Aug. 7, 2013. Tickets are now on sale for the 2013 finale summer concert in Todd featuring the Kruger Brothers, Wayne Henderson and Charles Welch. The outdoor concert is slated for Saturday, Aug. 24 at 4 p.m. in Walter & Anne Cook Memorial Park in the Todd Rural Historic District.
Doc Watson (left) with Charles Welch and one of the Kruger Brothers. Photo by Jesse Wood
The event brings together some of Doc Watson’s good friends and the concert is dedicated to the memory of the Grammy Award-winning artist who generously performed each August in Todd to benefit the community.
Advance tickets are $15 and available online at ToddNC.org. You can also purchase tickets at these locations throughout the High Country: Todd Mercantile and RiverGirl Fishing Company in Todd, Scott’s Guitar, Ashe Arts Council and Ashe Chamber of Commerce in West Jefferson, and Appalachian Music and Boone Area Chamber of Commerce in Boone.
Tickets at the gate on the day of the concert for $18. Children age 12 and under will be admitted free. Well-behaved dogs are welcome. Free parking in the Historic District is limited, but several pay lots are available as well as a free shuttle service from satellite parking area at the corner of NC 194 and Todd Railroad Grade Road behind Todd Fire & Rescue.
The concert is produced by the Todd Community Preservation Organization, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit group which has been hosting free summer park concerts for more than a decade. Proceeds from the event will go toward funding future music events.
Watson’s concerts in Todd have been described as akin to sitting on his front porch. He and his wife Rosa Lee often invited family and friends who did not get the opportunity to see his performances on the road. The concert will be keeping in that tradition with music that Watson loved but also some of his good friends sharing stories and anecdotes about their times with him.
The Kruger Brothers need no introduction in the High Country and their name has become synonymous with the best in innovative bluegrass music. Jens Kruger (banjo, vocals) and his brother Uwe Kruger, (guitar, lead vocals) are natives of Switzerland and say they were friends with Doc Watson long before they ever met him at Merle Fest in 1997. In the years that followed, they were frequent guests at Doc’s home in Deep Gap. The brothers moved to Wilkes County in 2002 and are joined by Joel Landsberg (bass, vocals). The Kruger Brothers most recent album, released earlier this year, is “Remembering Doc Watson.”
Joining the Kruger Brothers is Charles Welch and Wayne Henderson. Welch, a lifelong friend of Watson, was going on the road with Doc and Merle Watson when he was a teenager. He was playing guitar without Watson’s knowledge for several years and was performing at a coffeeshop on King Street in Boone one evening when his friend dropped in unannounced and sat in the audience. From there, Welch performed and toured with Watson for years and was always a stage companion to Watson at his performances in Todd.
Hailing from the metropolis of Rugby, Va., Wayne Henderson is a world-reknown luthier whose acoustic guitars are sought after by some of the biggest names in entertainment. In 1995, he received a National Heritage Fellowship at a White House ceremony in recognition of his instrument-making skills. Henderson is a fingerstyle guitar picker who hosts his own Wayne Henderson Music Festival which draws thousands of acoustic guitar aficionados and musicians to southwest Virginia each June. His guitar shop was a favorite hangout for Watson.
The concert will be held rain or shine and guests should bring a blanket or lawn chairs for outdoor seating. A concession stand will offer hotdogs, hamburgers and cold drinks. For more information, call 336-877-5401 or email to info@toddnc.org.
