Arthel “Doc” Watson died yesterday, Tuesday, May 29, 2012, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He was 89 years old.

Doc Watson played acoustic guitar in both the flat-picking and fingerpicking style. Whether you called it Folk or Country or Bluegrass, the music he played and sang was, in my mind, simply the purest Music anyone ever made.

Doc Watson’s Music sparkled. It cascaded from his instrument like a sun-drenched stream of crystal-clear mountain water. Thanks to his dazzling technique and the humble grace that he brought to his performances, the notes of the old-time fiddle tunes he adapted and mastered bubbled, swirled and tumbled off the strings of his guitar like strands of the finest silver and gold.

See and hear for yourself.

That was flat-picking. This next one is played in the fingerpicking style.

There you go.

Doc Watson – March 2, 1923-May 29, 2012.

Long may his music live.