Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His fingerpicking and flatpicking skills, as well as his knowledge of traditional American music, were highly regarded. Blind from a young age, he performed publicly both in a dance band and solo, as well as for over 15 years with his son, guitarist Merle Watson, until Merle's death in 1985 in an accident on the family farm.
The Seldom Scene is an American bluegrass band that formed in 1971 in Bethesda, Maryland. The band's original line-up comprised John Starling on lead vocals and guitar, Mike Auldridge on Dobro and baritone vocals, Ben Eldridge on banjo, Tom Gray on double bass, and John Duffey on mandolin; the latter three also provided backing vocals. Together they released their debut studio album, Act I, in 1972, followed by both Act II and Act III in 1973.
Charles Samuel Bush is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a second time in 2023 as a solo artist.
Mike Auldridge was an American Dobro player and a founding member of the bluegrass group The Seldom Scene. The New York Times described Auldridge as "one of the most distinctive dobro players in the history of country and bluegrass music while widening its popularity among urban audiences". He also worked as a graphic artist.
Flying Fish Records was a record label founded in Chicago in 1974 that specialized in folk, blues, and country music. In the 1990s the label was sold to Rounder Records.
Tom Gray is a bluegrass musician widely considered one of the best bass players in the genre. He is probably best known for his bass playing with The Country Gentlemen and The Seldom Scene. In 1996, as a member of The Country Gentlemen, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Honor.
Sugar Hill Records is an American bluegrass and Americana record label.
James Bryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicking acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and electric guitar. He also sings and writes songs.
Black Mountain Rag is the title of a recording by American folk music and country blues artists Doc Watson and Merle Watson, released in 2006. It contains songs taken from albums that Doc and Merle recorded on the Flying Fish label in the 1980s.
Americana Master Series: Best of the Sugar Hill Years is the title of a recording by American folk music and country blues artist Doc Watson, released in 2008.
15th Anniversary Celebration is a live album by the progressive bluegrass Maryland band The Seldom Scene. This was the last album for bassist Tom Gray, who left to pursue his own music and was replaced by T. Michael Coleman.
A Change Of Scenery is an album by the Maryland-based progressive bluegrass band The Seldom Scene. It is the first album with vocalist/guitarist Lou Reid and bassist T. Michael Coleman.
Chesapeake was an American bluegrass band formed in 1994 in Bethesda, Maryland as a direct offshoot from The Seldom Scene.
John Lewis Starling was an American musician. He is an International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductee bluegrass musician and composer, founding member of the bluegrass group The Seldom Scene, an otolaryngological physician for communities in Alabama, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, and an amateur architect designing the field house at Virginia Military Institute, the house his parents retired in and the floor plans for the building he practiced medicine in.
Louis Reid Pyrtle is an American bluegrass singer, band leader, and multi-instrumentalist.
Mike Auldridge was an American resonator guitar (Dobro) player. In addition to his solo albums and recordings with the Seldom Scene, he has been featured as a performer and collaborator on numerous albums by other artists.
James Arnott “Jimmy” Gaudreau is a singer and mandolinist playing traditional and progressive bluegrass music. He is best known for his solo albums, and his work with The Country Gentlemen, Tony Rice, and J. D. Crowe.
Lawrence Parker "Moondi" Klein is an American singer and guitarist. He is known for his work with Chesapeake, The Seldom Scene, and Jimmy Gaudreau.
Ron Stewart is an American multi-instrumentalist in the bluegrass tradition. He plays fiddle, guitar, banjo, and mandolin, and has won the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) award for Fiddle Player of the Year in 2000 and Banjo Player of the Year in 2011.
Jack Lawrence is an American bluegrass guitarist. He was Doc Watson's performing partner since the early 1980s. As major influences, Lawrence cites Doc Watson, Clarence White, and Django Reinhardt.
