Serving Boone, Blowing Rock, Banner Elk, and other towns of the North Carolina High Country | Founded 05-05-05

|| High Country Press Newswire

March 27, 2008 issue

WJ Lions Club Presents Doc Watson, Leon Jacobs April 12

Grammy-award winner Doc Watson and renowned pianist and entertainer Leon Jacobs Jr. are coming to Ashe County for a special performance benefiting the West Jefferson Lions Club projects for the blind across the state.

An evening of dinner and music is planned for Saturday, April 12, at Mountain Music Jamboree in Glendale Springs. A pinto bean supper with cornbread, onions, slaw, dessert and drink will be available, along with the fantastic entertainment. The evening begins at 6:00.

Make plans to attend and get your tickets early because seating is limited. Tickets are $25 each in advance or at the door.

Arthel “Doc” Watson of Deep Gap is a living treasure of old-time and bluegrass music and a multiple Grammy-award winning guitarist and vocalist. He is renowned and beloved throughout the music world and especially here in the North Carolina mountains. He has also been honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Artists. Longtime dedicated fans have loved his music for decades and he wins new fans every year.
Watson was struck by blindness at an early age resulting from an illness that restricted the blood flow to his eyes. As a child, he was surrounded by music and received a new harmonica every Christmas. When he was 10, his father gave him a homemade fretless banjo that Watson played consistently for the next three years. At age 13, he began playing guitar after his cousin introduced him to the instrument. By his late teens, Watson had learned how to finger pick from his neighbor Olin Miller. He earned his nickname during a radio show in Lenoir in 1941 in which the announcer referred to him as “Doc.”

Watson played a part in the folk music boom of the 1960s, and has helped keep traditional music alive for five decades.

Leon Jacobs Jr. is a self-taught musician and natural entertainer. He was born in Buckhead, N.C. and began playing gospel music at an early age. While still in high school, Jacobs was invited to perform for the March of Dimes Telethon in association with Gary Collins and Mary Ann Mobley for three consecutive years. During this time, he began branching out into other styles of music. He also performed with Christie McNichols and Maureen McCormick on other television programs.

Jacobs moved to Greenville, S.C. in 1980 and continued his music career with various solo appearances at church events, banquets, parties, beauty pageants and concerts, and now lives in Georgia.

Jacobs joined a group named Country Gold with whom he performed for four years and has shared the stage with many of music’s greats such as Ronnie Milsap, Reba McIntire, Exile, Lee Greenwood, Sawyer Brown, Ray Stevens, T. Graham Brown, Jerry Clower, the Staler Brothers and many other well-known artists.

By combining ‘50s music with today’s modern technology, Jacobs creates his own style of music, generating high energy with gospel roots for great family entertainment.

Lions are the largest nonprofit civic organization in the world, present in 144 countries with 48,000 clubs, including one started in Iraq last year. Melvin Jones founded the organization in Chicago in 1917. The West Jefferson Lions Club was formed in 1949 and has three members with more than 50 years of service. The local club meets the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the Winners Circle in Jefferson, and welcomes anyone interested to attend.

Some of the services Lions provide include canes for the blind, vision screening on a mobile van, educational grants for students of visually impaired parents, glasses and eye exams for the visually impaired and hearing aids for the hearing impaired.

West Jefferson Lions Club President Dot Nichols said the group is excited about the upcoming fundraiser and hopes to make it an annual tradition. For tickets and information, call 336-982-8288, 336-846-7215, 336-384-4079 or 800-803-4079.