Handsel Art
Date: 1 September 2008
For
Immediate Release
Contact: J.R. Few at
(870) 427-1365 or email
Doc Watson Defies Odds
Thrilling an appreciative Ozark Folk Center audience in
Mountain View Labor Day weekend, legendary guitarist Doc Watson gave his first major
concert since undergoing surgery for lung cancer. Watson
was accompanied by the accomplished David Holt. The duo performed American folk
and blue grass classics with a variety of instruments and styles. 
On July 2 surgeons at Duke Medical Center
performed a thoracoscopic lobectomy in Watson’s right lung to remove a
cancerous growth. Performing
professionally for decades, Doc Watson’s performances have been overwhelmingly in
smoking venues.
Tobacco Free
Marion County volunteer and oncology nurse Bill Skrivanos explains, “The body’s
first defense for inhaling toxins is to cough. Someone breathing secondhand
smoke does not experience the same heat and irritation as a smoker so they
inhale deeper and longer often not even realizing what they have just pulled
into their body.”
Due to
exemptions, Arkansas’ Clean Indoor Air law does not protect performers or the
public from secondhand smoke in venues that restrict minors.
Watson and Holt’s
haunting post cancer melodies were most poignant singing the Crystal Gayle
classic Ready for the Times to Get Better.
One of Arkansas’s 52 state parks, the Ozark
Folk Center preserves local heritage with insight into the culture of the Ozarks
including music, herbs, folk arts and crafts.
Holt and Watson’s
tour will continue September 20 in Bristol, Virginia. The Mountain View show was their only
performance of the tour west of the Mississippi.
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