his blind father's waiting arms, his chubby little legs were churning furiously as if he had already embarked on a musical career which would eventually carry him far and wide. That night seemed to set the stage for the rest of his regrettably short life, for during his 21 year musical ministry, he traveled more than four million miles by automobile in addition to the many thousands of miles he flew. It could truly be said that Merle Watson was born traveling! Ultimately, Merle and his legendary father, Doc Watson, would tour the U.S. many times over, performing in every state except two. They would also perform in Africa, Japan, Canada, Mexico, and most of the European countries, sharing their musical talents and heritage from the stages of some of the most celebrated theatres in the world's largest cities to the dusty, remote villages of the South African bush.
In the early dark hours of October 23, 1985, just days before 'Frets Magazine' named him the best finger-picking guitarist of the year in folk, blues, or country music, Eddy Merle Watson rolled his farm tractor on a steep hillside near his home, ending the life of one of the world's great musicians in a tragedy worthy of the blues ballads he loved. Some people knew Merle Watson well, some were acquainted with him as a consequence of brief interactions of one sort or another, some had only the privilege of seeing him perform his musical wizardry on stage or listening to one or more of his many recordings, but everyone loved and respected him. Merle touched lives world wide as is evidenced by over 700 cards, letters, and other written condolences received by his family, Doc, Rosa Lee, and Nancy, after Merle's fatally tragic accident. These expressions of sympathy were in addition to the hundreds of phone calls and personal visits to the Watson's Deep Gap, North Carolina home. This tremendous outpouring of support was not engendered by a love of Merle's music alone, but also by the way his charisma and kindness transcended his fundamental shyness and silence on stage to reveal themselves in his exquisite fingerwork and gentle smile.
As a testament to Merle's popularity and musical accomplishments, one of the world's most renowned gatherings of acoustic musicians began two years after Merle's death in the fall of 1987. Wilkes Community College's Dean of Development, Frederick W. "B" Townes, Bill Young, Doc Watson's close friend and "pickin buddy", and Ala Sue Wyke visited the legendary guitarist and Grammy award winner and his family at their Deep Gap, NC home. At this historic meeting, Townes and Young broached with Doc the idea of doing a benefit concert at the College to raise funds for a memorial garden in honor of Merle. This annual event, now known as MerleFest*, attracts thousands of fans, and is an enduring tribute to the imposing presence of Eddy Merle Watson, both before and after his untimely death.
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