Raleigh, N.C. — Doc Watson, the blind Grammy-award winning folk musician whose mountain-rooted sound was embraced by generations and whose lightning-fast style of flatpicking influenced guitarists around the world, died Tuesday at a North Carolina hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman and his manager. He was 89.
Watson died at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where he was hospitalized recently after falling at his home in Deep Gap, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He underwent abdominal surgery while in the hospital and had been in critical condition for several days.
Arthel "Doc" Watson's mastery of flatpicking helped make the case for the guitar as a lead instrument in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was often considered a backup for the mandolin, fiddle or banjo. His fast playing could intimidate other musicians, even his own grandson, who performed with him.
Richard Watson said in a 2000 interview with The Associated...
Watson died at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, where he was hospitalized recently after falling at his home in Deep Gap, in the Blue Ridge Mountains. He underwent abdominal surgery while in the hospital and had been in critical condition for several days.
Arthel "Doc" Watson's mastery of flatpicking helped make the case for the guitar as a lead instrument in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was often considered a backup for the mandolin, fiddle or banjo. His fast playing could intimidate other musicians, even his own grandson, who performed with him.
Richard Watson said in a 2000 interview with The Associated...
- 5/30/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Getty Images Musician Earl Scruggs performs onstage during day one of California’s Stagecoach Country Music Festival held at the Empire Polo Club on April 25, 2009 in Indio, California.
Earl Scruggs, the most significant banjo player in American music history, died of natural causes yesterday in a Nashville hospital. He was 88 years old.
Born in Shelby, North Carolina, Scruggs enjoyed artistic and commercial success with his distinctive three-finger picking style on the five-string banjo, which permitted him to play lightning quick...
Earl Scruggs, the most significant banjo player in American music history, died of natural causes yesterday in a Nashville hospital. He was 88 years old.
Born in Shelby, North Carolina, Scruggs enjoyed artistic and commercial success with his distinctive three-finger picking style on the five-string banjo, which permitted him to play lightning quick...
- 3/29/2012
- by Jim Fusilli
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Bluegrass and banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs has passed away at the age of 88, says his son Gary. Scruggs died of natural causes Wednesday morning (March 28) at a Nashville, Tenn. hospital.
Scruggs is credited with bringing the banjo from a rhythm section instrument to a lead instrument by his three-finger approach to picking, rather than the clawhammer style. His way of playing became known as the "Scruggs picking style" that helped popularize the banjo across many different kinds of music.
He made his debut with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys in the 1940s at the Grand Ole Opry and later teamed with Lester Flatt. They were best known for "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" from "The Beverly Hillbillies."
Scruggs and Flatt were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985, but he hadn't stopped playing in recent years. Just 10 years ago he released "Earl Scruggs and Friends,...
Scruggs is credited with bringing the banjo from a rhythm section instrument to a lead instrument by his three-finger approach to picking, rather than the clawhammer style. His way of playing became known as the "Scruggs picking style" that helped popularize the banjo across many different kinds of music.
He made his debut with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys in the 1940s at the Grand Ole Opry and later teamed with Lester Flatt. They were best known for "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" from "The Beverly Hillbillies."
Scruggs and Flatt were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1985, but he hadn't stopped playing in recent years. Just 10 years ago he released "Earl Scruggs and Friends,...
- 3/29/2012
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Nashville, Tenn. -- It may be impossible to overstate the importance of bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs to American music. A pioneering banjo player who helped create modern country music, his sound is instantly recognizable and as intrinsically wrapped in the tapestry of the genre as Johnny Cash's baritone or Hank Williams' heartbreak.
Scruggs died Wednesday morning at age 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.
"It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound...
Scruggs died Wednesday morning at age 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.
"It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound...
- 3/29/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Nashville, Tenn. — It is impossible to overstate the importance of Earl Scruggs to American music. A pioneering banjo player who helped create modern country music, his sound is instantly recognizable and as intrinsically wrapped in the tapestry of the genre as Johnny Cash's baritone or Hank Williams' heartbreak.
Scruggs passed away Wednesday morning at 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.
"It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound has probably always been...
Scruggs passed away Wednesday morning at 88 of natural causes. The legacy he helped build with bandleader Bill Monroe, guitarist Lester Flatt and the rest of the Blue Grass Boys was evident all around Nashville, where he died in an area hospital. His string-bending, mind-blowing way of picking helped transform a regional sound into a national passion.
"It's not just bluegrass, it's American music," bluegrass fan turned country star Dierks Bentley said. "There's 17- or 18-year-old kids turning on today's country music and hearing that banjo and they have no idea where that came from. That sound has probably always been...
- 3/29/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Nashville, Tenn. (AP) — Bluegrass legend and banjo pioneer Earl Scruggs, who helped profoundly change country music with Bill Monroe in the 1940s and later with guitarist Lester Flatt, has died. He was 88. Scruggs' son Gary said his father died of natural causes Wednesday morning at a Nashville, Tenn., hospital. Earl Scruggs was an innovator who pioneered the modern banjo sound. His use of three fingers rather than the clawhammer style elevated the banjo from a part of the rhythm section — or a comedian's prop — to a lead instrument. His string-bending and lead runs became known worldwide as...
- 3/29/2012
- by Chris Talbott (AP)
- Hitfix
Earl Scruggs, one half of the duo Flatt and Scruggs, banjo pioneer and Country Music Hall of Fame inductee, died Wednesday in a Nashville, Tenn., hospital. He was 88. Scruggs' son Gary told the Associated Press that his father died of natural causes. Born in Shelby, N.C., Scruggs first gained prominence in the 1940s as a member of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. While with Monroe, Scruggs popularized the syncopated, three-finger style of banjo playing that would subsequently become known as the "Scruggs style." Also read: Notable Celebrity Deaths of 2012 Scruggs paired with...
- 3/29/2012
- by Tim Kenneally
- The Wrap
So, our favourite friend is now a killer? Hm, ok. David Schwimmer, guy probably best known as Ross Geller from Friends is now on board to star in the upcoming mob-centric indie The Iceman. This project comes from director Ariel Vromen and already stars Michael Shannon, Ray Liotta, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Ryan O’Nan. Good cast, [...]
Continue reading David Schwimmer As Killer In The Iceman? on FilmoFilia.
Related posts:Benicio del Toro, James Franco and Michael Shannon In The Iceman First The Iceman Poster Maggie Gyllenhaal in Bill Monroe’s Biopic...
Continue reading David Schwimmer As Killer In The Iceman? on FilmoFilia.
Related posts:Benicio del Toro, James Franco and Michael Shannon In The Iceman First The Iceman Poster Maggie Gyllenhaal in Bill Monroe’s Biopic...
- 11/10/2011
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
Back in 1967, Buffalo Springfield was booked to play the Newport Folk Festival. The Los Angeles rock band had recently shot to fame with “For What It’s Worth,” and was advertised on a bill with Pete Seeger, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Muddy Waters and Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys. But the Springfield bailed.
The group’s cancellation, via telegram from the William Morris Agency, cited a medical issue, “as member of group undergoing tonsillectomy will be out of circulation two weeks.
The group’s cancellation, via telegram from the William Morris Agency, cited a medical issue, “as member of group undergoing tonsillectomy will be out of circulation two weeks.
- 7/29/2011
- by John Jurgensen
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Getty Robert Plant
Hayes Carll, the Civil Wars, Elizabeth Cook, Justin Towne Earle, Mumford and Sons, and Robert Plant are among the multiple nominees for this year’s Americana Honors and Music Awards to be presented by the Americana Music Association on October 13 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville at the Ama’s annual music festival and conference.
Plant was nominated three times – for Artists of the Year, Duo or Group of the Year for his new Band of Joy,...
Hayes Carll, the Civil Wars, Elizabeth Cook, Justin Towne Earle, Mumford and Sons, and Robert Plant are among the multiple nominees for this year’s Americana Honors and Music Awards to be presented by the Americana Music Association on October 13 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville at the Ama’s annual music festival and conference.
Plant was nominated three times – for Artists of the Year, Duo or Group of the Year for his new Band of Joy,...
- 5/23/2011
- by Jim Fusilli
- Speakeasy/Wall Street Journal
Just a few days after reports emerged that she had signed on to "Still I Rise", actress Maggie Gyllenhaal has locked down both a new film and stage gig.
Gyllenhaal will star in the supernatural thriller "Voice from the Stone", based on Silvio Raffo's novel "Le Voce Della Pietra" reports Variety. She plays a nurse drawn to the aid of a young boy who is haunted by malevolent forces within the walls of an old house in the Italian countryside.
As she develops a relationship with the boy's father, she also becomes haunted by the same evil presence and must fight to save herself and the boy. Eric Howell directs the project while Dean Zanuck and Stefano Gallini are producing.
Gyllenhaal begins shooting "Still I Rise" next week, and is also attached to star in both the Hugh Dancy feature "Hysteria", and a biopic of musician Bill Monroe. She's...
Gyllenhaal will star in the supernatural thriller "Voice from the Stone", based on Silvio Raffo's novel "Le Voce Della Pietra" reports Variety. She plays a nurse drawn to the aid of a young boy who is haunted by malevolent forces within the walls of an old house in the Italian countryside.
As she develops a relationship with the boy's father, she also becomes haunted by the same evil presence and must fight to save herself and the boy. Eric Howell directs the project while Dean Zanuck and Stefano Gallini are producing.
Gyllenhaal begins shooting "Still I Rise" next week, and is also attached to star in both the Hugh Dancy feature "Hysteria", and a biopic of musician Bill Monroe. She's...
- 5/19/2011
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Bill Monroe, who served as the producer and moderator of Meet the Press from 1975 to 1984, died Thursday in a nursing home, The New York Times reports. He was 90 years old. In addition to Meet the Press, Monroe’s long career in TV journalism included stints as Washington editor of the Today show, NBC’s Washington bureau chief, and a regular presenter on Today. He retired from NBC in 1986.
- 2/18/2011
- by Hillary Busis
- EW - Inside TV
Bill Monroe, a television journalist who hosted NBC's "Meet the Press" from 1975 to 1984, died Thursday (Feb. 17) in a Washington D.C.-area nursing home following complications from hypertension. He was 90 years old. He is pictured above in 1971 with Israeli prime minster Golda Meir.
William Blanc "Bill" Monroe was born in New Orleans, attended Tulane University where he graduated in 1942 and then served in the Army Air Forces in World War II. He didn't begin his television career until he became the first news director for Wdsu-tv, an NBC affiliate, in his hometown of New Orleans in the 1950s. That work earned the station a Peabody award.
Monroe also won a Peabody for his work on "The Today Show" in 1973 and then went on to serve as the executive producer and host of "Meet the Press" beginning in 1975.
Rest in peace, Bill.
William Blanc "Bill" Monroe was born in New Orleans, attended Tulane University where he graduated in 1942 and then served in the Army Air Forces in World War II. He didn't begin his television career until he became the first news director for Wdsu-tv, an NBC affiliate, in his hometown of New Orleans in the 1950s. That work earned the station a Peabody award.
Monroe also won a Peabody for his work on "The Today Show" in 1973 and then went on to serve as the executive producer and host of "Meet the Press" beginning in 1975.
Rest in peace, Bill.
- 2/18/2011
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
Bill Monroe, a former host of NBC's "Meet The Press" and Washington bureau chief, died in Potomac, Maryland on Thursday. He was 90. Monroe joined NBC in 1961, first appearing on the show as a panelist until he took over the host role in 1975. He served as "Meet The Press" host until 1984. On one memorable episode, in 1980, Jimmy Carter announced on the show that the United States would boycott the Olympics in Moscow. Monroe also served as Washington editor of the "Today Show." Monroe was born on July 17, 1920, in...
- 2/17/2011
- by Dylan Stableford
- The Wrap
HollywoodNews.com: The life of bluegrass music pioneer, Bill Monroe, will be brought to the big screen in a feature starring real life couple Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard.
Sarsgaard is set to portray Monroe while Gyllenhaal will easily play the musician’s lover Bessie Lee Mauldin.
Digital Spy overheard Gyllenhaal saying “Bill Monroe, who invented Blue Grass music, had a kind of Sid and Nancy-style affair with this woman Bessie Lee Mauldin throughout his life.
“T-Bone Burnett’s going to do the music and Callie Khouri, who wrote ‘Thelma & Louise,’ wrote the script so we’re going to do that together.”
Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard married in May 2009.
The Monroe biopic would mark the second time that the twosome have worked together onscreen. Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard starred alongside each other in the 2005 Sundance Film Festival entry “The Dying Gaul.” They will be appearing on stage soon in the Gotham...
Sarsgaard is set to portray Monroe while Gyllenhaal will easily play the musician’s lover Bessie Lee Mauldin.
Digital Spy overheard Gyllenhaal saying “Bill Monroe, who invented Blue Grass music, had a kind of Sid and Nancy-style affair with this woman Bessie Lee Mauldin throughout his life.
“T-Bone Burnett’s going to do the music and Callie Khouri, who wrote ‘Thelma & Louise,’ wrote the script so we’re going to do that together.”
Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard married in May 2009.
The Monroe biopic would mark the second time that the twosome have worked together onscreen. Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard starred alongside each other in the 2005 Sundance Film Festival entry “The Dying Gaul.” They will be appearing on stage soon in the Gotham...
- 8/19/2010
- by HollywoodNews.com
- Hollywoodnews.com
So, back in June, we all had a chance to hear a rumor about Peter Sarsgaard’s possible involvement in a Bill Monroe’s biopic, written by Callie Khouri.
Today, we’re here to report that Sarsgaard’s wife and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Nanny McPhee Returns, Crazy Heart, Away We Go, The Dark Knight) will be the part of the upcoming project as well.
Maggie Gyllenhaal described her role this way:
“Bill Monroe, who invented bluegrass music, had a kind of Sid and Nancy style affair with this woman Bessie Lee Mauldin throughout his life and T-Bone Burnett’s going to do the music and Callie Khouri – who wrote Thelma & Louise – wrote the script so we’re going to do that together.”
Not bad at all! Especially with that Oscar winning team on board, and Finn Taylor (The Darwin Awards) in charge for directing the whole thing!
For all Gyllenhaal fans out there,...
Today, we’re here to report that Sarsgaard’s wife and Maggie Gyllenhaal (Nanny McPhee Returns, Crazy Heart, Away We Go, The Dark Knight) will be the part of the upcoming project as well.
Maggie Gyllenhaal described her role this way:
“Bill Monroe, who invented bluegrass music, had a kind of Sid and Nancy style affair with this woman Bessie Lee Mauldin throughout his life and T-Bone Burnett’s going to do the music and Callie Khouri – who wrote Thelma & Louise – wrote the script so we’re going to do that together.”
Not bad at all! Especially with that Oscar winning team on board, and Finn Taylor (The Darwin Awards) in charge for directing the whole thing!
For all Gyllenhaal fans out there,...
- 8/19/2010
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
Maggie Gyllenhaal has confirmed that she and her husband Peter Sarsgaard will team for a biopic about bluegrass legend Bill Monroe.
Sarsgaard was attached to play Monroe in the film back in June and Gyllenhaal's involvement was first rumoured then, a claim her reps quickly denied. Now, though while not officially attached, the actress herself confirmed to Screen Crave that she is involved with the film.
"Bill Monroe, who invented bluegrass music, had a kind of Sid and Nancy-style affair with this woman Bessie Lee Mauldin throughout his life, and T Bone Burnett’s going to do the music and Callie Khouri, who wrote "Thelma & Louise," wrote the script, so we’re going to do that together" said Gyllenhaal of the project.
Gyllenhaal is also attached to star in Tanya Wexler's "Hysteria," a period piece about the invention of the vibrator. Hugh Dancy, Rupert Everett and Jonathan Pryce are said to be co-starring.
Sarsgaard was attached to play Monroe in the film back in June and Gyllenhaal's involvement was first rumoured then, a claim her reps quickly denied. Now, though while not officially attached, the actress herself confirmed to Screen Crave that she is involved with the film.
"Bill Monroe, who invented bluegrass music, had a kind of Sid and Nancy-style affair with this woman Bessie Lee Mauldin throughout his life, and T Bone Burnett’s going to do the music and Callie Khouri, who wrote "Thelma & Louise," wrote the script, so we’re going to do that together" said Gyllenhaal of the project.
Gyllenhaal is also attached to star in Tanya Wexler's "Hysteria," a period piece about the invention of the vibrator. Hugh Dancy, Rupert Everett and Jonathan Pryce are said to be co-starring.
- 8/19/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Jim Carrey is being courted to star in Under Cover for Summit Entertainment, according to the Hollywood Cog. The movie, based on a script by Amy Talkington (currently scripting remakes of Valley Girl and Private Benjamin), is about a recently divorced father of two who joins a youthful cover band so he can earn enough money to win his custody battle against his ex-wife.
I thought this was strangely interesting: The average median age now for network television is 51. The average median age for CBS is 55; ABC is 51; NBC is 49; and Fox's is 44, all of which means that the average median age now doesn't even fall into the coveted 18-49 demographic. There are a lot of people watching network television that advertisers don't care about. (AP)
It's official: Ryan Reynolds beat out all of those other dudes and will star opposite Denzel Washington in Safe House, if Reynolds can fit...
I thought this was strangely interesting: The average median age now for network television is 51. The average median age for CBS is 55; ABC is 51; NBC is 49; and Fox's is 44, all of which means that the average median age now doesn't even fall into the coveted 18-49 demographic. There are a lot of people watching network television that advertisers don't care about. (AP)
It's official: Ryan Reynolds beat out all of those other dudes and will star opposite Denzel Washington in Safe House, if Reynolds can fit...
- 8/19/2010
- by Dustin Rowles
Nanny McPhee & The Big Bang opened in the UK earlier this year and this coming Friday it’s being released in the Us, now with the slight change in title: Nanny McPhee Returns.
During press interviews for the film, Maggie Gyllenhaal updated the status of two upcoming film projects: Hysteria, and an untitled Bill Monroe biopic.
The first, Hysteria, is a rom-com centered on the invention of the vibrator. Hysteria is set to be directed by Tanya Wexler from a script by Jonah Lisa Dyer and Stephen Dyer. The second film, an untitled biopic of music legend Bill Monroe, will see her acting alongside her husband Peter Sarsgaard. Finn Taylor is currently attached to direct.
Here’s what Maggie Gyllenhaal had to say of her involvement in Hysteria:
In Hysteria I play a firecracker whose father is a doctor who is in the business of curing hysterical women. He...
During press interviews for the film, Maggie Gyllenhaal updated the status of two upcoming film projects: Hysteria, and an untitled Bill Monroe biopic.
The first, Hysteria, is a rom-com centered on the invention of the vibrator. Hysteria is set to be directed by Tanya Wexler from a script by Jonah Lisa Dyer and Stephen Dyer. The second film, an untitled biopic of music legend Bill Monroe, will see her acting alongside her husband Peter Sarsgaard. Finn Taylor is currently attached to direct.
Here’s what Maggie Gyllenhaal had to say of her involvement in Hysteria:
In Hysteria I play a firecracker whose father is a doctor who is in the business of curing hysterical women. He...
- 8/19/2010
- by Jamie Neish
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Release Date: March 16 Director: Emmett Malloy Studio/Run Time: Warner Bros., 92 mins. Curious, all-encompassing minimalists celebrate 10th anniversary by traversing Canadian countryside Whenever Jack and Meg White make music in Under Great White Northern Lights (the new documentary about their 2007 Canadian tour), they’re a peppermint swirl of electricity—the culmination of decades of greasy blues and Diy punk; the American garage writ large. They’re the heirs apparent to everyone from Ledbelly to Bill Monroe to John Lee Hooker to the MC5, Led Zeppelin, the Flat Duo Jets and Nirvana....
- 3/16/2010
- Pastemagazine.com
For most of his Hollywood career, Scott Cooper has been known as an actor. He thought he was dreaming when he decided he wanted to direct his first film about the life of a down and out country singer with such stars as Jeff Bridges, Robert Duvall, and the famous composer T Bone Burnett. But his ambition paid off. Crazy Heart, stars Bridges, Duvall, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Colin Farrell as well as music by T Bone Burnett. Bridges and Farrell even sing their own ballads. Based on the novel of the same name by Thomas Cobb, Crazy Heart follows the life of alcoholic, country western has-been Bad Blake. After meeting a journalist who makes him see what he has become, he attempts to reform. The movie, which had been made for about $7 million by Country Music Television, a unit of Viacom, very nearly did not find a distributor after Paramount...
- 12/1/2009
- by maint
- Film Independent
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