Editing Doc Watson (section)

===Early life===
Watson was born in [[Deep Gap, North Carolina]].<ref name="Larkin">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Virgin Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=[[Virgin Books]]|date=1997|edition=Concise|isbn=1-85227-745-9|pages=1235/6}}</ref>  According to Watson on his three-CD biographical recording ''[[Legacy (Doc Watson album)|Legacy]]'', he got the nickname "Doc" during a live radio broadcast when the announcer remarked that his given name Arthel was odd and he needed an easy nickname. A fan in the crowd shouted "Call him Doc!", presumably in reference to the literary character [[Sherlock Holmes]]'s companion, [[Doctor Watson]].  The name stuck.<ref name="Legacy">
{{cite video
  | people = Doc Watson
  | title = [[Legacy (Doc Watson album)|Legacy]] 
  | publisher = High Windy Audio
  | medium = CD
  |date = 2002}}</ref>

An eye infection caused Watson to lose his vision before his second birthday.<ref name="Larkin"/> He attended North Carolina's school for the blind, the [[Governor Morehead School]], in [[Raleigh, North Carolina]].<ref name="Kaufman">{{cite book| last = Kaufman| first = Steve| title = The Legacy of Doc Watson| publisher = Mel Bay Publications| year = 1999| page = 152| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Et6zwlhPwUcC | isbn = 978-0-7866-3393-7}}</ref>

In a 1989 radio interview with [[Terry Gross]] on the ''[[Fresh Air]]'' show on [[National Public Radio]], Watson spoke about how he got his first guitar. His father told him if he and his brother David chopped down all the small dead [[chestnut tree]]s along the edge of their field, they could sell the wood to a [[tannery]].  Watson bought a Sears Silvertone from [[Sears Roebuck]] with his earnings,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://equipboard.com/pros/doc-watson/sears-silvertone-1448l-model-57|work=equipboard.com|title=The Guitar of Doc Watson}}</ref> while his brother bought a new suit.<ref name="firstguitar">
{{cite web
| title =Doc Watson
| date =September 3, 2010
| publisher =Npr.org
| url =https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=129579152
| access-date =2010-09-03 }}</ref> Later in the same interview, Watson mentioned that his first high-quality guitar was a [[C. F. Martin & Company|Martin]] D-18.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fretbase.com/blog/2010/9/doc-watsons-first-martin-guitar/ |title=Fretbase, Doc Watson's first Martin Guitar |publisher=Fretbase.com |date=September 9, 2010 |access-date=2012-05-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307230958/http://www.fretbase.com/blog/2010/9/doc-watsons-first-martin-guitar/ |archive-date=March 7, 2012 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

Watson's earliest influences were country roots musicians and groups such as the [[Carter Family]] and [[Jimmie Rodgers (country singer)|Jimmie Rodgers]]. The first song he learned to play on the guitar was "When Roses Bloom in Dixieland", first recorded by the [[Carter Family]] in 1930. Watson said in an interview with ''[[American Songwriter]]'' that "[[Jimmie Rodgers]] was the first man that I started to claim as my favorite."<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.americansongwriter.com/2012/05/r-i-p-doc-watson-read-our-2012-interview/|title=R.I.P. Doc Watson; Read Our 2012 Interview|magazine=[[American Songwriter]]|access-date=May 30, 2012}}</ref>  Watson proved to be a natural musical talent and within months was performing on local street corners playing songs from the [[Delmore Brothers]], [[Louvin Brothers]], and [[Bill Monroe|Monroe Brothers]] alongside his brother Linny. By the time Watson reached adulthood, he had become a proficient acoustic and electric guitar player.<ref name="misterguitar">{{cite web|url=http://www.misterguitar.com/bios/watsonbio.html|title=Doc Watson|publisher=Chet Atkins: Mister Guitar – Books & Bios|work=misterguitar.com/bios|access-date=2008-11-28}}</ref>