H.B. 480
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA
Mar 23, 2023
SESSION 2023 HOUSE PRINCIPAL CLERK
H D
HOUSE BILL DRH10225-LG-105
Short Title: Adopt Doc Watson Day. (Public)
Sponsors: Representative Pickett.
Referred to:
1 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
2 AN ACT ADOPTING THE THIRD DAY OF MARCH OF EACH YEAR AS DOC WATSON
3 DAY IN HONOR OF ARTHEL LANE "DOC" WATSON.
4 Whereas, Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson was born on March 3, 1923, in Stony Fork near
5 Deep Gap, in Watauga County, North Carolina, and died on May 29, 2012, in Winston-Salem,
6 North Carolina; and
7 Whereas, Doc Watson was a guitarist, banjoist, singer, and songwriter of bluegrass,
8 country, folk, roots, and gospel music, renowned for his fingerpicking and flatpicking skills; and
9 Whereas, Doc Watson, blind from his second birthday, attended the Governor
10 Morehead School in Raleigh, North Carolina, and received an honorary Doctor of Music degree
11 from Berklee College of Music in 2010; and
12 Whereas, Doc Watson's musical career spanned over half a century and is most
13 positively identified with his promoting and preserving of Appalachian and old-time folk music
14 passed down through an oral tradition in the North Carolina mountains; and
15 Whereas, Doc Watson's talent and technical proficiency led to collaborations and
16 performances with numerous legendary recording artists, including Bill Monroe, Lester Flatt,
17 Earl Scruggs, Tony Rice, Chet Atkins, Del McCoury, and David Grisman, among others; and
18 Whereas, Doc Watson, in 1988, founded the music festival MerleFest, annually held
19 on the campus of Wilkes Community College in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, in memory of his
20 late son and performing partner, Eddy Merle Watson, and as a fundraiser for Wilkes Community
21 College; and
22 Whereas, Doc Watson won seven Grammy Awards; a Grammy Lifetime
23 Achievement Award in 2004; the National Medal of Arts, presented by President Bill Clinton in
24 1997; and a National Heritage Fellowship in 1998; and
25 Whereas, Doc Watson received the North Carolina Award in 1986 for Fine Arts; a
26 North Carolina Folk Heritage Award in 1986; the Order of the Long Leaf Pine in 1999; and was
27 inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2000 and the North Carolina
28 Music Hall of Fame in 2010; and
29 Whereas, in honor of Doc Watson's centennial birthday and in recognition of his
30 promotion and preservation of North Carolina's musical heritage, it is fitting to designate March
31 3rd of each year as Doc Watson Day in North Carolina; Now, therefore,
32 The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
33 SECTION 1. Chapter 103 of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new
34 section to read:
35 "§ 103-17. Doc Watson Day.
36 The third day of March of each year is designated as Doc Watson Day in North Carolina."
*DRH10225-LG-105*
 General Assembly Of North Carolina Session 2023
1 SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law.
Page 2 DRH10225-LG-105