MusicFest in Sugar Grove July 13 - 14 2012:

A Tribute to Doc

Richard Watson, Joel Landsberg, Doc Watson at the MusicFest 'n Sugar Grove 2010

All photos and illustrations by Pat Johns ©2012 - present
All Rights Reserved
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Doc Watson was generous with his time and played in many venues but there was nothing like The MusicFest 'n Sugar Grove. This small music festival has developed a personalilty of its own over its 15 year life, as a loyal audience returns each year to this amazingly intimate setting to see up close Doc Watson and other bluegrass groups who are already world-famous or will be soon along with the best of local musical groups, honored to share the stage.

The Kruger Brothers, so closely connected to Doc Watson, were the hosts in years when Doc could not attend and were always on stage when he did. They joined Doc's friend, Charles Welch, on Saturday night for a personal tribute to Doc.

Because of the special tribute to Doc Watson, the grammy-award winning Carolina Chocolate Drops had to wait until late in the night this year to perform but the crowd waited for them and enjoyed every minute of their performance. Their ever-evolving group this year included cello player Leyla McCalla.

Event organizers scurried to adapt the event's schedule after Watson's recent death and a new group was added to the line-up, the Carter Brothers. Tim and Danny Carter are from North Carolina and now live in the Nashville area. They are related to the famous Carter family but have a sound of their own, developed through over 25 years of playing. They were a great hit with the Sugar Grove audience and a good fit with the festival.

The Snyder Family, as always, drew a crowd of fans anxious to see how young Zeb and Samantha Snyder were progressing with the development of their considerable musical talents and, as always, the crowd was left awed by these 2 young people.

Rounding out the festival were local and regional favorites, Amantha Mill, The Major 7's, The Dollar Brothers Band, Made of Suede, Steve & Ruth Smith, Upright & Breathin', Elkville String Band, and Carolina Crossing.