Music Fest in Sugar Grove, N.C. Honors Legend Doc Watson

LOIS CAROL WHEATLEY | SPECIAL TO THE HERALD COURIER
Published: July 10, 2008

SUGAR GROVE, N.C.—A huge tent sprawls across the lawn, covering 1,000 seats and housing the big stage.
Craft and food vendors, as well as lawn chairs and blankets, flank the concert crowd on all sides.
A solar stage hosts a separate session and, as a centerpiece, the Old Cove Creek School presides over the festival, a rock building that was one of the last WPA projects built during the 1940s.
The annual Music Fest ‘n Sugar Grove concert happens July 11-12 at the school in Sugar Grove, N.C. And never mind that thing about the old school being the centerpiece. Doc Watson is the real centerpiece.
Arthel (Doc) Lane Watson was born just up the road, in 1923, in Deep Gap, N.C. His signature mountain ballads are derived from the oral tradition he grew up with in these mountains.
Blind since infancy, Doc is renowned in the nation and throughout the world for his legendary flatpicking and fingerpicking. His meteoric rise to stardom stemmed from the years he was touring with his son, Merle, a gig that started in 1964 and ended with Merle’s tragic death in a tractor accident in 1985.
His grandson, Richard Watson, now sits in on Doc’s sessions, and Doc still lives in the old neighborhood. They will take the main stage Saturday night to cap off a full two days of music and festivities.
The Sugar Grove concert began in 1998 as an annual fundraiser for Cove Creek Preservation & Development (CCP&D), a nonprofit dedicated to saving the old high school.
One of the several tenants that now occupy the building is the Doc Watson Museum, crammed full of memorabilia – photos, instruments, awards and more.
Across the hall is the Red Raider Room, formerly the cafeteria, and during the concert, both rooms will be turned into venues for workshops, presentations and jam sessions.
Proceeds from the concert benefit not only CCP&D, but also the Doc and Rosa Lee Watson Scholarship Fund, annually awarded to an Appalachian State University student majoring in sustainable development.
Tickets are $20 Friday and $25 Saturday. More information is online at http://www.musicfestnsugargrove.org and at http://www.covecreek.net, or call (828) 297-2200.
Traveling southbound on Highway 421 toward Boone, go right on Highway 321 and right again on Old 421. The school is on the left at 207 Dale Adams Road, Sugar Grove, N.C. Parking is free and a shuttle service will be available.

Band schedule
Friday, July 11 – Main Stage
3 p.m.: He Said . . . She Said
3:50 p.m.: Lost Faculties
4:40 p.m.: Back Porch Bluegrass
5:30 p.m.: Lost Ridge Band
6:20 p.m.: Kruger Brothers
7:30 p.m.: Carolina Chocolate Drops
9 p.m.: Cadillac Sky
10:15 p.m.: MusicFest Jam

Solar Stage
3-11 p.m.: Open Jam

Saturday, July 12 – Main Stage
9 a.m.: Naomi & The Home Folks
9:50 a.m.: Maura Shawn Scanlin
10:20 a.m.: Sweet Briar Jam
11:10 a.m.: Back Porch Bluegrass
11:50 a.m.: Andy Owens Band
12:40 p.m.: Southern Accent
1:30 p.m.: Forget-Me-Nots
2:20 p.m.: Amantha Mill
3:10 p.m.: Lost Ridge Band
4 p.m.: The Cockman Family
4:50 p.m.: Kentucky School of Bluegrass Band
5:40 p.m.: Lisa Baldwin & Dave Haney
6:30 p.m.: Carolina Chocolate Drops
7:50 p.m.: Kruger Brothers
9:10 p.m.: Doc Watson
10:20 p.m.: MusicFest Jam

Solar Stage
10:15 a.m.: Maura Shawn Scanlin
11:10 a.m.: Lisa Baldwin & Dave Haney
12:10 p.m.: Rachel Pinson & Maple Creek
1 p.m.: He Said . . . She Said
2 p.m.: Lost Faculties
2:50 p.m.: Jeff & Benares
3:40 p.m.: Steve and Ruth Smith
4:30 p.m.: Upright & Breathin’
5:20 p.m.: Southern Exposure

Workshop Schedule – Saturday, July 12
Red Raider Room (in Cove Creek School)
Noon p.m.: Workshop by the Kruger Brothers
1:40 p.m.: Mandolin Workshop with Andy Owens
3 p.m.: Songwriters Showcase
Doc Watson Museum (in Cove Creek School)
1 p.m.: A History of Mountain Music by Steve & Ruth Smith
2 p.m.: Open Jam