Name: A Doc Watson Evening
Start: 2025-02-13T18:00:00-05:00
Location: The Wake Forest Listening Room

Join David Menconi for a conversation with Eddie Huffman, author of the new biography, Doc Watson - A Life in Music, followed by a special performance by Joseph Terrell of Mipso. Joseph will play Doc tunes and some of his own!
About the book:
The story of a small-town man who changed music forever
Arthel “Doc” Watson (1923–2012) is arguably one of the most influential musicians Appalachia has ever produced. A musician’s musician, Doc grew up on a subsistence farm in the North Carolina mountains during the Depression, soaking up traditional music and learning to play guitar even though he was blind.
Rising to fame in the 1960s as part of the burgeoning folk revival scene, Doc became the face of traditional music for many listeners, racking up multiple Grammys and releasing dozens of albums over the course of his long career.
Eddie Huffman tells the story of Doc’s life and legacy, drawing on extensive interviews and hundreds of hours of archival research. In making the most comprehensive biography of Watson ever, Huffman gives us an affecting and informative portrait of the man they called Doc.
Full of fascinating stories—from Doc’s first banjo made from his grandmother’s cat to the founding of MerleFest—this promises to be the definitive biography of the man and how he came to be synonymous with roots music in America and shows how his influence is still felt in music today.
About the author:
Eddie Huffman is a writer, reporter, and author of John Prine: In Spite of Himself. He lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.
About Joseph Terrell:
Joseph Terrell has spent 10 years singing, writing songs, and playing guitar with Americana quartet Mipso. His debut solo album "Good For Nothing Howl" (Sleepy Cat Records) features talking roses, screaming oak trees, and the fortune-telling powers of persimmons. The result is a kaleidoscope of folk tradition and sonic playfulness with images of Terrell’s native North Carolina woods sparkling in the foreground, calling you to pay attention.